Articles and News

In its role, Emerson will update control and safety systems, fire and gas systems, field instrumentation control and isolation valves, and other equipment to improve production efficiencies.

The additions to the machine safety portfolio are all designed to communicate over EtherNet/IP and are tested against machine safety standards to ease compliance. The products will also be included in the next release of the Safety Automation Builder software tool.

The competitive award is for students enrolled in a CNC machinist, CNC operations, engineering or manufacturing certificate or degree program. As part of the award process, the scholarship recipient's school will also recieve a $500 donation made to their machining or manufacturing department.

Indonesia is working to become Southeast Asia’s biggest digital economy by 2020. The “Making Indonesia 4.0” initiative was developed to revitalize the Indonesian manufacturing sector through the adoption of Industrie 4.0. It focuses on five sectors for the initial implementation: food and beverage, textiles, automotive, chemicals, and electronics.

The Linear MOTIONEERING tool retains the Thomson engineering calculations for design engineers and has added new product families, interactive navigation, expanded global support and mobile access.

The investment will include the addition of a lab and showroom to the on-site warehouse and distribution center as well as increasing capabilities for injection molding and die-casting processes. The project is slated to create at least 50 new jobs.

Working with Cognex, engineers at automotive manufacturer General Motors of Canada Company (GM Canada) developed a chain drive stretching system that measures every link in real time and automatically marks non-compliant links without slowing or stopping the line

Using elements of Emerson’s Project Certainty methodology, North West Redwater Partnership reduced global automation engineering complexity and completed the instrumentation and control scope for refinery automation.

Supported by AI-based machine-vision technology, the novel “WiseEye” can be installed in a weaving machine to help fabric manufacturers to detect defects in the production process.

By Mondi Anderson, RealPars A DCS or distributed control system is similar to a PLC in that it has rugged computer controllers, however, the DCS contains multiple autonomous controllers that are distributed throughout a system, also used for automating processes.

Available as a free download on the Parker website, the software has been highlighted by Parker design centers, professional users, and DIYers for its interface, BOM generation, and quote capabilities.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com The THINC Academy is working to address the skills gap problem by engaging students with the fundamental knowledge and skills to be productive. THINC Academy already has a success record adding skilled, motivated, and well-rounded workers to help close the skills gap with their educational approach.

Recent electronic advancements and the flexibility of package designs make LVIT variable inductance sensors very cost effective for mainstream in-cylinder applications, especially those that tend to be near the peak of that bell curve.

To help ensure 24-hour energy autonomy throughout its global expedition, the Energy Observer uses a combination of intermittent renewable energy: solar panels, wind turbines, lithium-ion batteries and a hydrogen production system.

By Edward E. Herceg, Alliance Sensors Group The strengths and weaknesses of magnetostrictive, variable resistance, and variable inductance sensors are examined in this white paper, along with a chart for feature-by-feature comparisons.

The disruptive growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) and next-generation smart manufacturing, also known as Industry 4.0, is placing demands on designers to develop motion-enabled solutions that are powerful, small, precise and efficient.

By Walter Smith, Sensata Technologies The advent of rare-earth magnets and advanced brushless DC motor (BLDC) motor design has empowered a new range of motors small enough to fit into confined spaces, powerful enough to do real work, and efficient enough to be used in wireless or remote applications.

By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation Machine safety is of the utmost importance to manufacturers to reduce the risk of accidents and safeguard staff. However, the benefits of a comprehensive safety strategy can extend far beyond this. But how can manufacturers reap the rewards safety brings?

EOS expands its portfolio of systems for metal additive manufacturing with the EOS M 300 series. The solution is an automation-ready, future-proof platform that is configurable, scalable, and secure. For this, EOS also trusts in control and drive components from the Siemens Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) portfolio.

Prior to joining Okuma, Cline served as VP of Finance for Source Technologies and Director of Strategic Projects with Compass Group North America.