Featured Articles:
-Mathematics of information
-Convergence of IT, Automation
-Software Review: Software speeds engineering calculations
-The math behind Six Sigma metrics; and more

Resources & Literature:
-LabVIEW Statechart Module Webcast
-National Instruments Measurement and Control Designer CD
-ACS Motion Control offers free development software; and more

Application Stories:
-CompactRIO Helps Nexans Spider Level Seabed
-Managing MS Windows NT4
-Full Transparency Without a Central Process Control System; and more

Featured Training:
-Programmable Automated Controllers with Embedded Technology
-OPC Training Institute - Level 1: OPC & DCOM Diagnostics
-OPC and DCOM - free video training; and more

Product Announcements:
-Data Translation adds RTDs to DT9872 TEMPpoint system
-NI Introduces Sound and Vibration Tools
-Cooper releases Enterprise Passthrough Manager for secure access
-IXXAT introduces Powerlink FPGA IP Core software; and more

Company News:
-National Instruments Reports Record Revenue and Net Income
-PLCopen publishes standard on XML Control Logic
-Better Use of 3D Design Data Drives Growth
-Chemoprojekt renews license with Invensys’ simulation software; and more

Application News:
-ABB’s Expert Optimizer increases production at cement plant
-Oil Company Adopts ProgressPlus solution
-MathWorks integrates Simulink with Green Hills MULTI; and more

Featured Events:
-International Conference on Cognitive Systems
-Embedded Systems Conference
-ExperTune and TiPS User’s Conference; and more

Mathematics of information
Control Engineering, January 2008
By Dennis Brandl
Most control engineers will eventually have to build or specify a database to hold instrument data, analysis data, or production reporting data. This is the point when understanding the underlying structure and mathematics of databases becomes important.

Convergence of IT, Automation
Intech, January 2008
By Constantino Seixas Filho and Vitor Finkel
Organizations remain frozen in the 1980s: IT reports to finance; Automation to maintenance. Lack of a clear definition of who is responsible for what in the organization inevitably leads to dysfunction. A united front between the two departments could lead to big manufacturing gains.

Software Review: Software speeds engineering calculations
Machine Design, January 2008
By Bill Fane
Review of Maple 11 mathematical software by long-time user.

The math behind Six Sigma metrics
Vision Systems Design, January 2008
By Valerie Bolhouse, Certified Six Sigma Blackbelt
Descriptive and inferential statistics are the foundation of Six Sigma. The Six Sigma program employs a practical, disciplined approach to collecting and analyzing data to understand and improve process capability by reducing variability. Performance, capability, and improvement can all be quantitatively described by the common language of statistics.

Layers Protect Access to Controls
Control Design, January 2008
By Loren Shaum, contributing editor
Unfortunately, passwords get passed around. Access in the wrong hands often leads to machine downtime, costing thousands.

Browse these and more articles and white papers on the Design, Simulation & Programming Software portal.

LabVIEW Statechart Module Webcast
February 13, 2008 10 a.m. CST
Covers LabVIEW Statechart Module including the use of history and concurrency, state heirarchy, debugging techniques, error trapping, internal triggering, and code generation options. We will also present recommended architectures for integrating various types of I/O and instrument control into your statechart application.

National Instruments Measurement and Control Designer CD
Up to 64 percent of your process or manufacturing application costs are spent on system configuration and development tine. In addition to hundreds of development resources, the FREE CD helps you select the best software and hardware for your system requirements.

ACS Motion Control offers free development software
ADK software enables the implementation of complex motion-time-event sequences with accurate positioning and timing, and simpler applications such as point-to-point control.

Latest Version of EMC2 Available for free download
EMC2 is a software system for computer control of machine tools such as milling machines, cutting machines, robots, hexapods, etc. EMC2 is free software released under the terms of the GNU GPL (General Public License). EMC2 is a descendent of the original EMC software, which is in the Public Domain.

ISA99 Cyber Security Standard available
Part 1 focuses on key concepts, terminology and models, and will serve as a foundation for additional standards currently in development in the ISA99 series.

Browse these and more resources and literature on the Design, Simulation & Programming Software portal.

CompactRIO Helps Nexans Spider Level Seabed
National Instruments LabVIEW and CompactRIO control hydraulic systems on the Nexans Spider remote operated vehicle (ROV) as it levels the seabed and clears a path for the pipeline.

Managing MS Windows NT4
Control Engineering, January 2008
By Bob Vieraitis, Solidcore Systems
One class of systems where any change, authorized or not, creates a high-risk proposition is legacy systems running the Microsoft Windows NT4 operating system. Changes can cause in-production outages and downtime that threatens overall plant production. Here’s how one plant solved the problem.

Full Transparency Without a Central Process Control System
Process and Control Today, January 2008
Instead of an expensive centralized process control system, Follmann & Co, a chemical company in the UK, used compact modular controllers and HMI control terminals from Mitsubishi Electric. Follmann uses MX Sheet software to feed the process data from the controllers directly into the existing office software.

Jacobs Vehicle Systems Builds Products Five Times Faster
Design World, December 2007
Jacobs Vehicle Systems implemented Borland StarTeam to manage software change and centralize control of project activities and digital assets. The program has helped the company speed the software build process and reduce rework.

Samsung Techwin Develops Real-Time Engine Simulation System
By: Moon Sohk Chae, Power System Research Center
Developing a proper engine simulator was vital to our ability to verify the safe and reliable functioning of the gas turbine engine controller we were developing. To implement a safe and highly perfected engine controller, we had to come up with a method of verifying the controller hardware and its algorithm before they could be integrated with an actual engine.

Browse these and more application stories on the Design, Simulation & Programming Software portal.

Programmable Automated Controllers with Embedded Technology
On-demand webcast covers machine diagnostics, advanced sensing techniques, and custom control algorithms. Learn about new technologies available for advanced measurement and control systems based on programmable automation controllers (PACs).

OPC Training Institute - Level 1: OPC & DCOM Diagnostics
February 2, 2008 Munich, Germany
Students learn how OPC works and how to troubleshoot and repair DCOM problems. The class covers all the OPC specifications, what they offer and how OPC applications are expected to behave.

OPC and DCOM - free video training
OPC Training Institute (OPCTI) has published a free 6-part video on setting up DCOM for use with OPC. Titled "OPC & DCOM: 5 Things you need to know," the videos can be streamed from the OPCTI site (where you'll also find a whitepaper), or downloaded from Google Video.

OPC Foundation Training Seminars
The OPC Foundation and its sponsoring members will host eight Training Seminars during 2008, in Long Beach in February; Boston in March; Pittsburgh in April; Seattle in May; Nashville in June; Milwaukee in September; Cincinnati in October; and Richmond, VA in November. Seminars cover the fundamentals of OPC including Servers, Clients, OPC Data Access, OPC Unified Architecture, Best Practices and Compliance.

LynxOS Real-Time Device Drivers Programming workshop
This course explores the advantages of LynxOS real-time programming as it pertains to drivers. This workshop will provide thorough knowledge about creating device drivers that work with LynxOS. Workshops are held at the LynuxWorks training center in San José, California, and in Fontenay-le-Fleury, France (near Paris).

Browse these and more training and seminar opportunities on Design, Simulation & Programming Software portal.

• Cooper releases Enterprise Passthrough Manager for secure access
• IXXAT introduces Powerlink FPGA IP Core software
• IXXAT upgrades protocol software for IEEE 1588 Version 2
• Green Hills adds Microchip Technology’s controllers to MULTI
• Softing adds PROFINET IO stacks for Siemens ERTEC
• FOSS enhances VISION software for NIR
• McObject releases free Perst embedded database
• Divelbiss releases HEC-2000 PLC
• Measurement Computing upgrades DASYLab 10 software

Browse these and more Product Announcements on the Design, Simulation & Programming Software portal.

Search all Products by keyword, category, manufacturer or release date.

National Instruments Reports Record Revenue and Net Income
National Instruments reported record quarterly revenue of $205 million, up 13 percent and the company's best revenue growth quarter for 2007.

PLCopen publishes standard on XML Control Logic  
PLCopen XML schemas and documentation as well as an introduction are available free on the internet.

Better Use of 3D Design Data Drives Growth
Design World, November 2007
Aberdeen Group says manufacturers are using 3D design data to save on costs and accelerate time-to-market with new products. Top manufacturers use 3D design data to map the fabrication sequence of individual products. This eliminates the need for text-based plans and increases the accuracy of virtual prototypes.

Chemoprojekt renews license with Invensys’ simulation software
The new agreement extends the Chemoprojekt license to use SimSci-Esscor's simulation, modeling and optimization solutions.

ISA EDD spec gains ANSI approval
ISA-TR61804-4 (104.00.02)-2007, Function Blocks (FB) for Process Control - Part 4 was approved by ANSI.

ISA Publishes EDDL Standard
ISA published ANSI/ISA-61804-3 (104.00.01)-2007, Function Blocks (FB) for Process Control - Part 3: Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL).

Browse these and more company and organizational news on the Design, Simulation & Programming Software portal.

ABB’s Expert Optimizer increases production at cement plant
Expert Optimizer was installed at Buzzi Unicem USA Inc.’s Signal Mountain vertical raw mill and cement mill.

Oil Company Adopts ProgressPlus solution
Process and Control Today, January 2008
Schoeller-Bleckmann Darron Ltd (SBD), a provider of manufacturing, repair and maintenance services for an extensive range of drilling products used in the oil and gas industry, adopted Berkeley Myles Solutions’ ProgressPlus production control software.

MathWorks integrates Simulink with Green Hills MULTI
Embedded IDE Link MU automatically deploys code generated from Simulink models into the Green Hills MULTI integrated development environment.

PLX Technology uses Magma's IC Design software
PLX Technology implemented its PCIe Gen 2 switch family using Magma's RTL-to-GDSII integrated circuit (IC) design solution.

Emerson wins contract to provide High-Fidelity Simulators for Luminant
The simulators will be used to equip the power generator’s new Luminant Training Academy, which is located in Tyler, Texas, and officially opened in July 2007.

International Conference on Cognitive Systems
April 2-4, 2008 Karlsruhe, Germany
CogSys 2008, the first international conference on cognitive systems, will bring together researchers from different fields to identify current research trends, to present and to review recent work and to speculate about the future of cognitive systems.

Embedded Systems Conference
April 14-18, 2008 San Jose, CA
Attracts the industry’s engineers and engineering managers, media and technology analysts, executives, financial analysts, venture capitalists, and many of the largest hardware and software companies.

ExperTune and TiPS User’s Conference
April 23-25, 2008 Houston, Texas
The conference on Common Sense Automation offers training, case studies, and roundtables, including a host of notable speakers.

ISA International Instrumentation Symposium
May 5-8, 2008 Pensacola Beach, Florida
The 54th annual ISA International Instrumentation Symposium will include paper sessions, short courses, tutorials, and a student presentation competition.

17th CISM-IFToMM Symposium on Robot Design, Dynamics, and Control
July 5-9, 2008 Tokyo, Japan
ROMANSY2008 conference presents papers providing a vision of the evolution of the robotics disciplines and signaling new directions in which these disciplines are foreseen to develop.

Add an event to our calendar.

Rick Zabel
Vice President, Publisher
Automation.com

View our Privacy Policy

For editorial inquiries, please contact Rick Zabel
For advertising inquiries, please contact Karen Olson or see our Media Kit.