Issue Archive

OPC: Not as bad as it seems
Urban legends and rumors aside, OPC is becoming much easier to use. But experts suggest that, before you buy an OPC product, due diligence is in order. Always remember to try it before you buy it.

Web Poll results on embedding wireless in machines

Wireless system aids smelter process
Wireless transmitters allow Eramet Marietta to install a cooling monitoring system at its large manganese ferro alloys smelter facility on the Ohio River at a fraction of the cost of a hard-wired equivalent.

Open Standards Doesn't Always Mean Interoperable
Whom Should You Blame the Next Time You Get Called in the Middle of the Night Because of a Problem That Involves an Open System?

Tune out the network noise
Editor in Chief Joe Feeley brushes aside the propaganda volley surrounding today’s networking environment as just another front in industrial automation’s version of the Hundred Years War.

Networking that floats all boats
The swell of interest in Ethernet and wireless is raising the level of activity for other fieldbuses and networks, and driving cooperation among networking and bus standards groups in industrial automation.

Honeywell unveils secure wireless plan
Honeywell has released a roadmap for industrial wireless that it reports will help end-users optimize plant operations and improve employee productivity.

Web Poll results on embedding wireless in machines
Do you embed wireless devices in your machines? Check out the results of this web poll we conducted at ControlDesign.com and find out why and how often machine builders use wireless in their systems.

Invensys, Apprion install managed wireless at chemical complex
Invensys and Apprion report they’ve jointly completed the first phase of a managed wireless infrastructure deployment at PPG Industries’ chlor-alkali chemical manufacturing complex in Lake Charles, La.

New microgenerator could make battery-free wireless sensors a reality
Perpetuum’s microgenerator powers sensors, microprocessors and transmitters for accurately monitoring the condition of plant equipment and machinery without the need for batteries, expensive cabling or maintenance.

OPC Foundation releases Unified Architecture
OPC Foundation formally launched its long-awaited OPC Unified Architecture (UA) standard and the organization’s manufacturer and members are lining up to support it.

Protect control networks from office network problems
Three techniques—overlapped VLANs, rate limiting, and port security—can help safeguard control networks from problems with office networks or equipment such as Windows PCs.

Wireless sensor network growth expected in 2007
The wireless sensor network (WSN) marketplace still is in the early stages of development. As a result, the market is littered with multiple standards and technologies vying for supremacy, and that fragmentation is slowing market growth, according to ABI Research.