Control Engineering articles from September 2006

Control Engineering archives from September 2006

Measure Up with Machine Vision.(tricks and tips to improve setup and use of machine vision for various applications)
September 1, 2006... Mark T. Hoske, Control Engineering Reflect quality: This primer of tips and tricks can improve setup and use of machine vision for gauging, diagnostics, and other applications. Vision systems help manufacturers improve quality and...

Harmonic Mitigation in AC Drives.(proper management of power and drive systems)
September 1, 2006... Rick Hoadley, Rockwell Automation Suppress voltage distortions from adjustable speed drives before they create problems throughout your plant. Adjustable speed drives inherently create harmonic currents as they take three-phase ac...

Choose Instrumentation without Sensory Overload.
September 1, 2006... Peter Welander, Control Engineering Digging through manufacturer data to find what is really important for your process. Selecting instrumentation for a new or revised process can be daunting, especially if it involves unfamiliar...

Standardizing the Operator Interface.
September 1, 2006... Jeanine Katzel, Control Engineering As applications increase in number and complexity, demand is growing to establish common configurations and procedures that will make interacting with processes and operations safer, consistent,...

I/O Implementations.
September 1, 2006... Mark T. Hoske, Control Engineering Consider rip and replace, think modularly, don't hardwire, and save up to 75% in your next system upgrade. Replacing I/O connections is often seen as the least-desirable automation upgrade in the...

Field data access improves business performance.
September 1, 2006... Staff AOC, a global supplier of resins, gel coats, colorants and additives for composites and cast polymers, needed to use data more effectively to free up personnel; ensure consistency in production planning, scheduling, inventory...

Network security is more than encryption.
September 1, 2006... Daryl Miller Much data transmitted over networks is sent in clear text, making it easy for unwanted persons to capture and read sensitive information. Encryption plays a vital role in securing these data by translating them into a secret...

10 years, still innovating.(Editorial)
September 1, 2006... Mark T. Hoske, Editor-in-Chief One of the first things Control Engineering (CE ) did on its new Website 10 years ago was a Weblog. We didn't know to call it a blog, naming it "Control Engineering Forum" instead. Who knew? Now...

Worldwide collaboration.
September 1, 2006... Renee Robbins, Editorial Director Attention North American engineers: If you've not yet had the pleasure of 10 p.m. conferences calls to India, multi-leg travels to obscure Chinese provinces or months of Internet-based collaboration with...

Functional safety in real-time Ethernet.
September 1, 2006... Franz Kaufleitner and Anton Meindl The Ethernet network standard is an integral part of machine and manufacturing automation. Standard components, protocols, and tools provide openness, continuity, and data transparency. For this reason,...

Ease of Use in Engineering.
September 1, 2006... Todd Stauffer Developing complex control systems requires input of engineers, managers, and other stakeholders. Engineering management software systems can help prevent project chaos. An engineering support system for developing...

Flow Conditioners.(eliminating flow problems and improvement of flow measurement accuracy)
September 1, 2006... Don Lundberg Straighten out flow problems caused by twisted piping to improve flow measurement accuracy. If you're planning to expand, upgrade, or retrofit your plant, chances are it will be hard to find a place for all that new or...

Avoiding the Culture of Double Fieldbus.
September 1, 2006... Claude Hestroffer Keeping things simpler with process instrumentation and discrete control on one bus. Schenectady Europe Ltd., located at Four Ashes, U.K. (near Wolverhampton), has produced intermediate industrial chemicals for over...

Ride the enterprise service bus.(use of enterprise service buses by Information Technology companies)
September 1, 2006... Dennis Brandl, BR&L Consulting The typical IT environment is a federation of systems. The term "federation" in the IT world is applied to collections of applications from multiple vendors that work together to support business processes. A...

Seeking dollars for delays.
September 1, 2006... Mark Voigtmann, Baker & Daniels LLP When a delay occurs on an automation project, and your company is considering whether to seek additional compensation, there are really only four questions. The first question is "who caused it?" If...

Freescale forum focuses on innovation, technology.(Freescale Semiconductor Inc.)
September 1, 2006... Staff Embedded developers enjoy more freedom in designing computing, networking, and communication systems, according to attendees and organizers of a recent technology gathering. "Design Freedom" was the theme that drew nearly 2,000 total...

Teledyne to buy Rockwell Scientific.
September 1, 2006... Staff Teledyne Technologies Inc. agreed to acquire Rockwell Scientific Co. for $167.5 million in cash, with the sellers retaining certain liabilities. Rockwell Scientific is 50% owned by Rockwell Automation and Rockwell Collins, and the...

Non-auto robotics markets fare better; U.S. 2nd only to Japan.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Staff Cyclical downturn in robot sales to the North American automotive industry helped reduce first-half 2006 new orders received by North American-based robotics companies by 38%, according to the Robotic Industries Association. RIA also...

Better corrosion monitoring would have helped BP.(BP Exploration Alaska Inc.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Staff BP Exploration Alaska Inc. is looking into whether to shutdown or drastically reduce production at the Prudhoe Bay oil field to repair pipeline corrosion damage. Shutdown could reduce oil production by 400,000 barrels a day and seems...

Embedded system design: NI's next frontier.(Editorial)
September 1, 2006... Renee Robbins, Control Engineering editorial director Noting that "programming languages have a lifespan of about 50 years," National Instruments president and CEO Dr. James Truchard laid out a new vision for the next 30 years of innovation...

GarretCom acquires Dymec, increases power utility focus.
September 1, 2006... Staff GarrettCom Inc. announced it is acquiring Dymec Inc., broadening GarrettCom's industrial Ethernet product offerings, sales, and service channels to include Dymec's substation-hardened network products, with a specific concentration...

Benchmarks: industry gains R&D spending.
September 1, 2006... Staff Measurement, Control & Automation Association (MCAA) reports that 2005 "was a good year for everyone," after collecting information on the operating performance of its 36 member companies--North American manufacturers and...

IBM plans to buy MRO Software for $740 million.
September 1, 2006... Staff IBM announced plans to acquire MRO Software Inc., a publicly held company based in Bedford, MA, in a cash transaction of approximately $740 million. The acquisition (subject to MRO Software shareholder, regulatory reviews, and other...

Fall into education.
September 1, 2006... Staff Educational opportunities in late September and October include more than 15 U.S. automation-related conferences, shows, and expositions. These include Get on the Fast Track to Fieldbus, 15th annual Embedded Systems Conference...

Advanced coal-fired power plant uses digital network.(Drax Power Ltd.)(FOUNDATION fieldbus process control systems)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Staff Drax Power Station, reported to be the U.K.'s largest, cleanest, and most-efficient coal-fired power plant is installing FOUNDATION fieldbus-based Rosemount temperature transmitters and interface units on one of its units, says owner...

Baldor: 3 U.S. expansions.
September 1, 2006... Staff Baldor Electric Co. completed three U.S. expansion efforts, two in manufacturing, and one in education. Baldor has recently completed the move of its Columbus, MS, plant to a new facility located a few miles from the old...

Users benefit with vendors' technology road shows.
September 1, 2006... Staff Taking a program to the customer is way to reach contacts who don't have time for traditional tradeshows. ABB, Invensys, and Wago have all launched programs to deliver technology presentations to the customer, offering demonstrations...

Investments, slower growth likely for industrial controls.
September 1, 2006... Staff National Electrical Manufacturers Association's (NEMA) primary industrial controls index dropped slightly from first-quarter 2006 to the second quarter, suggesting the rate of growth is slowing, compared to faster growth over the...

Upgrade adds 15 years to system at BASF plant.
September 1, 2006... Staff BASF has launched a renovation of its Ludwigshafen, Germany, acetylene plant designed to extend the life of its 16-year-old Foxboro I/A system at least another 15 years. Invensys Process Systems is upgrading the automation system in...

Exclusive: Decentralized motion control.(SEW-Eurodrive Inc.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Staff SEW-Eurodrive, provider of integrated power transmission and motion controls, has introduced Movifit Field Integrated Technology, which it calls the next generation in intelligent decentralized control. Movifit reportedly combines...

Small, remote-controlled robot searches to destroy explosives.
September 1, 2006... Staff Seeker series R-500 robot is designed for repeated use in reconnaissance and surveillance to identify and destroy improvised explosive devices (IED) and other threats. The robot is part of the next generation of the seeker series...

Digi International adds more wireless capability.
September 1, 2006... Staff Digi International Inc. acquired MaxStream Inc., described as a "fast-growing, privately held corporation and a leader in the wireless device networking market." The acquisition is a merger transaction for $38.5 million of cash and...

Harbor Research 2006: Machines will talk more.
September 1, 2006... Staff Machines will communicate much more in coming years, according to a report for all major wireless and wireline technologies for the M2M (machine to machine) pervasive Internet (PI) market, covering eight key vertical market sectors...

China university helps UGS improve manufacturing.(Jilin University, UGS PLM Solutions)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Staff UGS, product lifecycle management ( PLM) software and services provider, and China's Jilin University (JLU) have signed an original equipment manufacturer agreement to integrate JLU's one-step formability analysis technology into NX,...

By the Numbers.
September 1, 2006... Staff 2 things about truth, according to Oscar Wilde: "The truth is rarely pure and never simple." The quote starts Chapter 12 "Learning from others" in the 367-page "Integrating Discrete-Event Simulation into the Manufacturing System...

Exclusive: Smart switch for critical applications.
September 1, 2006... Staff EKI-6538 smart switch from Advantech is intended for mission-critical plant-floor applications. Said to have many features of a managed switch at a price comparable to an unmanaged one, the device is equipped with eight 10/100Base-TX...

Exclusive: HMI with programmable function buttons.(HMi analog touchscreen operator interface from Eaton Corp)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Staff HMi analog touchscreen operator interface (OI) from Eaton Corp. features programmable function buttons and is available in 4-, 6-, 8-, and 10-in. models. OI can store recipes, historical and alarm data, or transfer data to a USB...

Loop Optimization Software.
September 1, 2006... Dick Johnson, Control Engineering Available as basic programs or through outside services, these packages provide a wide array of functionality and features. Control loop tuning strategies are critical to optimizing plant performance,...

Wireless LAN for controllers.
September 1, 2006... Staff WL01 industrial wireless LAN extension for IPC@Chip controllers SC123 / SC143 from Beck IPC makes it possible to connect to mobile and distributed automation devices via TCP/IP without proprietary wireless technologies. Separate,...

Enclosures for large control systems.
September 1, 2006... Staff ControlTower Series from Stahlin, for large industrial control systems and machine tool control panels, is suited for indoor and outdoor environments in chemical processing, petroleum and refining, pulp and paper, mining, and food...

Dissolved sulfide monitor.(Analytical Technology Inc. (Bingham Farms, Michigan))(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Staff Non-contact dissolved sulfide monitor from Analytical Technology provides a cost-effective method for measuring sulfides in water. Model A15/81 uses a polagraphic H2S gas sensor isolated from the sample to create a system that...

Ruggedized converters in wide input ranges.(Schaefer Inc.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Staff C2500 Series of ruggedized, 400 W, 3 U high, VME/Eurorack compatible dc/dc and ac/dc converters from Schaefer Inc. use industrial grade components, making them suitable for such applications as process control systems and power...

Magnetic linear encoders.(Admotec Inc.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Staff E Series of linear magnetic encoders from Admotec Inc. are intended for demanding automated machinery applications. Devices are said to provide high performance in measurement and feedback situations where optical scales don't work...

Plant floor/SAP integration.(Junot Systems Inc.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Staff SAP-certified NLink product suite from Junot Systems Inc. now includes a new auto-documentation module that produces Microsoft Visio-driven graphical views of configured interfaces, supports OPC unified architecture, and has improved...

SoC for network connectivity.(Hilscher North America Inc. introduces system on chip )(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Staff Hilscher North America's netX system-on-chip (SoC) is designed for industrial control products that require built-in network connectivity. With available network stacks, netX can be master or slave for all major industrial Ethernet...

Ethernet switches for gigabit communication.
September 1, 2006... Staff Scalance X family of industrial Ethernet switches from Siemens Energy & Automation offers four options for high-performance gigabit communication. Four models use signaling contact, digital inputs, and simple network protocol (SNMP)...

Coprocessor chip adds WiFi connectivity.
September 1, 2006... Staff Connect One's iChipSec CO711AG secure Internet protocol (IP) coprocessor chip adds encrypted WiFi connectivity to machine-to-machine applications. It encrypts and decrypts data and acts as a controller that enables a host processor...

LFT electronics chassis.
September 1, 2006... Staff Liquid flow-through (LFT) electronics chassis for high-power embedded electronics applications from Parker Hannifin supports manufacturers and users of open-system architectures. Self-contained system has its own closed-loop liquid...

Differential pressure sensors.
September 1, 2006... Staff Wet/wet differential pressure sensor Model 5300 from Sensor System Solutions Inc. comes in five standard pressure range configurations (5, 15, 30, 100, and 300 psid) and for OEM customizations. It features a standard 4-20 mA...

Extreme temperature Coriolis meters.
September 1, 2006... Staff High-temperature Coriolis meters from Micro Motion are designed for tough applications. Rated to 800 1396991858F (427 1396991858C), they are equipped with heat-tolerant components throughout the sensor body. Transmitters are located...

VFDs in 40- to 60-hp range.
September 1, 2006... Staff Danfoss Drives' VLT AutomotiveDrive variable frequency drives now come in the 40- to 60-hp range. Power extension covers IP21 and IP55-rated enclosures in the 380 to 480/500-V range. Design is now available to satisfy power demands...

Fast, low-power SBC.
September 1, 2006... Staff Eurocom 400 CPU from American Eltec features the new dual-core Intel Xeon processor LV 2.0 GH with dual CPU capabilities in combination with the COM Express platform, the PICMG-defined form factor for computers-on-modules that...

Vision sensor sees shapes, colors, includes LCD.
September 1, 2006... Staff ZFV-C Smart Sensor from Omron Electronics is said to offer sensing capabilities close to human vision. New color sensing abilities allow the device to "see" images invisible to monochromatic sensors and make it more reliable for...

On-chip debug support for processors.
September 1, 2006... Staff Support for Freescale Semiconductor Inc.'s ColdFire family of 32-bit microprocessors is now available from Macraigor Systems LLC through its OCDemon family of products. The usb2Demon background debug mode (BDM) interface device for...

LVT CMOS process module.
September 1, 2006... Staff Advanced low-threshold (LVT) CMOS process module based on 0.35 A[acute accent]m analog CMOS (C35) technology extends austriamicrosystems' foundry technology portfolio. Set of 3.3 and 5.0 V NMOS and PMOS devices offer threshold...

Resistive touchscreen monitors.
September 1, 2006... Staff Two 15-in. touchscreen monitors from Planar are said to deliver a lower price-point for a variety of applications. PT1520MU features a sturdy deskstand that allows the monitor to be tilted from 0 to 901396991858. Monitor has a...

Robots for high-speed applications.
September 1, 2006... Staff Kuka KR5 Scara robot family from Kuka Robotics Corp. is intended for high speed applications that entail long-reach tasks. When combined with the company's PC-based control platform, the compact, 4-axis robots create an easy to learn...

Miniature molded case circuit breakers.
September 1, 2006... Staff UL489 ac and dc miniature molded case circuit breakers from Altech are suitable for a wide range of applications, including low inrush motors, appliances, lighting, wiring protection, transformers, power supplies, and industrial...

DC motors with skewed armature design.
September 1, 2006... Staff Pittman Series 8000 brush-commutated dc motors feature a 7-slot skewed armature design to minimize magnetic cogging (reluctance torque) and promote smooth and quiet operation. Family of motors is suited for a wide range of power...

Protect control systems with a sound security strategy.
September 1, 2006... Bryan Singer, CISM, CISSP At one time, the technologies that supported most manufacturing processes were self-contained, proprietary, and disconnected. Today much of that has changed. The instant connectivity brought about by the Internet...