So basically, what it is a just a bunch of boxes around sending data to a master system.

I have always sort of wanted to experiment with programming PICs and things, but just have never really figured out what to do, in terms of what to get and all that.

I have had intermediate experience with soldering up circuits with micro controllers and such, just never programed one.

Most plant automation these days is done via a control system tied into programmable logic controllers (PLCs). PLCs are the boxes that have interfaces to the sensors and outputs to control the process based on resident programs like sequencers, timers, and logic tables. They send their data to a central computer.

The central computers are sometimes referred to as SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems and the computer screens that I mentioned are called the HMI (human-machine interface).

In the case of the Front Range Energy system, it is was provided by Siemens, a large European conglomerate somewhat like GE in size and scope.

The fact that they have the control setup the way it is doesn’t surprise me. The money saved in employment is more than enough to counter the money spend on the sensors and systems.

I do wounder how that works though, I mean, do they just have a bunch of sensors linked straight to a computer? Or is there a series of computers with sensors linked to them, all networked and sending data out ot be parsed?