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Connections
- Networking|
  Get to the data point
  
  Collecting the data is easy; getting paid for it is not
  
  The controls industry is buzzing these days over the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). I have always prided myself on staying up with technology and being relatively fearless when it comes to trying out new things. Having said that, I am not yet…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  2 controllers make bold leap to the edge
  
  How to hack programmable logic controllers
  
  Heidenhain to digitally connect equipment throughout IMTS
  
  Kuka eliminates data silos with PLM software
- I/O|
  What to expect from distributed I/O
  
  Whether the communication system is open or closed proprietary, choose device hardware to meet expectations
  
  Distributed I/O can mean different things to different people and different manufacturers, but let’s discuss I/O device hardware—digital, analog or messaging device—that is connected to the primary control device using a communication system…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Control for massive foundations
  
  How to put new legs on legacy
  
  Simplify press maintenance and management through IIoT innovation
  
  Make time for innovation
- Connectors|
  How connector upgrades fit into an IIoT retrofit
  
  Panel of experts discuss a way to virtually eliminate the cost of wiring in new components in current and future retrofits
  
  While not everyone on our panel of experts is sold on what IIoT can do for connectors today, the possibility to virtually eliminate the cost of wiring makes it as enticing as any other upgrade. As the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) continues…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Recommendations for connectors in extreme environments
  
  Maintenance strategies for cable identification
  
  When to use a cable conduit outside the enclosure
  
  Which wire color coding standard is best?
- Data Acquisition & Monitoring |
  Get to the data point
  
  Collecting the data is easy; getting paid for it is not
  
  The controls industry is buzzing these days over the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). I have always prided myself on staying up with technology and being relatively fearless when it comes to trying out new things. Having said that, I am not yet…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Manufacturing’s information revolution
  
  Batch-size-of-one manufacturing and digitalization take center stage
  
  Keep systems safe and secure in a connected world
  
  IIoT, meet the edge-gateway controller
- Wireless|
  Control for massive foundations
  
  Houlder creates a safe and reliable upending tool to control the lifting of immense offshore wind monopiles
  
  A tool that picks, orients and places a part is common in machine automation. However, when it's part of a wind-farm installation located offshore, it's a rather complex and impressive piece of equipment (Figure 1).Our company, Houlder, was tasked…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Light-fidelity communication: technology in progress
  
  The future is flooded with wireless data
  
  What will you engineer next?
  
  12 steps to Li-Fi implementation
- Routers & Switches|
  
  Networking devices for harsh environments
  
  Components are tested for temperature and vibration extremes at RuggedCom.
  
  I’m a software guy, so, when I was invited to Siemens’ RuggedCom plant tour, I was intrigued, as well as excited to see what these guys were doing. RuggedCom started as a Canadian innovation story in 2002. It grew quickly and found the eye of…
  Full Story
- Remote Monitoring & Access
  How to hack programmable logic controllers
  
  PLC cyber attacks become models for security
  
  Since the late 1980s when the Morris worm, one of the first-ever Internet worms, was launched by a Cornell graduate student from a computer system at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, cyber attacks have become big business.The Morris…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Codimag improves productivity by limiting service costs
  
  Cybersecurity concerns continue to speckle remote-access compositions
  
  Smart connectivity includes cybersecurity
  
  Keeping the HMI application secure while providing remote viewing
Control
- PLCs|
  2 controllers make bold leap to the edge
  
  Edge computing notches additional hardware, functional stability
  
  Edge computing is defined as ‘near the source of the data’ or at the edge of the network.This is in reference to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), of course; what isn’t these days? But with this come various services and potential cost…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  New strategies for old components
  
  Wastewater treatment plants can be built for small-scale applications
  
  Temperature control helps brewery to expand its winning ways
  
  How to hack programmable logic controllers
- PACs|
  Automation adapts to manufacturing needs
  
  Autonomous machine technology in the future will enable the adaptive machine to achieve mass customization cost-effectively
  
  It seems inevitable that the amount of innovative technology in machine and factory automation will continue to escalate out of necessity. “We are going to need more automation as our planet’s demographics give us more people to take care of and fewer people to do the work," says John Kowal, director, business development at B&R Industrial Automation.The automation will move from the low-hanging-fruit types of applications to those more difficult to automate. And it sounds like that will change the face of automation. "We will need to be more efficient and automate tasks that aren’t cost-effective to automate today," says Kowal. "Therefore, the automation tools are going to have to become more sophisticated, so that they can be…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Should I limit programming to ladder logic or use all standards within IEC 61131?
  
  How many IEC 61131-3 languages do I need?
  
  Make time for innovation
  
  Forget PLC vs. PAC vs. IPC
- Power Supplies|
  Power supplies get out of the cabinet
  
  By moving power supplies closer to devices, it enables modular design and reduces thermal-management issues
  
  Moving PLCs, I/O and other control equipment closer to the input and output devices they manage has become standard practice among design professionals. It offers a number of advantages, one of which is that it allows for modular design of…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Linear power supply vs. switched
  
  Zero-cabinet power supply
  
  The basics of power supplies in industrial machinery
  
  How much effect will linear power supplies’ EMI have on machine controls?
- Control Software|
  Automation adapts to manufacturing needs
  
  Autonomous machine technology in the future will enable the adaptive machine to achieve mass customization cost-effectively
  
  It seems inevitable that the amount of innovative technology in machine and factory automation will continue to escalate out of necessity. “We are going to need more automation as our planet’s demographics give us more people to take care of and fewer people to do the work," says John Kowal, director, business development at B&R Industrial Automation.The automation will move from the low-hanging-fruit types of applications to those more difficult to automate. And it sounds like that will change the face of automation. "We will need to be more efficient and automate tasks that aren’t cost-effective to automate today," says Kowal. "Therefore, the automation tools are going to have to become more sophisticated, so that they can be…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Artificial intelligence is smarter than you think
  
  Get control of maintenance
  
  Should I limit programming to ladder logic or use all standards within IEC 61131?
  
  How many IEC 61131-3 languages do I need?
- CNC|
  Accurate fishing begins with lights-out manufacturing
  
  Okuma machinery helps aerospace company to evolve into the reel deal
  
  Accurate Fishing Products, in Corona, California, started as a summer work project during my college days in the early 1990s. Design and development of fishing reels in those early years led to the purchase of several Okuma CNC machines and related…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  CNC’s future looks bright
  
  Romeo Engineering leverages PC-based control to improve manufacturing speed and accuracy
  
  Case Study: Harry Major Machine modern gantry improves plant uptime, recovery time
  
  Absolute Machine Tools acquires distributor Machine Tool Technology-21
- Embedded Control|
  PC-based control yields 33% higher controller functionality while reducing cabinet and machine footprints
  
  Edge Automation throws away the box to solve previously unsolvable engineering projects
  
  Good things come in small packages. There is perhaps no better way to describe Edge Automation, a custom machine builder and automation solutions provider based in London, Ontario. Though our company is small—employing around 47 skilled designers,…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  The IPC adapts to advanced control needs
  
  A control system by any other name
  
  Programming a PLC vs. industrial PC: which is best?
  
  How will greater software capabilities and more powerful CPUs affect IPCs and EOI?
- Loop Controllers|
  
  Infographic: If You Use Stepper Motors Are They Open or Closed Loop? (2014)
  
  February 2014 Survey Results Show 53% of Respondents Use Closed-Loop Stepper Motors
  
  An electronic survey of Control Design readers was conducted in February 2014 in order to identify usage and application trends in motion, drives and motor technology among the industrial machine builders that comprise Control Design's readership. 47% of respondents who use stepper motors use open-loop steppers; 53% use closed-loop. Read all survey results.
  Full Story
- Circuit Protection|
  Power supply ins and outs
  
  While the switching power supply data sheet may document compliance to over two dozen general specifications, focusing on the input and output specifications and the safety standards that impact installation highlights some of the basics of…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  How duplicating designs can build obsolescence and cost in to control systems
  
  How machine designers can integrate thermal-protection technology to prevent solid-state relay and equipment failure
  
  Ensure machinery durability and long-term functionality
- Enclosures|
  Reap the benefits of designing for mass production
  
  Economies of scale can lead to discounts and savings that you might not have considered
  
  An opportunity presented itself not too long ago when my company was forced to re-examine the use of some equipment in our two facilities. We package dry goods for a variety of clients using nearly 40 production lines. Such is the nature of our…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  The art of designing the cabinet with maintenance in mind
  
  Which enclosure fits my needs?
  
  How will greater software capabilities and more powerful CPUs affect IPCs and EOI?
  
  How to address the need for higher speeds and increased modularity in IPC-in-cabinet design
- Relays
  Safety relay or safety-rated PLC?
  
  Safety Applications Become More Complex When More Than Three Inputs Must Be Monitored and Controlled
  
  Machine and robot builders often need safety-rated monitoring and control, which can be accomplished with safety-rated relays or PLCs. "Many applications could use either a safety relay or PLC, but the choice depends on four main considerations: complexity, flexibility, availability and footprint," says George Schuster, senior industry specialist for the automotive team at Rockwell Automation. SEE ALSO: Safety Relays or Better Diagnostics? Safety applications become complex when more than about three inputs must be monitored and controlled, or when communication over a digital network is required. "Safety relays are hardwired to perform simple diagnostics and logic, and work well when the amount of safety points in the application…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Relays: Out with the old?
Design
- eCAE|
  Simulation technology center slated for University of Cincinnati
  
  Siemens provides PLM software and pledges up to $1 million to establish center.
  
  Siemens and the University of Cincinnati have announced a partnership to establish a simulation and modeling center enabled with Siemens product lifecycle management (PLM) software. Housed on UC’s main campus in its College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS), the Siemens PLM Simulation Technology Center will be a hub for developing and applying new methodologies and technologies in engineering education and research, according to Siemens. Through a pledge from Siemens of up to $1 million, as well as Siemens’ staff support and additional PLM software, the partnership will provide experiential learning opportunities for students in UC’s CEAS. “As manufacturing companies worldwide move closer to Industry 4.0, it is more…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  IML announces next round of projects targeted toward small, medium manufacturers
  
  How design software impacts development time, predictive modeling and thermal management
  
  NIST Project to Give Design Software New Digital Threads
  
  ECAD: Simple or Complex?
- CAD Software|
  Reap the benefits of designing for mass production
  
  Economies of scale can lead to discounts and savings that you might not have considered
  
  An opportunity presented itself not too long ago when my company was forced to re-examine the use of some equipment in our two facilities. We package dry goods for a variety of clients using nearly 40 production lines. Such is the nature of our…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Software to enable design detail
  
  When does control design begin?
  
  Where does electrical CAD software stand with the digital twin?
  
  Simulation technology center slated for University of Cincinnati
- Development Platforms
  Get me to the future
  
  National Instruments reinvests in development to reduce time to market and nurture its collaborative community of users
  
  Who wants to get to the future faster? In May, almost 4,000 engineers and scientists gathered in Austin, Texas, for National Instruments’ annual spotlight on its community of technology lovers and wunderkinds. The displays of innovations and…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Kuka eliminates data silos with PLM software
  
  Machine design with maintenance in mind
  
  How IP67 and IP69K components affect machine-design decisions
  
  The importance of IIoT in the packaging equipment industry
Motion
- Motors|
  Are servo and stepper functionalities merging?
  
  How many differences still remain between these motors?
  
  With the advancement of motor control and construction, the operational difference between servo motors and stepper motors has become minimal. Theoretically, a servo motor can move to an infinitely small fraction of a rotational degree, whereas a stepper motor is limited by the number of individual stator windings that create each step. Practically, these limitations do not exist.In general, a servo motor is just a part of a servo system. The system consists of a motor, a drive and a feedback device.The drive, or amplifier, takes the incoming ac power and rectifies it to supply a dc voltage to the drive circuitry. The drive can be a simple rectifier with power relays controlled by external control circuitry. This type of drive relies on…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Optical or capacitive encoder feedback?
  
  Select parts and configure systems online
  
  Permanently more efficient motors
  
  Servo motion control makes thermoformer bigger, faster and less expensive
- Drives|
  Are servo and stepper functionalities merging?
  
  How many differences still remain between these motors?
  
  With the advancement of motor control and construction, the operational difference between servo motors and stepper motors has become minimal. Theoretically, a servo motor can move to an infinitely small fraction of a rotational degree, whereas a stepper motor is limited by the number of individual stator windings that create each step. Practically, these limitations do not exist.In general, a servo motor is just a part of a servo system. The system consists of a motor, a drive and a feedback device.The drive, or amplifier, takes the incoming ac power and rectifies it to supply a dc voltage to the drive circuitry. The drive can be a simple rectifier with power relays controlled by external control circuitry. This type of drive relies on…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Variable-frequency drives and electromagnetic interference
  
  How do you provide overload protection for variable-frequency drives?
  
  Soft starter or variable-frequency drive?
  
  What is motion control?
- Pneumatics|
  Critical alignment really is critical
  
  Why designers, engineers and end-users should not accept rod seal failure as normal
  
  A critical design feature of any mechanism where moving elements interact or work in tandem with each other is the alignment of those parts in relationship to one another. Design engineers commonly specify and make notation on design prints…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  How to select pneumatic valves and actuators
  
  Why bother with energy efficiency?
  
  The reindustrialization of America
  
  Pneumatic use is all about the fundamentals
- Hydraulics|
  Hydraulic muscle, as needed
  
  Sometimes brute force is needed, and a little hydraulic knowledge can get things moving in the right direction
  
  There is no doubt hydraulics has unmatched muscle, compared to pneumatics or electrical power transmission in linear and rotary motion applications. While pneumatics may win the game when it comes to simple, low-cost and fast linear motion,…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Keys to specifying hydraulic power systems
  
  6 surprising capabilities of modern hydraulics
  
  The Straight Skinny on Linear Motion
  
  Webinar: Preparing for Ebola in the Water Sector
- Electromechanical|
  How to transform rotary motion into linear
  
  Think about the process when selecting feed-screw devices
  
  In the world of machine controls, linear motion is the name given to the process of moving some object in a straight line, usually with a programmed speed and to a defined position. If a precise speed is not a requirement of the movement and the…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  New strategies for old components
  
  Real automation bias
  
  Key positions on encoders
  
  Pick machines, not processes
- Steppers|
  Are servo and stepper functionalities merging?
  
  How many differences still remain between these motors?
  
  With the advancement of motor control and construction, the operational difference between servo motors and stepper motors has become minimal. Theoretically, a servo motor can move to an infinitely small fraction of a rotational degree, whereas a stepper motor is limited by the number of individual stator windings that create each step. Practically, these limitations do not exist.In general, a servo motor is just a part of a servo system. The system consists of a motor, a drive and a feedback device.The drive, or amplifier, takes the incoming ac power and rectifies it to supply a dc voltage to the drive circuitry. The drive can be a simple rectifier with power relays controlled by external control circuitry. This type of drive relies on…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Optical or capacitive encoder feedback?
  
  What is motion control?
  
  How do I make precision-motion machinery IIoT-ready?
  
  Motion application drives stepper or servo selection
- Servos|
  Are servo and stepper functionalities merging?
  
  How many differences still remain between these motors?
  
  With the advancement of motor control and construction, the operational difference between servo motors and stepper motors has become minimal. Theoretically, a servo motor can move to an infinitely small fraction of a rotational degree, whereas a stepper motor is limited by the number of individual stator windings that create each step. Practically, these limitations do not exist.In general, a servo motor is just a part of a servo system. The system consists of a motor, a drive and a feedback device.The drive, or amplifier, takes the incoming ac power and rectifies it to supply a dc voltage to the drive circuitry. The drive can be a simple rectifier with power relays controlled by external control circuitry. This type of drive relies on…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  3 key indicators to ensure motion-control application success
  
  Adaptable packaging line improves speed
  
  Servo motion control makes thermoformer bigger, faster and less expensive
  
  What is motion control?
- Valves|
  Pneumatic use is all about the fundamentals
  
  Once clean, dry air at the proper pressure is connected and safe, get control of the pneumatic cylinders, actuators and motors with proper valve selection and flow control.
  
  Supplying clean, dry air is an important starting point to long and reliable valve operation in industrial machines and equipment. However, switching the air through the proper type of valve to control the cylinder, actuator or air motor is where is where fluid power is controlled. Pneumatics are a great choice for many machine linear and rotary applications. Unless the machine requires accurate, programmable motion-positioning electric motors or the high-force capabilities of hydraulics, a pneumatic solution is often the best and most popular choice. Instead of electricity, design in some pneumatic air preparation hardware, tubing, valves, solenoids and flow controls, connect to the pneumatic cylinders, actuators and motors and get the…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  November Showcase: Valves, Control Systems, Motors and More
  
  New Wireless Application Boosts Safety at Harcros
  
  Integrated axes crank up cold working
  
  Speculating on Valve Futures
- Motion Software|
  The future direction of control
  
  Add vision guidance to delta robots on packaging equipment and combine it with state-of-the-art controller technology for an image of innovation and the future
  
  Over the years, we have reinvented and repurposed JLS Automation as necessary and moved into new markets as we identified trends and opportunities. More than a decade ago, we decided to focus on hygienic packaging solutions for the food industry,…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Where machine automation and design software is heading
  
  PLCopen Software Construction Guidelines released
  
  Programming standardization through IEC 61131
  
  Commission machines with the swipe of a finger
- Robotics
  Forget the robot revolution; we’ve got other problems
  
  Ultra-productive automation creates huge need for highly skilled technicians
  
  Despite what you may have seen in science fiction movies, we’re a long way from the machines taking over. I recently toured a metal stamping and forming company and then, a few days later, a local medical-device manufacturer. Although these…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  How collaborative robots can solve the labor-shortage problem
  
  Congratulations, your job has just been automated
  
  The future direction of control
  
  Robots reach for new heights
Sensing
- Sensors|
  Optical or capacitive encoder feedback?
  
  How to decide which device is best for a step motor system
  
  Step motor systems utilize encoders to provide feedback to the motor drive or controller and improve overall performance. Typically installed to the rear shaft of the motor, encoder feedback functionality can dramatically improve system performance…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Temperature control helps brewery to expand its winning ways
  
  You can’t troubleshoot what you can’t diagnose
  
  Smarter and more capable sensors
  
  How does linear measure up?
- Vision Systems|
  Where do vision systems fit in the process?
  
  Whether it’s assisting with assembly or improving inspection, vision systems need to be maintained
  
  A Control Design reader writes: As a production engineer at a medical device manufacturer, I have been tasked to investigate the use of vision systems to assist assembly and to improve our quality and inspection processes, but I'm feeling…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  How to bridge the automation generation gap
  
  What will you engineer next?
  
  TIM the robot monitors the health of CERN's large hadron collider
  
  How to develop reliable vision applications
- Presence Sensing|
  How to ensure safety in wireless presence sensing
  
  Machine-guarding effectiveness is essential
  
  Presence sensing is a broad topic that entails both object detection and machine guarding. Choosing the right device always entails some forethought, especially when installing it in difficult-to-reach or hazardous areas. Our panel of experts tells…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  How to maintain presence sensors
  
  How to apply presence sensors
  
  Which devices do it all for presence sensing?
  
  Smarter and more capable sensors
- Process Variables
  Temperature control helps brewery to expand its winning ways
  
  Founders Brewing monitors, captures and controls critical process variables to produce successful test brews
  
  Well-balanced, unremarkable beers don’t attract new customers, and they certainly don’t win awards. It takes complex, in-your-face ales with huge aromatics, big body and lots of flavor to make waves in the competitive brewing industry. And you…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Hot options for temperature measurement
  
  How to troubleshoot and calibrate 4-20 mA
  
  How to tune PID loops
  
  Process variables and the art of calibrating instruments
Safety & Security
- Safety Components|
  More methods for planning a safety upgrade
  
  Seven industry experts on how to consider design, integration, testing and operation
  
  A Control Design reader writes: I work at a packaging plant where safety upgrades to palletizing equipment excessively stopped the machine and confused multiple technicians, ultimately leading to some of the safety measures being bypassed, which…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  How to plan a safety upgrade
  
  A complete safety solution
  
  Intrinsic safety comes with requirements
  
  Options for HMIs in explosive atmospheres
- Machine Guarding|
  Compliance for robots in collaborative and other applications
  
  Finding common ground in a world of numerous environments.
  
  Compared to traditional industrial sectors, robotics is a relatively young field with only about 40 years of deployment history in workplace environments. Technology within this field however is advancing incredibly fast, and thus compliance needs to adapt to keep pace with these rapid changes. Another challenge is how to convey the myriad facets of compliance comprehensibly to end customers and integrators for issues such as knowing when a robot system is really compliant or what the requirements to which the robot and robot system have to comply are. The first thing, which has to be clarified for the topic of compliance, is always in what industry and for which purpose the robot system will be used. Compliance requirements differ from…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  How to make the right safety and sensing decisions
  
  How machine vision systems and robots have influenced each other
  
  The impact non-vision sensing and robotics have on each other
  
  Applications that will benefit from collaborative robot innovations
- Cybersecurity
  4 solutions to the 3 biggest cybersecurity challenges
  
  Industrial control systems need protection, too
  
  Cybersecurity and the threat of malicious actors make headlines every day. Boards of directors are recognizing cyber threats as one of the most significant risks. To date, this cybersecurity discussion has centered largely on IT systems; however,…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Zero day cyber threats
  
  DOD-backed DMDII Cyber Hub for Manufacturing enables cybersecurity technology experimentation for factory floor
  
  Technology and the future of employment
  
  The Internet's unintended consequences
Displays
- HMI|
  Open-source PLC and HMI library makes headway
  
  System integrators and others add functionality, including automatic HMI object generation
  
  Outside of industrial automation, open-source libraries have been booming for many years. Open-source code has been a fundamental pillar of computing since the start of computer software and has continued to remain relevant. You can look back at operating systems in the 1950s and 1960s when code was almost always delivered, to the success of Linux, and the more recent news in the $7.5 billion acquisition of GitHub by Microsoft.However, in an industry where everyone has competed to have the best secret sauce, the open-source movement has largely steered clear of industrial controls. Each individual end user, OEM and system integrator has created its own code base and worked hard to ensure internal secrecy to provide a competitive edge in…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  3 HMI configurations for hazardous areas
  
  Machine design with maintenance in mind
  
  How innovation drives medical production
  
  The stack light gets brighter
- Panel Meters|
  The long useful life of innovation
  
  Add hard work to your observations, analysis and documentation, and you just might invent something
  
  Dr. Otto Fest, president of Otek, maker of the Solid State Analog Meter (SSAM) and Universal Panel Meter (UPM), is a smart guy whose wit and work ethic have contributed largely to his success. Even now, in his 80s, Fest works seven days a week. “I…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  22 tips to ensure control panel maintainability
  
  What’s the best way to measure, control and display?
  
  Universal Panel Meter is configurable for measurement, display or control
  
  Panel Meters Take on PLC Chores
- Industrial PCs|
  The extreme IPC
  
  IPCs get the job done and are right at home on the factory floor, where the office PC is a bit out of its element.
  
  The benefits of using an industrial computer (IPC) instead of a commercial-grade PC when the application required rugged and reliable equipment are numerous. IPCs can cost three to five times as much as their commercial-grade counterparts. However,…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  Vendor-supplied or open-source HMI software?
  
  PLCs, PACs and IPCs ─ controller terminology explained
  
  The more controls change, the more familiar they become
  
  A variety of improved options are provided by industrial PCs
- Alarms|
  Manage alarms without being overwhelmed
  
  Operators need different information than maintenance personnel
  
  The most critical HMI notification, the alarm, has important information for both operators and maintenance personnel. Our panel of experts advises how to manage alarms to ensure high-severity alarms receive the attention they need. Alarms are an…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  3 alarm types to manage with HMI
  
  The best ways to indicate alarms and to confirm proper operator action
  
  The human factors of panel layout
  
  Harsh environments call for more rugged components
- Annunciation
  Stack the lights in your favor
  
  The tried and true discrete-signal stack light will have its place above production floors about as long as a stoplight at a street intersection tells us what's expected
  
  Question: What sometimes makes you stomp on the gas, slam on the brakes or continue what you are doing? That would be a traffic stoplight or possibly a stack light on the manufacturing floor.There are many ways to display status of a production…
  Full Story
  
  Recent
  
  How duplicating designs can build obsolescence and cost in to control systems
  
  Why and when to upgrade from indicator lights to an HMI display
  
  Harsh environments call for more rugged components
  
  Do stack lights make the most sense for my assembly line?

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Articles

What to expect from distributed I/O

Whether the communication system is open or closed proprietary, choose device hardware to meet expectations
Control for massive foundations

Houlder creates a safe and reliable upending tool to control the lifting of immense offshore wind monopiles
How to put new legs on legacy

Old equipment can breathe new life with some creativity and a controls upgrade
Simplify press maintenance and management through IIoT innovation

Press builder Eagle Press & Equipment is using machine-mount I/O and the technology of IO-Link

News

Where do you get the I/O for the IIoT?

Product Announcements

B&R I/O system bus controller with OPC UA and Pub/Sub
Opto 22 I/O, control, data processing and visualization in one system
Beckhoff Automation EtherCAT terminals for process control and mains and power monitoring
Balluff Universal I/O connector with IP69 protection

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01

Forget the robot revolution; we’ve got other problems

Ultra-productive automation creates huge need for highly skilled…
02

Schneider Electric announces 2018 Collaborative Automation Partner Program Award winners

Technology partners recognized for their key role in digital…
03

Qtum Foundation presents Trusted IoT Alliance award to University of Sheffield

Part of the $200K award will be invested in a pan-European electrical…
04

Silicon Integration Initiative elects Intel's Rahul Goyal as board chair

The election was held during Si2’s board meeting at the recent Design…
05

Seeq secures $23 million in Series B funding

The funding is led by the Altira Group with participation by Chevron…

01

ABB completes acquisition of GE Industrial Solutions

The $2.6 billion transaction offers substantial value creation potential…
02

Select parts and configure systems online

These are the online tools, stores and portals where the design and…
03

Automation adapts to manufacturing needs

Autonomous machine technology in the future will enable the adaptive…
04

Motion Industries opens distribution center near Seattle

The new facility joins its North American distribution centers in…
05

Festo introduces spiders, fishes and bats as its latest bionic robots

The natural models for these three new bionic robots are the flic-flac…

01

How many IEC 61131-3 languages do I need?

Should we limit programming to ladder logic to ensure maintenance techs…
02

How to hack programmable logic controllers

PLC cyber attacks become models for security
03

Permanently more efficient motors

Technology is making motors more robust and reliable, while future…
04

ABB completes acquisition of GE Industrial Solutions

The $2.6 billion transaction offers substantial value creation potential…
05

Soft starter or variable-frequency drive?

The advantages and disadvantages of each in various applications

01

How can we reduce the noise?

Alternatives to help sort out the best course of action for resolving…
02

Control panel design starts with the basics

Don't confuse control panel design with the environmental rating or…
03

PLC vs. Arduino for industrial control

Can a $20 micro-controller equal a PLC for a real-world industrial control…
04

Learning IEC 61131-3 programming Languages

A system integrator asks our readers about receiving education on…
05

How do we synchronize motor speeds?

Can AC Motors and DC Motors Run at the Same Pace?

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