Control Systems

EPLAN unveiled the new EPLAN Electric P8 2.0 electrical controls design software, in beta version at the Hanover Fair. Whether point wiring, active device protection or channel oriented PLC design, the software offers practical potential for more project reliability, functionality and speed. The quality of all documentation is guaranteed by active check functions and the system automatically prevents incorrect data from being entered.

An all-in-one machine and motion controller is helping an innovative machine builder to set new levels of performance and economy in the stone cutting sector.

Mentor Graphics Corporation announced the signing of an exclusive, worldwide agreement with automotive electronics systems and components provider, Magneti Marelli. Valor, a division of Mentor and a global provider of productivity improvement software across the printed circuit board manufacturing supply chain, will supply its vManage™ solutions for traceability of the entire production process, from the screen printer to the Surface Mount Technology (SMT) component placement machine at the company’s multiple global locations. The agreement is the culmination of a partnership which, eighteen months ago, saw Magneti Marelli decide to expand its Valor® vManage installations for assembly traceability and feeder verification worldwide, including manufacturing sites in Italy, Spain, and Mexico.

Ethernet Direct Corporation, a professional and primary provider of industrial networking and communication solutions, is pleased to announce a series of special designed Industrial Ethernet Switches with conformal coating conforming to MIL-I-46058C standard.

A Japanese vessel manufacturer has chosen Ethernet Direct in one of its application by using serial interface to connect the automatic hydraulic control system with the control room when developing a new generation of vessels. The purpose of doing so aims to effectively improve the interference problem accrued from using analog transmission. In addition to solve problems brought by analog lines, the vessel developer also wants each serial node to send data back to the central control room via Ethernet network. Industrial networking devices are required to accomplish this demand.

Most medical component manufacturers, such as lower limb prosthetics and orthotics specialist, Chas A Blatchford & Sons, are finding that the market is demanding ever more complex products in increasingly short time frames. One effect of this has been to put pressure on the company’s research and development (R&D) department in Basingstoke, not least in the machine shop where turned and milled components for prototypes are produced.

SKF, the knowledge engineering company, has introduced the industry’s most complete condition monitoring service designed specifically for heavy-duty people moving equipment. The SKF MetroCon programme has been developed to help cut lost customer hours and unplanned downtime, while increasing the safety of elevators and escalators, such as those found in underground stations and public concourses. This innovative solution not only lays the groundwork for a condition-based maintenance strategy, but also for a total asset management approach, allowing operators to achieve maximum uptime and an improved passenger experience, as well as increased profitability.

STEMMER IMAGING’s new CVS Image Station Compact EOS-1000 is an embedded computer system for industrial imaging applications that combines high performance computing capability with four individual Gigabit Ethernet camera ports in a compact, robust housing. This system is ideal for any industrial automation application such as 3D vision robotic guidance and medical imaging.

Sprint Electric has supplied digital DC drives for the control system in a steel mill in Turkey. The retrofit has resulted in improved output, reduced waste and less down time.

The International Society of Automation (ISA) announces the publication of Control Systems Safety Evaluation and Reliability, Third Edition, by William M. Goble.