Articles and News

By Bill Lydon, Editor I recently had the opportunity to discuss Ocean Data Systems – a little company you likely have never heard of - with Roy Kok, their VP of Sales and Marketing. Their product, Dream Report, is OEMed by a number of well-known software providers. Here is a synopsis of my interview with Kok.

It has now been 10 years since the organization first began its activities at the 2003 SPS IPC Drives show with 33 official founding members.

Festo Corporation of Hauppauge, New York joined Sercos N.A., the North American promotional alliance for the Sercos interface, as an associate member.

The test tool offers the possibility to automatically test the full CIP Safety on Sercos protocol functionality of a device in order to prove the compliance with The CIP Safety specification.

With CIP Safety, users will be able to deploy networked motion control systems using EtherNet/IP and Sercos III in applications requiring safe motion functions.

The MTConnect Institute and the OPC Foundation announce the MTConnect-OPC UA (Unified Architecture) Companion specification.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Emerson’s Sonnenberg and Zornio discussed pervasive sensing as a growing trend. They framed the discussion around the idea of pervasive sensing as the way to achieve the pursuit of actionable information to improve operations and maintenance.

Averna will provide automated testing equipment for the PMA certification program of wireless charging devices.

As cyberattacks and threats to network security continue to rise, so does the need for securing industrial control systems for water and wastewater systems.

In this video case study, Dynagen, a Canadian control panel manufacturer, explains how they use Netbiter to remotely monitor gensets, pumps, compressors etc. in the field.

In this video case study, Carl Steffen, Engineering Services Manager at VRTX Technologies, San Antonio, TX, explains how they use Netbiter to remotely monitor their water treatment systems.

Founded in 2004, Ocean Data Systems (ODS) develops software solutions for industrial analytics and reporting.

Centero offers product integration services to process control device suppliers who are adding ISA100 Wireless capability to products in their portfolios.

Wireless Networks for Industrial Automation, by Dick Caro, provides a clear, unbiased view of the emerging wireless communications market, and closely examines the latest advances in wireless technologies for process control.

By Bill Lydon, Editor While industrial Ethernet is being adopted at a high rate, the majority of connected nodes (73%) are still traditional networks like DeviceNet, PROFIBUS, Modbus, SERCOS, Foundation Fieldbus, ASi, and others. In order to gain a clearer understanding of the trends, I spoke with Tom Moore, Research Analyst at IHS's Electronics and Media Group.

The convergence strategy starts with standardization on open systems across the platforms to provide customers with interoperability, secure communications and an optimal user experience. OPC-UA is first.

ISA-100.11a-2011, "Wireless Systems for Industrial Automation: Process Control and Related Applications," received approval from all 21 participating National Committees of the IEC.

The two-day event took place at the Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Manufacturing (ISW) at the University of Stuttgart, Germany.

VMonitor provides monitoring and control solutions for wellhead and upstream applications that combine wireless instrumentation and communication with visualization software.

Cisco, Panduit, Rockwell Automation and ODVA are sponsoring a new online community that extends the Industrial IP Advantage website.