Control Engineering articles from July 2005

Control Engineering archives from July 2005

Straight from the source.(Control engineering)(Editorial)
July 1, 2005... If you're not yet familiar with the term "blog," which is short for Web log, here's a simple, yet direct definition from Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English: an online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a...

Global industrial power controls.(Eaton Corp)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... XT line of IEC Power Control solutions for motor protection and control encompasses a variety of industrial control products for panel builders and OEMs, including contactors, starters, overload relays, manual motor protectors, and combination...

Wireless LAN for data exchange.(technology application of wireless lan's)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Scalance W wireless LAN from Siemens Energy & Automation operates over three wireless protocols in one system. It provides data rates of up to 54 Mbits/second and operating speeds of 2.4 GHz (802.11b and 802.11g) or 5 GHz (802.11a). ...

Centralized vs. distributed control.(Control Equipment)
July 1, 2005... Assembly lines are familiar entities characterized by a modular structure. The structure consists of modules for the different manufacturing stages, such as pick-and-place units, robots, welding stations and, of course, a logistics unit that...

HART maximization: to help users maximize the investment many companies have already made in HART technology, HART Communication Foundation and Control Engineering are partnering to present a series of HART mini-courses online. Here are the basics about the technology and series.(HART Communication )
July 1, 2005... It wasn't until we wanted to know who was calling on the telephone that we decided we needed caller ID. That data point was on the wire with the voice all along, we just didn't have a real need to see the information. With that in mind, look at...

Rats, Danish royalty, and wireless.(opinion SOAPBOX)(Adoption of Ethernet, Bluetooth and other open wireless technologies )
July 1, 2005... What do a 10th century Danish king and the common rat have to do with the move to wireless on the factory floor? The rat typifies the problems inherent with physical wiring. One of my OEM customers lost the Ethernet connection to a machine...

Exclusive: high-temp superconducting wire aids motor development.
July 1, 2005... Cleveland, OH; Greenville, SC -- Rockwell Automation reports it successfully demonstrated in June 2005 the first use of second-generation (2G) high-temperature superconducting (HTS) wire in a 2-hp Reliance Electric HTS motor. The firm adds that...

Worldwide process analytical instruments market and projections, 2004-11.(NEWS)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
July 1, 2005... Worldwide process analytical instruments market and projections, 2004-11 Total shipments (in thousands of units), revenue (in millions of $), and revenue growth (in % of revenue) Units 2004 295.4 2005 306.0 2006...

PXI.
July 1, 2005... CompactPCI/PXI industrial-grade PACs powered by NI LabVIEW * Widest range of industrial I/O [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * Industrial specifications * Highest-performance controllers Download the...

Emerson helping modernize nine plants in Europe's largest petrochemical complex.(NEWS)(Emerson Process Management Inc)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Austin, TX -- Emerson Process Management reports that it's been selected by Russian chemical giant Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNH) to modernize the largest petrochemical complex in Europe. The nine-plant complex in Tatarstan, in western Russia,...

Honeywell Users Group showcases products and strategy.(Honeywell Process Solutions)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Phoenix, AZ -- More than 800 users from 28 countries attended Honeywell Process Solutions' 30th annual users group conference on June 12-16, representing a 30% increase in attendance over 2004. The meeting is organized and planned by the...

Schneider Electric embeds Ethernet at device level in switches.(Schneider Electric S.A)
July 1, 2005... Raleigh, NC -- Schneider Electric reported at its Telemecanique press event on June 15-16 that it's embedding switch technology in the Ethernet interface of automation and control products. The move reportedly reduces the expense of...

Saving space in an increasingly global marketplace.(Advertisement)
July 1, 2005... Today's OEMs and Panelbuilders are manufacturing smaller products that are packed tight with electrical components, so available space for new or retrofit equipment is a precious commodity. In fact, studies show that every inch of space a...

Foxboro seeks control room most in need of a makeover.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Foxboro, MA -- The Foxboro Automation unit of Invensys Process Systems is seeking the control room in a North American process plant that is most in need of a complete design and equipment makeover. The winning company will receive a reality...

Sensors Expo 2005: Millennial Net, Freescale partner on wireless sensor networks.(NEWS)(Freescale Semiconductor )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Chicago, IL -- Freescale Semiconductor and Millennial Net have formed a partnership to help OEMs rapidly develop and deploy wireless mesh network solutions for large, complex, commercial applications in industrial automation, healthcare, and...

GE Energy starts HMI maintenance program to protect against cyber security threats.(human-machine interface)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Atlanta, GA -- To address the increasing risk of cyber security threats to power plants and other industrial facilities, GE Energy has launched a human-machine interface (HMI) maintenance program to keep critical control system components safe...

SAP acquires Lighthammer to improve plant-floor/enterprise connectivity.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Boston, MA; Exton, PA -- To enhance connectivity between the plant floor and the enterprise, SAP AG reports that it's acquiring Lighthammer Software Development Corp., a privately held supplier of enterprise manufacturing intelligence and...

Moore's HCS converts HART digital protocol to Modbus RTU.(Moore Industries-International Inc)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... North Hills, CA -- Moore Industries reports that its HART Concentrator System (HCS) converts a HART digital signal to a serial (RS-485) Modbus RTU communication protocol. This permits up to 16 smart HART-capable transmitters and valves to...

By the numbers.(Employments)
July 1, 2005... 7 Lessons on Working with Asia is the name of the article (April 2005 Control Engineering) ranking first in the top 10 articles read at www.controleng.com (as of June 15). Lesson 7, "Promises are sacred," explains how it is a mistake to treat...

Money in the right places.(Editorial)
July 1, 2005... Why do some organizations continue to pinch nickels within capital budgets, while making decisions that burn enormous sums of money over time in other areas? I'd guess that separate budgets, departments, or line items for capital investments,...

Energy-efficient motors deliver savings: initial cost can blur much higher product lifecycle cost. Industrial electric motors represent a classic example, since 97-98% of their lifetime operating cost is attributed to electric energy charges. Yet motors are not typically purchased with efficiency in mind.
July 1, 2005... In simplest terms, energy-efficient electric motors are high-quality versions of standard motor products. They pack more of "active" electric materials (steel laminations and copper) into essentially the same physical package--hence carry a...

Many facets, one point: safeguarding data in automation and control systems boils down to risk assessment that emphasizes policies and procedures as much as technology.
July 1, 2005... Life is not a destination, it is a journey, many major philosophers say. So is security, it appears. As with life, the circumstances surrounding security measures are dynamic. Situations change, and automation and controls engineers concerned...

Control methods series Part 4, rule-based reactor control: language rules can address control problems, especially if robust measurements are lacking. That's a fundamentally different approach to mathematical algorithms than those used in the three previous installments of this series.
July 1, 2005... Using language rules to address control issues was borne of the need to deal with problems that resisted precise mathematical definition for one reason or another. Also, the traditional control technologies of basic regulatory control (BRC) and...

Understanding temperature and transmitters: because temperature is one of the basic metrics used in the measurement of flow, density, and other factors, the temperature transmitter is one of the most widely used field devices in industry today. Understanding one helps in selecting the other.
July 1, 2005... Temperature has a long history, grounded in personal understanding, like sticking a toe into the water before jumping in. Understanding a bit of history can help before you dive into selecting your next temperature transmitter. Temperature...

7 steps to predictive leak testing: whether it is to test the integrity of containers, such as blister packs, vials, and blow-fill-seal containers, or products like inhalers or valve assemblies, leak testing is often an absolute requirement in the pharmaceutical industries.
July 1, 2005... Leak testing can be a complicated process, particularly for high-speed processes, such as those found in the pharmaceutical industry. The main challenge is the time it takes for the part under test to stabilize under pressure (or in vacuum); as...

Metering pumps provide accurate dosing.(inside process products)
July 1, 2005... D35 Metering Series industrial pumps provide steady, pulse-free metering of ultra pure fluids, corrosives, and slurries in flows to up to 2,220 gph (8,400 lph) and pressure up to 1,200 psi (83 bar). Positive-displacement-type pumps incorporate...

Flow measurement for rugged environments.(inside process products)
July 1, 2005... V-Cone Chem Processing Flowmeter offers accuracy and repeatability in a compact, no-moving-parts instrument that needs virtually no recalibration or maintenance. Designed for measuring liquid, steam, or gas, the device supports a wide range of...

Butterfly valve for harsh applications.(inside process products)
July 1, 2005... Type 388 metallic butterfly valve comes in two styles: cast-iron wafer and ductile-iron lug. Both configurations can withstand rugged industrial use. Typical applications include water and wastewater for pressure or vacuum service. Valve...

Optimization software for process applications.
July 1, 2005... SmartProcess plant optimization software modules--Economic Optimizer and Global Performance Advisor--for the water and wastewater industries optimize control and monitoring of plant processes using advancing control techniques to ensure...

Interface simplifies data integration.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Joint interface lets SimSci-Esscor's PRO/II users integrate Haverly System's H/CAMS crude assay information into their process simulations. Using the interface, data from Crude Assay Management Systems' (H/CAMS) databases can be imported...

Dealing with deadtime: process deadtime is troublesome for a feedback controller, but there are ways to work around it.
July 1, 2005... For feedback control, deadtime is the delay between the instant a controller begins to apply a corrective effort to the process and the instant a sensor first notices an effect. The process variable cannot react at all to the controller's...

Loop controllers: lone logic is more connected.(RESEARCH LOOP CONTROLLERS)(Moore Industries-International Inc)(Omron Electronics Inc)(Siemens Energy and Automation Inc)
July 1, 2005... Stand-alone loop controllers, desired because of cost and simplicity, still need to collect and report data, even if they operate outside of a larger control system. External and peer-to-peer communications are the most important traits in such...

Improve control system programming.(IT & engineering INSIGHT)( Capability and Maturity Model Integration )(Column)
July 1, 2005... When we think about control system programming for PLCs, DCSs, and HMIs, we often tend to focus on the "control system" side, but it's important to remember that control system programming is programming. Most control system programming uses...

Probe promotes boiler efficiency.(Products & software)
July 1, 2005... 9060E Micro-processor and zirconium oxygen probe, developed in conjunction with Teledyne Analytical Instruments, gives boiler operators a continuous view of actual, real-time, combustion efficiency measurements. Data can be used to show...

Measure performance in real time.(Products & software)
July 1, 2005... Equation Builder, latest addition to PlantTriage, lets users develop real-time profit and performance measures from process plant operating data. It makes calculations on real-time data to generate profit measures from plant data in real time....

Exclusive: slimmer, faster wafer reader.(Products & software)
July 1, 2005... In-Sight 1721 wafer ID reader, available in September, tracks semiconductor wafers through the manufacturing process. It has a slimmer package and twice the speed of its predecessors and maintains mounting and functional compatibility. Advanced...

Next-generation processors.(Products & software)
July 1, 2005... E1 and E2 brain boards are next-generation I/O and communication processors. Ethernet versions of the company's Optomux family of brain boards are designed to migrate existing Optomux installations to faster networks, high performance, and more...

Servo option for motion controllers.(Products & software)
July 1, 2005... AMP-20542 low-inductance servo motor option for Galil's DMC-21X3 Series of Ethernet motion controllers directly attaches to the controller's 96-pin connector, eliminating the need for cabling. It contains four transconductance, PWM amplifiers...

Enhanced platform, vertical hardware.(Products & software)
July 1, 2005... Experion PKS R300 includes a redesign of Honeywell's automation and control platform hardware and new embedded cyber-security technology. Featuring an automated backup-and-restore capability, the system can automate complex procedures to...

Software manages drives.(Products & software)
July 1, 2005... DriveWizard software v.6.0 provides greater capacity for remotely viewing, manipulating, troubleshooting, and exchanging data with Yaskawa drives. Program is available online and downloaded free from the company Web site. New tools in v.6.0...

Servo motors for demanding use.(Products & software)
July 1, 2005... MaxPlusPlus (MPP) Series brushless servo motors are designed for demanding applications. Reportedly offering lower inertia and higher power in a smaller package than conventional motors, MPP Series features segmented lamination technology that...

3-D rapid prototyping program.(Products & software)
July 1, 2005... Rapid prototyping program offers 3-D, high-definition color prototypes that can be used for concept visualization, design review, mock-ups for form- and-fit testing, as well as patterns for casting applications. Latest technology is said to...

Microelectronic relays.(Products & software)
July 1, 2005... PVG612A Series of microelectronic relays (MER) is said to have as much as 40% more current handling capability and up to 50% better on-resistance than similar devices. Packed in a six-pin DIP, device has a variety of switching applications,...

Controller for flat-panel displays.(Products & software)
July 1, 2005... SVH-1920 feature-rich, multi-sync interface controller supports the latest generation of high-resolution LCDs and high-definition video flat-panel displays. It provides full screen buffering, multi-panel support, and a range of inputs....

Dual-axis 'averager' for rotary applications.(Products & software)
July 1, 2005... Mercury 3000Si dual axis averager includes two 8.4-mm tall high-performance Mercury encoder sensors, a SmartSignal dual-interpolator module, and a rotary glass scale. System eliminates eccentricity errors through an advanced signal-averaging...

Service agreements.(production management)
July 1, 2005... High-end automation may still include service as part of the installation, but increasingly, past initial purchase (and perhaps, installation), a service agreement may be needed with an automation vendor to ensure efficiency and return on...