Articles and News

This paper describes the application of the Fieldgate HART to XML based field server and the open standard Fieldcare Field Device Tool (FDT) to gain on demand access to selected HART devices over wired and wireless Information Technology based Local Area Networks (LAN) and Wide Area Networks (WAN).

This article was provided by Parker Compumotor, written by John Guite, Product Planning Manager for Parker Automation - Compumotor Division. Parker Compumotor is a leader in the motion control industry providing solutions for factory automation needs. They takes a system approach to solving your application and build an integrated family of products to match your needs. For more information, please visit Compumotor's website at: http://www.compumotor.com.

As recruiters in the factory automation industry, we are frequently asked to help manage people's careers and answer the question "Where do I go from here?" Basically, there are three distinct career paths in this industry, namely

This paper will take just such a high altitude look at the development of Microsoft’s .NET technology with the intent of helping industrial automation users understand the context of .NET and what it might be able to do for users in the future.

Users are pushing motors closer to their theoretical torque and power limits. In order to protect motors under these rated conditions, accurate thermal models of the motor are needed.

To implement a design, Mechatronics Concept Designer generates the control application code in the PLCopen XML standard format to create programs for controllers.

A brief examination of the latest improvements to magnetic level gauge (MLG) systems will help bring any engineer up-to-date on the hardware that is now available to help improve plant operations.

When it comes to robots, reality still lags science fiction. But, just because robots have not lived up to their promise in past decades does not mean that they will not arrive sooner or later. Indeed, the confluence of several advanced technologies is bringing the age of robotics ever nearer – smaller, cheaper, more practical and cost-effective.

As Ethernet evolved to incorporate twisted-pair cabling and star topology, a repeating hub was necessary in order to connect the various link segments together. With the introduction of switching hubs as a replacement for repeating hubs, network performance was enhanced by breaking up one collision domain into several collision domains.

In this paper, we discuss different recovery requirements for redundant solutions, as well as approaches to keeping redundant hardware and software architectures running reliably and at peak performance. The technology related to redundant solutions will also be considered.

With the immense interest in the Internet and the potential of attaching control networks to the Internet, the protocol stack of choice is TCP/IP because it provides the foundation for the Internet. This article addresses issues related to the IP portion of the TCP/IP stack as it applies to control networks.

The key to realizing greater savings from more informed management decisions is to predetermine the "True" cost of downtime for each profit center category. TDC is a methodology of analyzing all cost factors associated with downtime, and using this information for cost justification and day to day management decisions.

The trend toward using Ethernet as the sole communications network for business and industry has raised concerns about security. While proprietary networks for building or factory automation have major drawbacks in terms of limiting information flow and higher cost, their separation from other systems provides a measure of protection against unauthorized access.