Button controlled model for Northern PowerGrid

CLNR stands for Customer Led Network Revolution, a method of optimizing the power supply network based on immediate reaction to varying customer demands. The purpose of this model was to illustrate Northern Powergrid’s strategies for maximizing the efficiency of their supplies to both domestic and commercial users. The model looks deceptively simple but actually features some complex programming to demonstrate how the network adjusts to the demands of different users at different times of the day, including storing surplus power for later use. The button panel allows the user to set up varying power requirements which are indicated by lights on the model (turning red) and then press further buttons that illustrate how the demands are resolved (turning the lights green) with energy efficient systems and procedures.

Fully Functional R/C Crane Model – Scale 1:12

The client for this model, a provider of specialist training for signalmen and crane operators, needed a fully functioning crane model to use during his training sessions but the right type of crane just wasn’t available on the market. His solution was to ask us to convert an off-the-shelf toy into a purpose-built machine. This involved scrapping about 70% of the original model, adapting the radio controlled motors to perform new functions, adding a completely new winch, new main boom, new pulleys, new ‘A’ frame, new hook, new base (it previously had caterpillar tracks), and a new power supply plus a few other cosmetic alterations. In fact, about the only thing we haven’t changed is the driver’s cabin. The model is now fixed to a desk in their training rooms and used on a weekly basis for tests and as a teaching aid. It’s definitely not a toy (although we did have a lot of fun “testing” it before it left our workshops).