Control Engineering articles from May 2009

Control Engineering archives from May 2009

Time-proportional control: more from an on/off switch.
May 1, 2009... Vance VanDoren, Ph.D., P.E., Control Engineering Time-proportional control , a form of pulse-width modulation , is a mathematical technique that allows a feedback controller to use an on/off or discrete actuator as if it were a continuous...

Energy efficiency ready for the dustbin?
May 1, 2009... David Greenfield, editorial director Have the industry efforts so recently begun toward achieving greater energy efficiencies already become passe? Is it already oh-so-five-minutes-ago? Listening to one industry analyst group in...

The Power of Real Time Intelligence.
May 1, 2009... Frank O Smith for Control Engineering Real time control is not just for the factory floor. It has begun to appeal to enterprise management wanting to gain competitive advantage. While very few organizations are there yet, the ones who are...

Control Panel Design: 60% Less Space.(CP Packaging)(Editorial)
May 1, 2009... Mark T. Hoske, Control Engineering CP Packaging won the first Control Engineering panel design contest based on a tutorial video its engineers produced and posted online in March. See and comment on all six panel design tutorial video...

Smart Drives Protect Their Motors.
May 1, 2009... Renee Robbins, Control Engineering Motion control systems get a predictive maintenance boost from intelligent drive electronics that perform like human nervous system reflexes. Like the self-maintaining robots of science fiction,...

Facility Focuses on Motors to Prevent Energy Waste.
May 1, 2009... Adam Krug, Eaton Sheboygan Regional Wastewater replaced its bi-metallic overload relays with overload and monitoring relays to detect conditions that could have resulted in motor or pump failure. The result was the ability to trend motor...

Addressing SIS Cyber Security: First or Last?(safety instrumentation systems)
May 1, 2009... Bob Huba and Chuck Miller, Emerson Process Management When considering integrated control and safety systems, building a strong defense is an investment in ensuring business continuity. February 2008: A company that boasts it provides...

Growing Shrimp is Big Business.
May 1, 2009... Paul Garcia, Wago Corp. Michigan shrimp farm automates care and feeding of tasty crustaceans. In the suburbs of Lansing, MI, far from the Pacific coast, there is a huge tank of salt water filled with many small creatures. Watching...

Reinvent yourself.(Editorial)
May 1, 2009... Mark T. Hoske, editor-in-chief Those practicing control engineering among their job responsibilities have an inherent advantage over others in the workplace, since the profession, by definition, requires continuous improvement. This means...

Power supply considerations: Size, application, environment.(Editorial)
May 1, 2009... Mark T. Hoske, editor in chief Are power quality and reliability among your concerns? Are you working on a power supply retrofit project? Here are considerations, large and small, for sizing, application, and integration, to ensure minimum...

New sensor views objects in 3D.
May 1, 2009... Staff ifm efector is launching a new 3D image sensor that the company calls a breakthrough in 3D technology. The sensor uses a combination of time-of -flight distance measurement, photonic mixing device technology, and an integrated smart...

Grocery Manufacturers Association outlines food safety reform agenda.
May 1, 2009... Staff Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) president and CEO Pam Bailey has announced that the group is advocating legislative and regulatory reforms that will modernize the U.S. food safety net, and prevent problems before they arise...

Feedback, KPIs critical to FDA's case for efficient manufacturing.(key performance indicators)(Food and Drug Administration)
May 1, 2009... Staff The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is promoting how knowledge acquired in the development, manufacture, and use of one generation of product can be applied to future generations that a company plans to market. To do this,...

NEMA Premium efficiency motor rebate program in U.S. energy bill.
May 1, 2009... Staff U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has adopted a NEMA-advocated provision that creates a premium energy-efficient motor rebate program, also known as a "crush for credit" program, according to the National Electrical...

Connect dozens of HMIs to one industrial PC.
May 1, 2009... Staff A new display and visualization concept from Beckhoff Automation provides for flexible connection of up to 255 Ethernet human machine interface (HMI) panels or panel PCs to one industrial PC. CP-Link 3 is based entirely on...

TÜV introduces energy efficiency certificate at Hannover Fair.
May 1, 2009... Staff TÜV SÜD's exhibit at Hannover Messe focused on the introduction of its newly developed "Energy-Efficient Systems and Installations" certificate. "Plant producers that deliberately focus on energy efficiency when...

Why do 50 Hz transformers cost more than 60 Hz transformers?
May 1, 2009... Staff The "Ask Control Engineering" blog recently received the following question from a reader: Most of the projects our company builds are used in North America, but we sometimes have to adapt equipment for overseas applications. Why is...

Senators introduce industrial revitalization bill.
May 1, 2009... Staff A bipartisan group of eight senators have introduced a bill aimed at renewing America's industrial sector by using less energy, reducing carbon emissions and producing the technologies that will help the U.S. (and world) reduce its...

Advancing Technology: Energy-efficient microchips.
May 1, 2009... Staff Energy savings at the micro-scale can be substantial when spread over a vast number of chips, albeit less evident than in larger-scale products. Controllers using such chips can be embedded in myriad applications, leading to the...

Pharmaceutical industry update.
May 1, 2009... Staff Peter Welander talks to David Hankins and Glenn Restivo from Siemens' pharmaceutical industry center about manufacturing challenges in a heavily regulated and rapidly consolidating industry. To listen to this podcast, visit...

NERC to utilities: Reduce cyber security risk.
May 1, 2009... Staff In a letter to the electric utility industry, Michael Assante, chief security officer for NERC (National Electric Reliability Corporation), is delivering a diplomatic but pointed message: By trying to avoid regulation, utilities are...

Expanded 'pocket' PLC.
May 1, 2009... Staff Galil Motion Control a new RIO-471x2 Pocket PLC that provides expanded program memory, variables, arrays and programmable PID control loops. The unit provides 400 lines of program memory and 254 symbolic variables--twice as many as...

Flowmeter with direct read scale.
May 1, 2009... Staff Aalborg offers direct reading flow tube scales for its model P, S, and T flowmeters. Designed for a specific gas or liquid at a given temperature and pressure, a unit can be configured to read flow rates for those specified...

Photoelectric sensor with touchscreen.
May 1, 2009... Staff Banner Engineering Corp. has introduced the iVu Series TG Image Sensor, which combines the simplicity of a photoelectric sensor with the intelligence of a vision sensor to deliver inspection capabilities. Reportedly the first sensor...

New family of dc brushless motors, controls.
May 1, 2009... Staff New dc brushless motors and controls from Baldor Electric Co. allow adjustable speed applications (mixers, blowers, indexers, feeders, and conveyors) to enjoy the benefits of brushless technology: higher torque and more power in...

Industrial AP/VPN/router with 3.5G cellular support.
May 1, 2009... Staff Aaxeon Technologies' AP/VPN/router with 3.5G cellular support is a 802.11b/g WLAN access point/router with two 10/100TX ports. It can be configured to operate in three modes of routing functions: Dynamic/Static IP route, PPPoE...

Touch panel computer with 2GB of RAM.
May 1, 2009... Staff The Industrial Automation Group of Advantech introduces the TPC-1780H, a 17-in. SXGA TFT LCD fanless touch panel PC with an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU. The TPC-1780H has an ultra slim design (93mm depth) and a die-cast aluminum NEMA4/IP65...

Controller uses microSD memory card.
May 1, 2009... Staff Opto 22 announces that its standalone and rack-mounted programmable automation controllers are now equipped with a microSD card slot that supports standard cards up to 2 GB. Such removable data storage in controllers enables easy...

RISC single board computer, many I/O choices.
May 1, 2009... Staff Delivering RISC computing power, the 7.5 x 5.0-in. SBC-R9 single board computer from Sealevel is based on an Atmel AT91SAM9263 MCU with 32-bit ARM instruction set and embedded software environment. Standard I/O includes Ethernet,...

Portable data logger with 4 button interface.
May 1, 2009... Staff The OM-SQ2020 series of hand held data loggers from Omega Engineering feature 8 true differential or 16 single-ended universal analog inputs plus 2 high voltage, 4 pulse, and 8 digital event/state inputs. The analog inputs can be...

Piezo resistive pressure sensor.
May 1, 2009... Staff Yamatake Corp. of the azbil Group (azbil North America Inc.) announced the AT9000 Advanced Transmitter model GTX pressure transmitter, designed to improve the safety of plant operations in petroleum, petrochemical and chemical...

Solid and colored wire duct.
May 1, 2009... Staff AutomationDirect has extended its T1 series slotted wire duct line to include black and blue for specialized wiring identification. Blue wiring duct is typically used to indicate the wiring to intrinsically safe components in a...

Panel mount PID controller features simple interface.
May 1, 2009... Staff The new EZ-Zone PM Express panel mount controller from Watlow reportedly fills the need for a PID controller delivering advanced control functionality while having a basic user interface. The interface is supported by two menus and a...

Photoelectric sensor reflectors for washdown environments.
May 1, 2009... Staff Pepperl+Fuchs has introduced two new models of rectangular reflectors designed to work with photoelectric sensors in food and beverage applications. The H20X40F and H60F reflectors feature IP69K protection to withstand severe high...

Industrial PCs with Intel Core2 Duo, Quad processors.
May 1, 2009... Staff To increase PC-based control performance with flexible, user-friendly hardware, Beckhoff Automation announces its new C66xx series industrial PCs. This new series offers high processing power and compact device dimensions, company...

Synchronous servo gear units.
May 1, 2009... Staff Increased flexibility and productivity for automated production systems is delivered by SEW-Eurodrive in a new family of synchronous servo gear units. The modular product line creates more than 6,000 integrated solutions that combine...

Ethernet switch and serial device server.
May 1, 2009... Staff Moxa releases the first model in the NPort S8000 series, which combines an Ethernet switch and serial device server with two fiber Ethernet ports, three Ethernet ports, and four RS-232/422/485 serial ports. The design saves cabinet...

Economical, single-axis ac servo drive.
May 1, 2009... Staff Siemens Energy & Automation Inc. introduces a new, economical, single-axis ac servo drive that is said to be easily commissioned, highly flexible, and conveniently connected to higher-level controllers. The Siemens Sinamics S110...

415 Parts Seen.
May 1, 2009... Edited by Mark T. Hoske, editor in chief, Control Engineering, mhoske@reedbusiness.com Vision-enabled vibratory bowl feeder handles hundreds of parts for a pick-and-place robot -- and productivity jumps 20%. The vibratory bowl conveyor...

Motion and Vision Combine to Detect Flaws.
May 1, 2009... Howard Foster, MicroCraft Corp. Ensuring defect-free plastic film on printed circuit boards requires the detection of flaws as small as 10 microns. Plastic film is highly valued in the computer industry where plastic sheeting is used...

Intelligent Vision Stops Bypass of Quality Control.
May 1, 2009... Sarah Sookman, Matrox Imaging System delivers 'anti-circumvention' technology. Operators sometimes employ clever and often low-tech strategies for bypassing a vision-based label quality-control system. Sometimes they simply shut off...

The New Look of Facial Recognition.
May 1, 2009... Peter Welander, Control Engineering Machine vision evaluates human faces to recognize age, gender, and even state of mind. While the ability of a computer to look at a person's face and compare it to one in a database is fairly common,...

Investment decisions are not automatic in tough market.
May 1, 2009... John Kalkowski, Editorial Director, Packaging Digest Despite evidence that automation can lower their labor costs and help them gain a competitive edge, most packagers are delaying decisions to purchase automated equipment during the...

Balancing energy use, production capabilities.
May 1, 2009... Jeanine Katzel for Control Engineering Optimizing seemingly conflicting goals like energy use and production output requires a focus on the total machine and its components, especially motors. Packaging machinery OEMs need to find a...

Automation drives efficiency, lowers cost.
May 1, 2009... Jack Mans, Plant Operations Editor, Packaging Digest Machine control, programming and a linear motion system on a servo-driven, balcony case packer reduced installation and startup times by 30 to 35 percent and helped reduce hardware costs...

Successful system integration in a recession: 10 tips.
May 1, 2009... Dan Walser, Applied Motion Systems An economic recession may be the perfect time for smart engineers to upgrade their plants and plan for recovery. While the sales staff works on finding new business, operations and design staff can take...