Automation of winemaking stages

Solution

Winemaking process consists of several stages, where it is significant to maintain such factors as temperature, humidity and sugar content in grapes. In order to control all stages automatically, the experienced integrator-company implemented a complex solution for the winery.

In general, this complicated project is based on units Galileosky v 5.0, because they have a large number of inputs and outputs. Also, units from the Base Block line were installed on trucks and special vehicles to solve complex problems.

Automatic microclimate maintenance in refrigeration units

For the grapes cultivation, it is important to ensure their resistance to temperature changes, otherwise seedlings can burn under the sun, or freeze during the night. For that, the winemakers temper grape saplings in large refrigeration units.

In order to maintain a proper microclimate and control it remotely, experts connected temperature and humidity sensors to the Galileosky units. Afterwards, they displayed data on a touchscreen and made the maintenance of the modes automatic. This ensures the safety of grape saplings and reduces the number of defects.

Control of temperature and humidity of the soil and air in greenhouses

At the stage of grape shoots growth, Galileosky devices control soil moisture and air temperature in industrial greenhouses. Experts have connected 6 special sensors using the Modbus protocol through the Easy Logic technology.

Measuring the amount of harvested grapes from a specific field and transferring data to the plant

The process of harvesting grapes is not simple. The most labor-intensive operations, such as cutting the bushes and collecting the produce, take 12% and 35% of all labor costs respectively. The mechanization of this process is a necessary thing. So how does it work? A special combine with a shaker installed, goes about the grapevine, shakes the bushes and collects fallen grape bunches. Galileosky units control the volume of the harvested crop, identify the specific grape type and the field where it grows and transmit all the information to the plant.

Shipment of crops only after the driver and grape type are identified

To ensure the safety of the crop during transportation, the truck goes through two stages of weight control: the first one when leaving the field and the second one during the arrival at the plant. The Galileosky units are connected to the electronic and mechanical scales with sensors that are utilized via the RS 232 interface.

The information about the driver, vehicle number and volume and the variety of grapes are recorded in the electronic consignment note and transmitted to the plant. In there, the load dispatcher sees the time of arrival of a particular cargo.

Next, the load is re-weighted at the factory, where the whole range of indicators shows the current process: “in standby mode”, “measuring in progress”, “measuring occurred and you can go further”, “measuring occurred with an error, you cannot go further”. Only after re-weighing at the factory, the load is moved to the next stage.

Monitoring the proper operation of equipment for the wine production

After weighing, the raw materials go to the sugar analyzer, which determines the sugar content of the wine material. In the future, it is planned to integrate the work of this device with the Galileosky unit.

After the amount of sugar is determined, the grapes fall straight into the press, where the juice is squeezed from them. To control the press, professionals connected more than 30 sensors to one unit via the RS 110 interface and the Modbus protocol.

Galileosky devices are not yet used at the stages of planting, growing and ripening of the grapes, but the experts are currently working on automation of these processes.