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Automated factories and processes are too expensive to be rebuilt for every design change – so they have to be highly configurable and flexible. To successfully reconfigure an entire production line or process requires direct access to most of its control elements—switches, valves, motors and drives—down to a fine level of detail.

This article explains how to monitor vibration on common plant machinery using accelerometers. It includes a review of the hardware available today and what challenges condition monitoring providers are faced with to meet the requirements of the future.

Implementing a HSM solution for the first time involves (naturally) a learning curve. This involves developing an understanding of the class framework, support modules and application structure that would not be present if you were developing from scratch.

Computer technology has changed the framework of business in every industry, transforming the way the businesses operate internally, as well as they interface with customers and external businesses. Many companies today see computer technology as vital to delivering products and services to the marketplace.

The answer to this question can be found by exploring something called Terminal Services, a standard feature added to Microsoft Server software starting with Windows 2000.

In response to the growing need to freely communicate with a wide range of devices, protocols that originated in the BA industry have evolved to deliver straightforward access to a broad range of BA devices. Today, many vendor-specific proprietary protocols have given way to a standardized protocol such as BACnet.

Since OPC was introduced over ten years ago, it has seen a steady rise in popularity within the process control industry. Using OPC, automation professionals can now select from a wide range of client applications to connect to their PLCs and hardware devices.

A Variable Frequency Drive regulates the speed of a 3-phase AC electric motor by controlling the frequency and voltage of the power it delivers to the motor. Today, these devices are becoming prevalent in a wide range of applications throughout the industry, from motion control applications to ventilation systems and many others.

Strobe lights (or stroboscopes) have been used to study the behavior of rotating machinery, oscillating vibration of components or structures and for balancing for a number of years. Functionally, strobe lights can be very different.

The SSW5/USB converter cable is for connection of a Simatic S5 CPU to a PC with a USB interface. For PCs that do not have a serial interface, the SSW5/USB cable can connect to the PLC via a virtual COM port.

The fundamental concepts of servo motion control have not changed significantly in the last 50 years. The basic reasons for using servo systems in contrast to open loop systems include the need to improve transient response times, reduce the steady state errors and reduce the sensitivity to load parameters.

This paper suggests several mechanical, electrical, and software ideas that will enable conveyor designers to optimize conveyor reliability and "maintainability" without the need for large investments in equipment and design time. It introduces the concept of internally powered conveyor belt drives and offers generally applicable belt drive design software.

The standard reference for PID tuning seems to be the Ziegler-Nichols tuning rules developed in 1942 on a pneumatic controller.

A local area network (LAN) is a private network usually confined to one plant. Virtual LANs (VLANs) allow a single physical LAN to be partitioned into several smaller logical LANs. VLANs limit the broadcast domain, improve security and performance and are ideal for separating industrial automation systems from information technology systems.

The Ethernet-based IEC 61850 international standards for communication in power generation facilities and substations sets a high bar for Ethernet switch reliability. The goal of this standard is to integrate all of the protection, control, measurement, and monitoring functions within a substation.

A tuning method based on achieving smooth set point response is becoming more popular. The method guarantees stability, robustness and no overshoot. Shouldn't you be using it?

There are no industry-wide standards for PID controllers. However, robust and optimal control of process loops requires PID controllers to have certain abilities and features described here.

The more products your machine can produce and the fewer rejects that result, the greater the value of your machine. By value, we are not referring so much to the cost of your machine as to your competitive advantage. To satisfy these demands, it is essential to supply the machine function requirements, while at the same time, ensuring that the speed and quality aspects of production are optimized to the maximum extent possible.

This is written to describe the type of machinery that can be found in a typical fossil fuel (gas, oil or coal-fired) electric generating plant to better understand what type of instrumentation is being used for vibration monitoring.

Recent technological improvements have made machine vision accessible to small- and medium-size packagers so they can achieve improved results and even pursue brand risk avoidance to maintain consumer and retailer confidence.