Smart drives control workflow on Audi's door production line - A whole series of Nord geared motors have been installed to drive a chain conveyor belt system in Audi's advanced production facility in Ingolstadt, where the doors for the Audi A4 and A5 are produced. Few people are visible in this large and highly automated production facility. Instead, large robot arms reach into special containers and remove sheet metal parts. Further along the production line, sparks fly where the welding robots do their work. The article being produced slowly takes shape: doors for Audi's A4 and A5 models.

Newsletter to enhance efficiency and productivity - Superfactory is dedicated to spreading manufacturing and enterprise excellence information with an aim to improve manufacturing efficiency and productivity worldwide. Their January Newsletter has just been issued.

Motion data logger - MadgeTech has announced the Motion110, a motion data logger. This small, low cost recording device senses motion and records date and time stamped readings of when motion occurred. It can measure and record up to 13,107 time stamped events and will not consume memory when it doesn't sense motion.

Motors and Drives: A Practical Technology Guide introduces engineering concepts of motors and drives in a way that can be easily understood by engineers unfamiliar with the technology, and also, technicians who are technically literate but not accustomed to complex theory and mathematics.
Motors & Drives: A Practical Technology Guide; David Polka; ISA; ISBN: 978-1-55617-800-9

Helping plants compete, maintain profitability - MYNAH Technologies has released its MiMiC v3.1.0 Simulation Software for operator training and automation system testing. This product is a powerful way for industrial plants from hydrocarbon production and refining to chemical, pharmaceutical and biotech to stay competitive and profitable while reducing costs and improving environmental stewardship.

Goniometric cradles provide stacked pitch, yaw and roll positioning with common intersection point - Aerotech's AGC Series Goniometric Cradles are an essential element for single or multi-axis rotary micro-positioning where the payload or measurement area needs to be at the centre of rotation and an unobstructed line of sight is required. Three goniometers are available, each with a travel range of ± 45° and radii of curvature set at 85 mm, 160 mm and 245 mm - allowing the units to be stacked together to provide compact pitch, yaw and roll axes with a common and intersecting centre of rotation.

Excellence in the Asia Pacific region - HIMA is the recipient of the "2008 Asia Pacific Emerging Safety Systems Company of the Year Award" from Frost & Sullivan. This is second time this year that HIMA, based in Bruehl Germany, has received an award from the international management consultancy. Earlier this year, Frost & Sullivan recognised with "2008 Global Safety Solutions Product Value Leadership of the Year Award" to HIMA for its safety control system H41q/H51q

Purge systems - The new version of Eclipse's x-purge is designed to achieve hazardous area requirements for general-purpose enclosures and their internal electronics. The unit does so by continuously purging the enclosure with compressed air or nitrogen. The positive pressure in the enclosure ensures gas flow from inside to outside and eliminates the possibility of flammable gases re-entering the enclosure.

From evolution in size to revolution in instrumentation! - SWP has announced that its both popular ICs of Universal Frequency-to-Digital Converters UFDC-1 and UFDC-1M-16 are available now in 5 x 5 x 1.0 mm body, 32-pad, lead pitch 0.50 mm Micro Lead Frame package (MLF). This miniaturized package lets to use such ICs in different pen-size measuring instruments and built it in various quasi-digital sensors and transducers in order to convert frequency-time parameters of electrical signals of sensing elements to digital similar like ADC converts a voltage or current to digital for analog sensor's output.

Transducer for structural monitoring in marine environments - Developed for use in marine environments, RDP Electronics SS transducer series is ideally suited for a range of structural monitoring applications. It is sea water protected and typically used for the structural monitoring of ship deck boards, but also widely used for strain measurement and positional measurement of many types of structures on the sea bed including sub-sea structures such as those restraining pipes and for bridges.

Chemical ID product wins innovation award - Ahura Scientific has been recognized with a Cygnus Law Enforcement Group Innovation Award in the HazMAT / WMD category for its most recent product, TruDefender™ FT. Based on Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, TruDefender FT is a handheld system designed to identify unknown chemicals directly in the hotzone. Built for first responders, the instrument weighs less than 3 pounds and is rugged enough to withstand the rigors of field use.
The Cygnus Innovation Awards recognize new products and services introduced to the US law enforcement market during the previous year and celebrate the technological innovations designed to help officers in every facet of their jobs. Manufacturers submit their newest and most inventive products for evaluation from a panel of independent judges of law enforcement professionals. -

Anticipating 2009 FlowTimes has brought out its January issue today! You might like to get their 2009 Calender too. It's usually somthing to treasure and keep. Happy new year!

Curve tracer for parametric testing of high-speed devices - A high-speed, high-accuracy real-time V/I curve tracer that is ideally suited to carrying out DC parametric testing on semiconductor and optoelectronic devices has been introduced by Yokogawa Europe. The new compact, lightweight unit consists of their GS820 multichannel source measure unit and the 765670 curve tracer software, which runs on a PC connected to the GS820 via a USB link.

Normally closed switch probe for connector or presence test - New from Peak Test Services, the P201/GF is a modified version of the established P201/G series featuring a normally closed switch. The normally closed switch configuration allows simple and quick detection of failures and interruptions in applications such as connector or presence testing.

Step-down switching regulator with input transient protection - Linear Technology has launched the LT3682, a 1A, 36V input step-down switching regulator with input transient protection up to 60V. Its Burst Mode® operation keeps quiescent current under 75uA in no load standby conditions. The LT3682¹s 3.6V to 36V input voltage range, with 60V transient ride through, makes it ideal for load dump and cold-crank conditions commonly found in automotive applications.

Innovative and economic torque measurement - RDP Electronics offers a simple to install and economic solution to torque measurement using 'off the shelf' transducers where applications do not require high dynamic response.

Non-stop safety - Systems integration specialist Hima-Sella is introducing HIMax®, the latest HIMA safety product into Britain. HIMax complements their existing range of HIQuad, HIMatrix and Planar 4 and is the only safety system designed to guarantee uninterrupted system operation throughout the life of a processing facility.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to Manufacturing Operations Management! - This handy electronic guide provides in-depth coverage on how you can apply ISA-95, Enterprise-Control Integration Standard, to help lower TCO of manufacturing operations management (MOM) systems and their enterprise and plant interfaces. It consists of a series of related "how-to" white papers described in the context of ISA-95 models, definitions, and data exchanges. Its format lets you use bookmarked links to easily browse the various chapters, figures, and appendices.

Update announced - GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms has announced the latest release of DataViews v9.20, a set of high quality graphic visualisation development tools for building custom applications in various industries such as manufacturing, aerospace, and infrastructure. The new version is updated for the Intel Solaris 10 UNIX-based operating system running on the X86 architecture and includes new features that increase graph configurability, enhance fill effect properties/dynamics, and introduces the ability for transparent backgrounds.

Standardised interfaces for "Christmas trees" - CAN in Automation (CiA) and Subsea Instrumentation Interface System (SIIS) nonprofit associations have developed jointly a communication interface for subsea tree (nick-named "Christmas trees") devices. These so-called SIIS level-2 devices include generic sensors for pressure, temperature, position, inclination, etc. as well as complex meters such as for multi-phase flow measurements or gas-in-oil monitoring. The standardized communication interfaces are based on the internationally standardized CAN serial bus system (ISO 11898 series), which is used for more than 15 years in high volumes in passenger cars and many other application fields.

China high power AC drives market exceeds $1 billion - Robust growth continued in 2007 for the High Power AC Drives market in China riding on the back of another year of double digit growth in GDP of the country. The China market for High Power AC Drives is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.9% over the next five years. The market was over $1.0 billion in 2007 and is forecasted to be nearly $1.9 billion in 2012, according to a new ARC Advisory Group study, "High Power AC Drive Outlook for China, Market Analysis & Forecast Through 2012."

2008 a very productive year! _ Applied Analytics enjoyed another very productive 2008; exponential personnel growth allowing for improved customer service, a new 12,000 sq. ft. 2-story facility with many of the functions previously outsourced now handled internally under our oversight resulting in improved products and enhanced QC procedures.

High-density 48-port UTP patch panels offer fast installation - A new range of high-density UTP patch panels which require only 1U rack space has been introduced by AMP NetConnect. The new 48-port panels, which are available for use with Cat.5E and Cat.6 network cabling systems, can be terminated with the AMP NETCONNECT SL Tool, which provides fast, consistent, high-quality installation.

Robust growth of India DCS market continued in 2007 - The overall fundamentals of the Indian economy remain stable with the growth momentum expected to sustain. Over the last three years the DCS market in India grew at a very robust CAGR in excess of 20% and despite global economic downturn, India's growth story will continue over the long term, resulting in a robust DCS market outlook over the next five years. according to ARC's "Distributed Control Systems Outlook for India."

Radio based remote controls for TVs, DVDs and set-top boxes - GreenPeak, has announced the launch of a new robust and reliable wireless radio technology for home remote control devices based on RF (radio frequency).

Process technology centre - In its 50th anniversary year at the Neuenburg (D) site, Romaco FrymaKoruma has invested in the setting up and equipping of the ProTec Process Technology Centre. This has crucially expanded the site capacity of this machine construction specialist.

2000th Instrument shipped - Ahura Scientific supplier of rugged, ultra-compact handheld instruments for chemical identification, has just announced that it has achieved a significant corporate milestone with the shipment of its 2000th chemical identification unit. The accomplishment is the result of an increasing demand for the company¹s award-winning Raman spectroscopy-based FirstDefender® and TruScan™ instruments, and it¹s most recent product, TruDefender™ FT, which is based on Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Their units are widely deployed across the globe in the safety and security, pharmaceutical and consumer products industries.

Cost reduction actions taken - Keithley Instruments has announced cost reduction actions in response to the rapid deterioration in global economic and industry conditions.

Whose hot and whose not in Automation! - Control's Walt boyes and Larry6 O'Brien of ARC Advisory Group have compiled top 50 list of Automation companies> As in the past few years there are two lists North America (USA, Canada & Mexico) and the Entire Worldor "Global".

Father of control system integration starts the next adventure! - We had hardly received the news of Endress+Hauser founder Georg Endress' passing when the sad news of another passing was announced. Nels Tyring passed away last night (14th Dec). Nels was commonly considered to be the father of the profession of control system integration, and was one of the founders of the Control System Integrators Association, CSIA. It isn't every day that you get to be the founder of an entire profession. Nels was proud of that. Nels Tyring was a great man. He was a modern day Viking, a larger than life character who was so full of life that it is difficult to imagine him gone. His greatest attribute in my estimation was that he was an encourager. May his Family be comforted in the thought that we in the automation profession are the poorer in his passing. Walt Boyes's very personal obituary Nel's Blog. May his noble soul rest in peace.