Keep Your Facilities Humming

From maintaining legacy applications written in QuickBasic, to converting software using RS-232 to Ethernet, to developing custom machine control software in Visual Basic or VB.NET, we can deliver your project affordably and on time. And with our attention to sound user interface design, you can be assured that our process automation software will be easy for your operators to use with minimal training.

The Challenge Regner Internet Consulting and Finger Lakes Controls were called upon to develop a Windows application to interface with a PLC controlling an industrial punch press. The software had to permit the user to create, save, load, and edit part programs with up to 10,000 punches, as well as upload the programs to the PLC. The program also had to determine an efficient punch order for the part. Other required features included an interface for manual jogging, a password protected screen for machine setup, support for both English and metric units, and diagnostics. The Solution Our team developed a software application to meet these requirements using VB.NET. The program links a graphical color-coded display of the part to a table-driven punch editor. Commands are provided to simplify entering groups of punches and setting up programs for parts that are symmetrical about either axis. A punch preview allws the user to inspect the punch order in advance, while during machine run a part in progress display shows each punch on the screen as it was happening on the part.