Remote Automated Control and Monitoring Water Distribution System Utilizing A 3-Way Valve Logic On ThingsBoard Platform

In this paper, an automated Lab-scaled Valve control system for Water Distribution System (WDS) that mimics real-world conditions is presented. The system utilises ThingsBoard software as the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system and PANASONIC Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) FP7 CPS31 as the master controller. The lab-scaled system consists of reservoir tank, supply tank, variable speed drives (VSD), flow rate sensors, and level sensors. Meanwhile ThingsBoard software provides an intuitive monitoring purposes and by using the application of Node-RED, it can develop an alternative Human Machine Interface (HMI) for remote control. By modifying the motor speed, which is managed by the VSD, the automated algorithm in the PLC makes use of sensor relationships to regulate the water level in the distribution reservoir tank. For water flow rate in pipes, the incoming flow rate is analysed in relation to the height of the reservoir tank. As a result, an automated control system that is capable of remote monitoring, controlling, and gathering data for the lab-scale WDS is successfully developed.