Suggested System Configuration

[TerryJC]

Hi,

Some time ago, we discussed the way forward in terms of the physical layout and the location of the electronic assemblies. At the time I said that I would try to capture this in the form of a Design Spec. It's been a while now because I've been busy trying to sort out the Bells system and other stuff, so as a starting point I've created a diagram which hopefully reflects what we said at the time.

Page 1 of the attached drawing shows the main physical arrangement with cascading 'Butts Farm' groups each consisting of five barrels (see Page 2). On the same page, I've shown a representation of the control signals and the Ethernet.

The Ethernet routing needs a bit of explanation because each Remote Pi and Interfacing Board installation has an Ethernet cable carrying PoE going in and at least one other cable carrying the sensors signals. However, if we are not going to have to route multiple Ethernet cables from the sump we will need something a little different to the current setup in terms of Poe injection.

Bearing in mind the aspiration to integrate the current webserver and Wireless AP into the system (for future Visitor and Staff Control Panels), we may end up with the 19 V supply in the Railway Room Store and multiple splitters and Ethernet Switches at various points in the system, (eg the Railway Butts, the Wendy House Butts and (probably) the Gazebo Butts. I need to think of the best way to do this (all suggestions welcome).

Please let me know what you think of this drawing and let me know if there are any errors or improvements.

[Penri]

Terry

The diagram was very useful, thank you.

I've made a modification to slide 2 and added a new slide 3 which proposes a "parallel" architecture for the "new" butts and adds some more manual isolation in the form of ball valves plus a new pump for shifting the water from the Wendy house butts to the new farm. In my mind I was thinking about separating the dynamics of the sump level regulation from the water management of the other butts and catering for future expansion to encompass the gazebo butts, for example, if that was needed.

I want to talk through the schemes as there are no real rights or wrongs here and I am aware that my scheme does entail more expense.


Hwyl

Penri

[hamishmb]

Hi,

These both seem very helpful to me. One thought about the pump: will we be pumping in through the top of the butts in the new farm, or not? If we use the same pipe(s) at the outlet at the bottom of the butts for a pump inlet, it might be very difficult/slow to pump water in that way.

Hamish

[TerryJC]

Quick Reply:

I'd like to discuss the new drawing and our aspirations tomorrow and will bring my laptop to make it easy to view it.

However, I also need to refit the Bells electronics box and take out Butts Pi for modification, so Hamish, you might like to think about the order in which I should do these things. If you want to get away at 11 am, it may be best to have the discussion first.

[hamishmb]

Okay, sounds good.

Hmm, we'll have a lot to discuss, and I have some software stuff I need to discuss with you as well if possible, so I don't really expect to be away by 11 AM XD

If we can all stay a bit longer tomorrow that would be good, but it's okay if we can't

Hamish

[TerryJC]

I can stay until approx 12:30.

[hamishmb]

Same here. Penri?

[Penri]

I’ll be at WMT up to around 13:00

Hwyl

[TerryJC]

As mentioned in the Meeting Notes http://wmtprojectsforum.altervista.org/ ... ?f=16&t=64, I have modified the Overall System Design Configuration Drawing to reflect our discussion. Please let me know of any errors or omissions.

Page 3 deserves some further thought and I have included it only to support our discussion. It is by no means a proposal for the final design. What I have tried to do is to include several ways in which we could do this:

1. I'm assuming that the Railway Room Store will house all of the electronic assembles so no IP65 box will be required. However, I have included a small Ethernet Switch so that the Webserver may be included into the system and ultimately used to provide the Staff and Visitor GUIs.
2. The Wendy House Butts Group will be basically identical to the current setup, apart from the inclusion of another Ethernet Switch to allow the Railway Room and Gazebo Pis to join the party. If the Railway Room eventually hosts the Master Pi, then another arrangement may be required.
3. The Gazebo Butts Group is the simplest of the lot because there is nowhere else to connect to and so no Ethernet Switch is required.

All this can change as we see other features that we might want or other ways to achieve this. In particular, it is highly likely that the WiFi Antenna may end up at the Gazebo (for reception purposes) so an additional Switch may still be required. Four-port switches can be obtained for around £5-6 but they do need a PSU (which we could derive from PoE if necessary).

[TerryJC]

All,

Penri and I had a brief discussion this morning about how we saw the system progressing and as a result I have produced the attached V0.4 of the Overall System Design Configuration Drawing to show the additional Butts Farm behind the Stage,

For comment, I'd like to detail some points about the changes and also the order in which the work might progress.

Development Order

1. Install the replacement Butts pump in the sump.
2. Add the SSR for the main circulation pump. There will be work needed to the Wendy Street Interfaces Board and the Pi software.
3. Re-install the Butts Pi Equipment Box and get the Wendy Street butts functional again.
4. Penri would like to implement the Stage Butts Farm before the Railway Butts Farm, because it is relatively easy to do needing only the pipework to be laid and two valves to be added. This is because the Railway Room Butts Farm will need the extensive work listed below.
5. Depending on time constraints, it might be sensible to place butts into the Gazebo Butts Farm and put in a simple manual Ball Valve.
6. Once the WMT has shut down for the Winter Maintenance period, a concrete base for the Railway Room Butts Farm will be laid and the additional Pi / Interfaces Board installed (some implementation of the electronics can go on off-line). The Pipe work will be completed.

Development Approach for the Stage Butts Farm

1. The platform for the butts is higher than the pipework for the Wendy Street Butts Farm, so gravity can be utilised initially, as we have done for the existing butts so far. This will allow water to be drained into the sump as required, but not from the Wendy Street butts to the Stage butts.
2. Add the main butts pump and valves V6, V7, V8, V9. This will allow water to be pumped in both directions (as was originally envisaged for the Railway Room Butts Farm). This will require further modifications to the Wendy Street Pi software and Interfaces Board.

Other Changes to the Drawing

1. Sheet 2 - The addition of a Note to acknowledge that a Butts Farm may not always include exactly 5 butts.
2. Sheet 3 - The addition of the Webserver Antenna, PoE Injector and another Ethernet Switch so that the Gazebo Pi and the Webserver can share the network.
3. Sheet 3 - Colour coded Ethernet Cables to show where the armoured Cat 5 is routed.

Please feel to comment on this proposal.