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All tweets hashtaged #Pauto used to be available in this space but this is no longer facilitated by twitter (technical reasons!) but by clicking the image above PAuto tweets may be viewed directly. News from Ireland is indicated by this map. (right) News appears as we receive it on our facebook page (above) or on our LinkedIn Group Page. Our News Page and this Home page are updated daily! Enter your search terms Web read-out.net Submit search form Product, People & Company News All News! Technology & Application News Acquisition increases market share in remote telemetry units and SCADA. - Ovarro has completed the acquisition of Datawatt, a Netherlands based business serving the domestic water and energy sectors with RTUs and asset SCADA solutions. Re-Envisioning the Electric Grid - What would the electric grid look like if it were redesigned today from the ground up? That's a question that Tesla engineers Colin Breck and Percy Link recently tackled. Their answer involves building immense resiliency through open source technologies and digital twins. (ISA Interchange Blog) MQTT upgrade fir CPUs. - IDEC Corporation has released a free firmware upgrade enabling new and existing MicroSmart FC6A Plus PLC CPUs to support the industry-standard MQTT protocol. The upgrade can be downloaded to the FC6A CPU, so it is easy for users to connect all types of field data to on-site and cloud-based brokers, and make the information readily available for users and analytical applications. Users can also send commands to the FC6A using MQTT. Mark Radford has been appointed LMI’s Chief Executive Officer. Emergency stop switch selection. - An interactive virtual 3D tool has been developed to assist control panel designers and builders to quickly select the optimum devices for their application from EAO's extensive portfolio of modular E-Stop switches, and easily configure the many features they offer to meet their application specific requirements. Connector and cable assembly manufacturer moves! - Intelliconnect (Europe) Ltd has moved to a larger facility at the Corby (GB) Innovation Hub following sales growth of 30% in 2020. The move to a 6400ft² site provides the space required for their immediate increase in production requirements and provides additional space for future expansion. Network fosters integration in PLM, ERP and PLC as well as simulations. - The new partner network that EPLAN founded towards the end of 2020 pools the worldwide expertise of its cooperation partners to increase the benefits for customers. The EPLAN Partner Network (EPN) defines common binding goals for boosting integration along the value chain. Users profit from this increase in continuity and integration, particularly in the areas of PLM, ERP and PLC as well as simulations. The in-depth interchange amongst the manufacturers makes it easier for customers to integrate the large number of systems used on the market. Award for third time! - Panasonic Industry Europe has awarded Anglia Components with its Regional Distributor of the Year award for the second year running. In recognition of its exceptional sales growth and support for customers during a difficult year, this is the third occasion that Anglia has received the award, an exceptional achievement amongst Panasonic’s network of regional distributors across Europe. Temperature monitoring, protection and sensing specialist acquired. - Variohm Holdings has advanced its strategic plans to expand both product portfolio and manufacturing competency with the acquisition of the German/Hungarian temperature control component manufacturer Limitor Solutions GmbH. The need for monitoring NOx and the factors behind the choice of technology. - NOx gases are mostly produced by the combustion of hydrocarbons in vehicles and engines, as well as industrial processes such as power generation and cement manufacture. Consequently, NOx measurements are vital to minimise emissions and demonstrate compliance in applications such as engine development, combustion control, emissions abatement, stack testing, and in the development of any products or processes that burn hydrocarbon fuels. Examples include process boilers, gas turbines, stationary diesel engines, domestic boilers and wood burners. (Signal Group) Accuracy in face recognition. - OMRON Electronic Components Europe has announced a new OKAO Vision face recognition package, offering highly accurate deep-learning face recognition. Developers are able to deploy OKAO Vision flexibly on their own choice of embedded hardware platform. Field Device Connectivity. - The BASpi-Edge, from Contemporary Controls, is a 12-point freely programmable BACnet IP client/server with a resident connector to the Azure IoT Central cloud. Built on the popular Raspberry Pi, the BASpi-Edge has features not found in conventional controllers such as an HDMI port for remote displays, a USB port for a touch screen, Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity. UPS controller. - The new UB40.241 40A rated DIN-Rail mounted controller for uninterruptible power supply systems has been launched by PULS Power. The new model is now the most powerful UPS controller in PULS’s range which already includes a variety of models currently providing up to 20A capacity. COVID-19 and Automation and in Ireland. Various statements are being issued by companies and events in the Automation Sector. This is where they are listed as we hear of them. Why testing is important. (IEC 16/4/2020) What have we learned about the virus, so far? (Sterling Pres. Health 21 Oct 2020) MANY EVENTS HAVE BEEN POSTPONED OR CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 please check with the organisers before making arrangements. Lab Suppliers Conference Annual GAMBICA conference 19/01/2021 Melton Mowbray (GB) Drives & Controls 2020 Britain's leading event for drives, power transmission and motion control. 25/01/2021 to 27/01/2021 Birmingham (GB) 25th Annual ARC Industry Forum Accelerating Digital Transformation in a Post-COVID World 8/02/2021 to 17/02/2021 On Line Navigating IT/OT Organizational Convergence - ARC Advisory Group has observed that the convergence and overlap of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) as part of an organization’s overall digital transformation has not created organizational convergence around ownership and responsibility. (Peter Reynolds, Arc Advisory) Winning security platform. - The LYNX MOSA.ic™ product has been selected as the winner of the "IoT Security Platform of the Year" award in the 5th annual IoT Breakthrough Awards program conducted by IoT Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global Internet-of-Things (IoT) market today. Capturing very small forces. - A new, highly sensitive piezoelectric crystal developed by Kistler guarantees extremely precise measuring results. Used in a new Type 9323 press force sensor which is ideal for measuring very small forces in challenging industrial environments and is an excellent solution for calibrating force sensors installed in production machinery. Asset management system partners announced. - Plant reliability specialist AVT Reliability® has expanded distribution of its cloud-based condition monitoring system, Machine Sentry® with two new distribution partnerships in Scotland and in France. Pay as you sense! - Having survived more than one downturn and recovery, Sensor Technology already has a rental option in place for its TorqSense range of torque sensors. Potential users can choose to rent the equipment, rather than purchase it, thus circumventing the bottleneck of raising capital purchase approval. Major investment to grow sales in US! - Endress+Hauser and its US representative partners will invest $4.5M (€3.65M) to grow its sales and service support around the US. At a strategic time in the market, this investment will reinforce and increase Endress+Hauser's sales channel by more than 25%. Angle sensor for mobile machinery. - With its optimised design for harsh environment position sensing tasks on mobile machinery and equipment for construction, agriculture, forestry and haulage etc., Novotechnik's new RSA-3200 series angle sensors offer a wide choice of electrical interfaces, five selectable angle measurement ranges to 360°, and resolution to 14 bits in an extremely robust IP6K9K housing. Automation for new beverage facility. - In November 2019, AriZona Beverage Co., the company behind the AriZona Iced Tea brand, opened its newest manufacturing facility in New Jersey. This modern facility consumes 621,000 square-feet, houses five bottle and can production lines, a plastic bottling plant, syrup concentrate batch system, a reverse osmosis (RO) water generation system, warehouse space and amenities distinctly "AriZona." (Control Engineering) Role of Cloud Platforms in Industrial Internet of Things and Digital Transformation - Cloud platforms for applications and the Internet of Things (IoT) are becoming core technology components for the solutions offered by many industrial and smart city software and automation suppliers. (ARC ADvisory) Modern lighting. - A new Essentra Components brochure makes it easier for manufacturers and installers to source component solutions for lighting projects. Supported by over 45,000 standard products and an enviable reputation for being easy to deal with when working with top global lighting companies, Essentra Components make it easier for manufacturers and installers to source components solutions for lighting projects. LIMS validation. - Autoscribe Informatics took the opportunity in a recent webinar to discuss the much-misunderstood subject of LIMS validation. Within regulated environments LIMS validation is a vital process, and yet is a subject that is open to many different interpretations. France, your closest EU neighbour. - Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs comments on Brexit and Irish/French Relations. "At midnight last Thursday, the end of the Brexit transition period confirmed the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union. This departure was the British people’s choice. We regret it, but we respect it." (Irish Times) Drastic restrictions again. - The Christmas holiday season heralded an unprecedented increase in the number of cases in both jurisdictions on the island of Ireland. The increase was beyond any of the projected figures and necessitated imposition of further restrictions which will continue until the end of January 2021. However the last fortnight saw the first vaccinations administered on the island and it is estimated that this will continue until the late summer. 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