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This month at ControlDesign.com

ControlDesign.com

Find the reliable information you've come to expect from ControlDesign.com editors, along with links to useful online articles and whitepapers from around the industrial OEM community for May 2007.

By Rick Pedraza, Managing Editor, Digital Media

New PAC Knowledge Center Debuts Online
Optimizing your automation with programmable automation controllers (PACs) to boost machine productivity and manufacturing efficiency has been made easier with the launch of a new online Knowledge Center on ControlDesign.com.

The PAC Knowledge Center by National Instruments offers an in-depth look at how a PAC platform can facilitate the efficient and integrated deployment of high accuracy measurements, in-line analysis, machine diagnosis and advanced control.

Also available from the PAC Knowledge Center is a motion control resource kit, from which you can learn the fundamentals of motion control and techniques for implementing advanced motion control systems. The kit includes new whitepapers, tutorials, presentations and a teaching guide on how to design a complete motion control system.

Go to ControlDesign.com/pacs.html.

Take Our Annual Salary and State-of-Mind Survey
It’s that time again. We need your help with our 7th Annual Control Design Salary and State-of-Mind Survey. As always, the quality of our salary survey data depends entirely on you taking a few minutes to complete the survey. As a small measure of our appreciation, you can enroll yourself in the running for our drawing for one $100 gift certificate for every 100 responses we receive. Those aren’t bad odds. Let us know by going to ControlDesign.com/salarysurvey.html.

WHITE PAPERS

How to Protect Against Overloads and Short Circuits
This paper gives pointers on how to protect against the dangers of overload and short circuits, and how to make the right breaker selection.

DC Drive Fundamentals
This paper examines some of the basic characteristics obtainable from DC motors and their associated solid- state controls.

To download PDF papers, go to ControlDesign.com/whitepapers.

SPECIAL TO THE WEB

How to Build a WiiMote-Controlled Robot
A couple of enterprising guys from USMechatronics came up with the idea to take a robotic arm from Kuka Robotics, add a laptop talking to a WiiMote, strap on a tennis racket, and have it follow the swings that they make. Of course, they had to strap on a sword, too.

Special Reports
Check out all the data we’ve gathered over the years in our special reports on top technology trends, salary surveys, industry innovators, and annual market research findings.

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