Goodbye to 2010

By Katherine Bonfante, Managing Editor, Digital Media

It is hard to believe that the year is almost over. For me, it feels like just a few days ago I was enjoying summer when Halloween and Thanksgiving showed up. And now I'm getting ready to celebrate a new year.

Time flies. We live in a constant race, and many times we just forget to sit back, relax and enjoy life.

So sit back and relax. I want to take you down memory lane and point you to some of the most-accessed articles, news items, white papers and videos we produced for you this year.

{sidebar 1}When it comes to the most-read article, it doesn't surprise me to learn that you are most interested in finding out who our Readers' Choice Awards winners are. That is why our story "Steps Above the Rest" was the No. 1 story this year on www.ControlDesign.com. You voted and selected the winners. You can read this story and review this year's winners at www.ControlDesign.com/RCA10.

As industry news stories go, the most popular one this year was "Control Design's 2010 Salary and State-of-Mind Survey." Because we appreciate your input on this confidential survey, each year we ask you to get involved and become the story. What we appreciate the most is that even with your busy schedule, you take the time to stop by and take the survey. Revisit this news item at www.ControlDesign.com/2010salarysurvey, and read "2010 Salary Survey Results" at www.ControlDesign.com/salary10.

"New Controllers Extend Integrated Automation to Small Systems" was the most-requested white paper. In the past, automation users designing small control systems have been challenged by many requirements to integrate with other connected devices, such as HMIs, additional controllers, networks, business systems, etc. Attempting to meet these system needs, and the inability to meet them with existing technology, forced designers to choose a larger controller than otherwise needed, or a PC-based controller, or even a "green-board" custom controller. Now, controller-technology trends have produced a new option, which is "just right" for many applications. Find out what this option is by visiting www.ControlDesign.com/ControllerTechnology.

Lastly, the video that most interested you was "Market Intelligence Report: Motion Control, Part 1." In this video, we surveyed our audience to get a snapshot of which motion controller you are using, the update rates you require and your protocol of choice for moving the information. Results were compared to 2009's findings, and our guest expert, James Ingraham, software development team leader at Sage Automation, builder of robot systems in Beaumont, Texas, spoke with our executive editor Jim Montague to analyze the survey responses. Go back and watch both parts of this video one more time at www.ControlDesign.com/motionmir.