Articles and News

ISA awarded $62,000, which was distributed among students in two- and four-year colleges and universities, and graduate students.

The PLC and PLC-based PAC market declined significantly across the world in 2009 and ARC thinks it might be coming back--but it's not sure.

The worldwide Electric Power SCADA market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.3 percent from 2009 through 2014, predicts ARC.

ABB invested $20 million in California-based Trilliant, a provider of smart grid communications infrastructure.

Catalog covers single-phase and three-phase UPS, power conditioners, monitoring software and adapters, power filters and communication line protection.

Automation.com, July 2010 By Mark Howard, Zettlex The accuracy, resolution and repeatability of a position transducer are critical selection factors, but often cause confusion amongst engineers.

Emerson will supply 67 redundant Ovation controllers, 20 workstations and more than 70 Fisher control valves to Huadian Lingwu Unit 3 and Unit 4.

Honeywell will upgrade nine Experion servers and 45 Experion stations at the gas processing plant at Ras Laffan to improve the facility’s efficiency and reduce maintenance costs.

“Old School” versus “Young Turk” facility managers go head-to-head in a humorous video created by Siemens Industry, Inc.

Galezio be responsible for facility and personnel safety, and streamlining company procedures to reduce cycle times and improve work-flow.

HPI diagnosed the cause of significant vibrations affecting one of the backup emergency turbines at the plant on Long Island.

Together with the IEC 67184-3 specification, the Safety-over-EtherCAT Protocol has been accepted unanimously by the 27 national IEC committees.

European low voltage ac motor market is predicted to grow from $2.2 billion in 2009 to $3 billion in 2016.

Farnese Australia used an Ethernet-based controller for its latest product, the Quantum bridge saw.

The UPA-130 series Universal Voltage Alert achieved hazardous area certifications (Class 1, Division 2, HAZ LOC, Groups A, B, C, D).

Dr. Michio Kaku, author and professor at City College of New York, will deliver the closing keynote address at NIWeek 2010, Aug. 3–5 in Austin, Texas.

May U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $178.34 million, according to AMTDA and AMT, up 58.6% from $112.42 million in May 2009.

The key improvements to the VXIbus in Revision 4.0 are higher throughput, increased power, and better synchronization.

Lambtech Enterprises will have responsibility for Robotic End-of-Arm Tooling sales in California for palletizing, packaging, and general material handling markets.

Emerson will be responsible for providing the strategy, design, and engineering of the process control and monitoring technologies to support the production facility.

Based in Le Mans, France, CEP and PROTOMETAL provide rapid prototyping and manufacturing parts solutions to large and small businesses.

The new facility is located in Granger, Indiana, and is headed by Mr. Josh Haag, President – North American Operations.

PTS uses coded labels and Web-based software to help ThyssenKrupp ID, track and replace hose assemblies.

EUROMAP, the European association of plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers, has included POWERLINK in the EUROMAP 75 specification.

The brochure presents a number of new applications along with a variety of low-cost flexure actuators for OEMs.

Prior to Fiberguide, Pensa was Regional Sales Manager for Sixnet and Siemens. Pensa holds a BSEE from the Stevens Institute of Technology.

Emerson will install its Ovation expert control system at Rabigh Power Plant units 1 and 2.

By Mark Lampert, Banner Engineering Vision provides a valuable snapshot of the full Food and Beverage application in process. Thus, it is able to analyze multiple features of interest at once, such as label presence and placement, and hue variations that could mean the difference between a “good” and “bad” product.

Kamen is the inventor of the Segway and founder of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology).

The Chinese language site details Semaphore's offering of T-BOX and Kingfisher RTU products for remote automation, monitoring, and SCADA systems.

LinkedIn forum facilitates ongoing user communication regarding the DEACOM ERP Software System, industry issues, news, best practices, and more.

Capcoder uses the torque sensing system as the core of the datalogging capabilities of its bottle sealing machines.

Drilling Technical Services (DTS) used Siemens Simotion D435 motion controller to develop a mid-width web roll-to-roll die cutter.

The HM-USB-ISO passed the rigorous HART Communication Foundation (HCF) registration program and has been officially registered by the HCF to meet protocol specifications.

Korenix entered into an alliance with Westermo. Beijer Electronics Group, of which Westermo is a part, acquired a minority share of Korenix.

Zwick Roell TV on YouTube enables viewers to watch, in detail, all sorts of products and materials being tested to destruction using advanced robotic systems.

Singapore Robotic offers a broad range of technology components and tools used in robotics development.

ABB will supply and maintain all internal and external telecommunications systems for Statoil’s offshore operations on the Norwegian continental shelf.

ABB will supply transformers, medium- and low-voltage switchgear, protection devices and control systems for three photovoltaic (PV) solar power plants in western Sicily.

Improvements in version 5.0 include data exchange enhancements, a real-time 3D plan and print option, a search and replace feature and an improved printing menu.

Emerson’s technology and plant automation and control solutions are helping customers convert biomass or waste fuel into steam and electrical power.

VisuNet Series Industrial Flat Panel LCD Monitors have received Class II Division 2 certification for use in dust environments.

Evolution Robotics Retail, a company located in California, has unique expertise in visual pattern recognition technology.

Dexter Magnetic Technologies will be a franchised value-added provider of austriamicrosystems’ magnetic sensors and associated magnetic products, including engineered modules, in North America.

In an era of historically high prices for metals and energy, manufacturers are feeling the pinch. To ease the effect of increasing costs of these products, industry is taking a close look at ways of keeping energy and material expenses in line. Investing in robotics for material removal can be part of a mix of strategies to keep costs down by more efficiently using materials, time and energy.

By William Gilbert, Siemens Improved operation, reduced maintenance, motor power savings and conservation of energy make AC regen drives a decided advantage for converting, packaging, printing, wireforming and other roll-fed machinery, where driven unwinds can be implemented.

By Laser Design Kimberly-Clark wanted to know: Should it install larger diameter embossing machines when it increased line speed? Shadow casting with a laser image processing said the existing embosser could handle it, saving $500K.

HayssenSandiacre makes horizontal and vertical form fill and seal equipment and support services for the packaging industry.

By Pentair Smith & Wesson saves more than $48,000 annually and has improved the quality of the company’s recycled oil since employing the Driflex Oil Conditioning System.

BeadMonitor measurement system, developed by Oxford Sensor Technology, uses Micro-Epsilon’s scanCONTROL 2700 non-contact laser profile displacement sensor.

Dorot will supply two 24-inch control valves with an electronic controller, along with several smaller diameter valves, which will control main water lines in the network.

Automation.com, June 2010 By Tony Udelhoven, TURCK Conditions sensors must endure in welding environments remain consistently harsh: temperatures in excess of 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit, currents ranging from 15,000 to 35,000 Amps, and frequent weld flash occurrences.

This is the second mine hoist system that ABB will deliver for the new main haulage level at Malmberget.

HoseFinder mobile app makes it fast and convenient to search for hydraulic hose products and information on the go.

Smidler, previously Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, has been appointed president following Jack Cahill’s retirement.

The ST75 Flow Meter is now ATEX and IECEx approved for safety in hazardous and potentially explosive plant environments.

ICS provides turnkey solutions – including planning, engineering, configuration, installation, and commissioning – for turbomachinery automation retrofits.

CeTÜV SÜD assessed Simulink PLC Coder as suitable for development processes that must comply with IEC 61508-3 and its process industry adaptation, IEC 61511-1.

Brochure describes AMCI product lines that are referenced in the Rockwell Automation Encompass Partners Program.

RotoPrecision to become Ruland’s master distributor in Canada for shaft collars and couplings.

Website details product offerings with interactive product demonstrations, product pictures, specs, CAD drawings, product literature, manuals and more.

2010 Solution Paper, a hard copy 106-page catalogue, has 60 selected success stories by Ethernet Direct in different industries.

Honeywell to supply wireless instrumentation, Experion DCS, Safety Manager, UniSim simulation software, and a LIMS to Abu Dhabi Gas Development Company.

E-commerce portal offers online purchase of training classes, parts and accessories for metrology systems.

White paper from Control Microsystems explores the various ways in which operators can tightly integrate wireless instrumentation networks with SCADA systems in automation, process control, building automation, pipelines, W&WW plants and similar applications.

ACH550 line of drives and bypasses for HVAC has been added to the “Facilities Development Division (FDD) List of Equipment/Components with OSHPD Special Seismic Certification Pre-Approval (OSP).”

Sixteen-page full-color brochure from ABB overviews measurement solutions for industries, utilities and municipalities.

The Lens Selector iPhone application helps find the correct imaging lens for a machine vision application.

Dresser Masoneilan will provide four nuclear power plants with Variable Resistance Trim (VRT) control valves valued at $10 million.

Seven industry suppliers joined the Rockwell Automation Encompass third-party product referencing program.

The existing Westinghouse EHC control system on the Winyah plant’s Unit #4 steam turbine generator will be migrated to a Mark VIe TMR control system.

Engineers seeking to design cost-effective production processes can get step-by-step instructions on how to select local or global optimization routines from the Numerical Algorithms Group (NAG) Library.

Automation.com, June 2010 By Sam Drury, Impress Sensors & Systems The latest silicon pressure sensors have much-improved mechanically-sealed designs, which use only a fraction of the volume of oil compared to previous versions.

Motoman Robotics will build a 300,000 square foot office and production facility in West Carrollton, Ohio.

Micro Motion Online Community provides a forum for exploring measurement challenges, discussing Coriolis flow and density applications, and sharing best practices to optimize user processes.