About Rick Zabel Rick Zabel is Vice President and Publisher of Automation.com, the leading online resource site for automation and controls professionals. In addition to the site, Automation.com publishes the popular Automation Weekly e-newsletter, along with a number of topical e-newsletters relating to all aspects of industrial automation. More Info...
Who do you know? We’ve all heard that old saying “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” As each year goes by, this old saying seems to become more true. But in reality, it’s the combination of the “what” and the “who” that makes us most successful. So, we must find people we can trust and we must collaborate. Read entire article by Rick Zabel
The Lord of the Industrial Ethernet Ring Ethernet has become nearly as common on the factory floor as PLCs. In many cases, along with this need for Ethernet connectivity is the need for fault-tolerant network redundancy. Automation and control engineers have been forced into this IT domain and really don’t want to get too involved with the idiosyncrasies and maintenance of Ethernet networks, especially redundant networks…they just want to plug them in and they work. Along comes the Real-Time Ring™ Ethernet Switch. Read entire article by Rick Zabel
New Online Motion Components Selector Saves Time MotionInfo.com (www.motioninfo.com) is a new online motion control resource that offers a series of valuable new tools for selecting and sizing (coming soon) various types of electric motor-based products including motors, linear actuators, gear-motors, motors with matching drives, integrated motor drives, and motors with many different integral components. The site was launched by Motion Tech Trends, a leading electric motor and motion control marketing and technology consulting firm, who claims to offer users an unparalleled search experience. Read full article by Rick Zabel
318 Patent Update: The Latest on the PLC Communications Patent Infringement Case Recently, Walt Boyes, Editor in Chief of CONTROL Magazine, brought my attention to an article written by Managing Editor, Steve Kuehn. In the article titled "Are you paying taxes on your data yet?", Steve did a great job of researching the state of Solaia and the "318 Patent". I wanted to bring this story to your attention because it really hits home for just about any company using the related communication technology. Read full article by Rick Zabel.
