Automating an Industrial Dishwashing System Using Hardware-in-the-Loop PLC Simulation with Factory I/O

Abstract While industrial automation is growing in many industries, the hospitality industry has not seen much technological innovation recently. This leaves a wealth of potential for the implementation of automated solutions, especially at large-scale operations, like university dining halls or cruise ship restaurants. This paper details a student project developed in the advanced programmable logic controllers class. It is part of the master program in mechatronics. Students work in groups in a creative setting, where they learn to integrate various automation technologies and learn to write scientific publications. The project implements the automation of a student dining hall dishwashing system using the Hardware-in-the-Loop HiL method. HiL is a powerful way to mitigate risks or accidents in a real-world scenario, leading to costly damages. For testing, we have used the Factory IO simulation software. It provides a realistic simulation environment for virtual plants with low real-time latency. An Allen-Bradley CompactLogix controller provided control of the simulated environment through communication over Ethernet/IP protocol. System control was established through PLC ladder logic from RSLogix 5000. A custom human-machine interface was designed using FactoryTalk View Studio to monitor and control the system's operation. Finally, with the advent of Industry 4.0 and IIOT, a SCADA system was integrated into the system using Node-Red and MQTT to create live dashboards for monitoring and control of the HiL system.