Articles and News

Automation.com, May 2011 By Bill Lydon, Editor ABB creates new role, appoints Brice Koch, to oversee relations with ABB’s largest customers and the development of opportunities in strategic growth areas such as rail, wind, water, solar, energy efficiency and smart grids. Koch will also be responsible for developing ABB’s service business.

Applied Products Group is now a Semaphore distributor for Arizona and New Mexico.

Mitsubishi Electric Europe acquired a minority shareholding in SCADA/HMI software company Adroit Technologies, for an undisclosed sum.

Automation.com, May 2011 By Bill Lydon, Editor Here are a few highlights from ABB Automation & Power World 2011. The event attracted a record number of participants, totaling more than 4,200, and featured over 400 educational workshops and hands-on training sessions, over 45 customer-presented case studies, and an exhibition of ABB and partner products.

Automation.com, April 2011 By Roy Kok How did Scotty know? How do you know when your systems are normal? Are the Dilithium crystals at their proper temperature and vibrational frequency for this Warp Speed and area of space? Could he be sure he caught every last Tribble, and none are blocking the cooling ducts to the Anti- Matter Drive?

Automation.com, April 2011 By Bill Lydon, Editor Hannover Messe 2011 was larger than any other in the last 10 years, with more than 230,000 visitors. More than 6,500 businesses from 65 countries came to Hannover to display their solutions. The attendance numbers represent a growth of 10 to 15 percent over the comparable 2009 event.

ABB will supply three 220 kV (kilovolt) air-insulated switchgear (AIS) substations and a SCADA system. Commissioning is scheduled for 2012.

Open Systems International was selected by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd. (MAHB) to upgrade the Electrical Power Supply (EPS) system for the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Radius will install FastNet RTU and PDR VHF Data radios as part of a rainwater drainage SCADA system for pumping stations in the cities of Al Dammam and Al Khobar.

MDU will upgrade and replace their legacy SCADA/EMS system with OSI's monarch (Multi-platform Open Network ARCHitecture) platform.

Automation.com, March 2011 By PLCopen North America The use of skid mounted equipment has become popular for a number of reasons but they pose some unique automation and control challenges that can be solved by using IEC 61131-3 and PLCopen standards.

Online game simulates a Plant Manager’s experience and challenges players to increase productivity, sustainability and the overall health of an industrial plant.

Semaphore will supply 370 remote terminal units (RTUs) over the next 3 years, along with master telemetry units (MTUs), Ethernet UHF radios, and associated equipment.

By Geoffrey Miller, OCWA, and Jim McConahay, Moore Industries Part of the upgrades at Onondaga County Water Authority included distributed and remote I/O that reduced wiring costs for field instrumentation while improving operational readiness and reliability.

The combined system provides security for SCADA networks, including protection from sophisticated cyber threats such as Stuxent and Night Dragon.

Revenue for the quarter was $410,532, an 18% increase over $347,023 for the same period last year.

Fox-IT will integrate MatrikonOPC’s full range of OPC Servers into its Fox DataDiode - a solution used to securely transmit data between networks that have different levels of security.

When completed at the end of 2011, the Nemmeli seawater desalination plant will supply up to 100 million liters of potable water a day and reduce the stress on Chennai’s dwindling groundwater resources.

At the heart of the lighting systems are ControlLogix PACs utilizing Ethernet/IP wireless communications modules. Airfield lighting circuit status is served to a FactoryTalk SCADA operator console located in the Air Traffic Control Tower.

Eighty-six fire stations have adopted this system which utilizes the latest technology in wireless data communications, intelligent process control equipment and VTScada HMI software from Trihedral.