Skydivers develop their acrobatic routines indoors.

The Airkix skydiving centre in Basingstoke is equipped with a state-of-the-art 14-foot diameter vertical wind tunnel that suspends its flyers in the airflow, emulating the feeling of freefall. Experienced skydivers can develop their acrobatic routines, while others use such facilities for training. Organizations book them for team building and bonding sessions and families create life-long memories.

The wind tunnel is controlled using Mitsubishi Q Series PLCs with a CC-Link master card to control the communications with four 450kW inverters that control the fan motors that generate wall-to-wall airflow rather than a central bubble as older tunnels do, so is far safer, more realistic and can accommodate multiple flyers.

Communications and monitoring

CC-Link communications improve the operator interface as well as to control the users’ experience by ensuring instructions are carried out at exactly the correct time, allowing precise timing of system events. Designer SkyVenture says it prefers CC-Link to other communication technologies because it provides a more interactive dialogue with the inverters and other devices connected to the network.  CC-Link is also used for monitoring voltage, current, power, set frequency and alarms, as well as setting the operating frequency to match each user’s weight and ability.

The control system incorporates many I/O points including drives, sensors and other devices to ensure the quality and safety of the skydivers’ experience. These are all connected via the CC-Link cable, which is laid out around the facility with links to each device. Additional I/O nodes monitored and controlled by CC-Link include airspeed sensors in the chamber. The airspeed defines the lift generated and the height to which the user rises.

The CC-Link network is also used to control the air temperature in the flight chamber by opening and closing 20-foot wide by 10-foot high doors. These doors are connected to linear actuators, driven by more inverters. The doors’ positions are displayed on the human-machine interface (HMI) touchscreen used by the control room operator.

Reliability

One further advantage that CC-Link provides is reliability. Day after day, month after month and year after year the control systems – including CC-Link – operate at a rate of over 98%. This is an actual operational figure, not just a projection.

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