See Archive Page for earlier news.

30/8/02

• New international sales manager - Flow Technology, a leading supplier of industrial flow measurement solutions, today announced that Andy Dieball has been named its international sales manager. Dieball will be responsible for sales of the company's flow metering products to key international markets such as aerospace, automotive, food & beverage, industrial, metrology, OEM and oil & gas.

• European manufacture of new measurement instrument platform ramps up - Emerson Process Management confirmed their commitment to the European process market by staging the international launch of the new Rosemount instrumentation platform, the 3051S Series scaleable transmitter, in Europe last November. Since then, the 3051S Series has been widely accepted by European process instrumentation engineers, who recognise the benefits and advantages - evidenced by the rapid growth of significant European orders after customer site evaluations of initial units. The Rosemount 3051S is the first measurement platform to enable flexible best practices for pressure, level and flow from just one instrument.
• Industrial automation software solutions company ranked as one of the World's Largest Software Companies - USDATA Corporation, the leading supplier of industrial automation software solutions, announced its place on the Software 500, Software Magazine's list of the world's foremost software and services providers, featured in the publication's Summer Edition 2002 issue.
• Our computer supplier has a good idea for charity! - All over Ireland valuable goods are going to waste because companies have neither the time nor the contacts to find out who could benefit from them. A new Irish charitable service sponsored by our computer supplier, Wicklow-based IBC aims to fill the gap. To donate surplus goods and save on time and disposal costs, visit http://www.ibc.ie/donationsdirect and list free of charge any goods you are prepared to donate. Charity, voluntary and educational organisations are in turn invited to notify the website of the items they need!

Latest issue of Read-out published - The July/August issue of our journal, Read-out, which is Ireland's journal of Instrumentation and Control, finally hit the streets today. This periodical is distributed free of charge to I&C professionals throughout Ireland. A nominal fee is charged for copies sent abroad.

• First 1 GHz PXI Digitizer and a full line of PXI Digitizers and PXI Generators launched - LeCroy has introduced eight digitizers in PXI format with bandwidths ranging from 150 MHz to 1 GHz and one PXI arbitrary waveform generator. There are also choices for eleven possible upgrades of acquisition memory length, giving the end user more than 20 PXI digitizer configurations to choose from. The new products feature advanced "instrument on a chip" technology which combines a high performance ADC and long acquisition memory in a single hybrid. This allows LeCroy to produce PXI digitizers with highest performance in the PXI market, high density of channels and low price.
• User programmable embedded controller aimed at OEM users - The SL99 is a second-generation SPLat controller designed for applications with modest I/O requirements. It features 16 digital I/O points plus 2 analog I/O. A simple add-on board can provide up to 6 more analog or digital special purpose I/O points such as temperature measurement or fluid level switching. An expansion connector allows digital I/O expansion up to 48 points. The programming language is extremely easy to use for simple timing and sequencing tasks, but has the sophistication to allow complex control applications of several thousand instructions.

• New system analyses dry film lamination process, stress distribution and magnitude - Sensor Products has introduced the Topaq Pressure Analysis System. Used in conjunction with Pressurex/Fuji Prescale stress indicating films, it provides a unique perspective of the distribution and actual magnitude (PSI) of pressure between any contacting or impacting surfaces. Pressurex/Fuji Prescale films instantaneously and permanently change color in proportion to the amount of pressure applied to them and this windows based system interprets these changes.
• Electronic identification module added to industrial connector family - An electronic identification module has been added to the Han range of industrial connectors from Hartings. The new module has a built-in EEPROM memory which allows data to be stored for identification and coding purposes or for the storage of process parameters.

• New online multichannel condition monitor - Sensonics has introduced VibroWeb, a 16 channel condition monitor designed to operate online for monitoring sensors measuring vibration, pressure and temperature on plant machinery in remote areas. The unit saves valuable time for maintenance engineers by eliminating time consuming manual data collection and will run a 16 point patrol in just 15 minutes on a continuous and error free basis.

• New Software and SDK for Cameras - The Imaging Source, an imaging hardware manufacturer and software house, announces today IC Imaging Control a software SDK to support Sony's 1394 (Firewire) machine vision cameras. Up to now special software tools were required to access these cameras under Microsoft Windows. Developers can access these cameras with IC Imaging Control (ActiveX and C++ Class Library) now in almost no time. Download their 1394 WDM driver, application to grab, display and save images and evaluation kit from their site.
• New online shop for test probes - The Peak Group, leading British provider of access solutions for automatic test systems, has opened an online shop for test probes and receptacles.
• New pharmaceutical solutions initiative launched - GE Industrial Systems has launched a new initiative, GE Pharmaceutical Solutions, which brings the quality, manufacturing expertise and support of GE and its partners to pharmaceutical companies and their vendors. GE Pharmaceutical Solutions addresses the business and manufacturing challenges associated with FDA 21 CFR, Part 11, to ensure compliance, increase productivity and lower costs.

• Lightning-protection Demand Surges as Damage Grows - Lightning damage is up sharply this year, and that's creating unusual demand for protection of electronic and computer equipment, announced B&B Electronics, which manufactures surge protection and electronic data devices. "Sales of our isolation products, which protect data lines from lightning damage, are up 43% this year; they actually have been hard to keep on the shelf," noted B&B president Bill Franklin. "The volume of phone calls from people with lightning damage has been consistently high as well. To us, that indicates there are more thunderstorms than in previous years."

• High-performance digital sampling power meters - Yokogawa has introduced a new range of digital sampling power meters which combine high performance with versatility for a wide range of power measurement and energy management applications. The new WT210 (single-phase) and WT230 (3-phase) are compact half-rack sized instruments whose wide frequency range makes them suited to applications ranging from low-frequency motor and convertor measurements to tests on high-frequency invertors.
• New T&M online report - Test & Measurement International Online Report is launching in September, this free monthly e-letter, authored by British-based engineer-editor Brian Kerridge, focuses on the best new test, measurement, inspection, and machine vision technologies from all around the world. Content will include: application briefs, important new products, technologies introduced at major trade shows, tutorial tips--and much more. Contact: Reed Business Information for the full story.
• 50,000 connector shipments since January 2001 - Tyco Electronics today announced that sales of its increasingly popular AMP NETCONNECT MT-RJ secure jack connector have exceeded 50,000 since its commercial introduction in January 2001. The MT-RJ SECURE connector and cable assemblies or connector cable assemblies are key components in the complete AMP NETCONNECT MT-RJ SECURE optical fibre cabling system product line, offering all the features and benefits of the standard MT-RJ connector system with the added advantage of physical network security.
• New dual PMC host board - Concurrent Technologies has announced the single slot PP 110/01x, an intelligent, dual PMC Host CompactPCI board. As well as two 66MHz PMC sites, the PP 110/01x supports dual gigabit PICMG 2.16 (Packet Switching Backplane), PICMG 2.9 (IPMI system monitoring), PICMG 2.1 (hot swap), and can operate as a system controller board, a peripheral board or a satellite board. The board uses either the 1.2GHz Mobile Intel Pentium III Processor-M or the 800MHz Low Voltage Intel Pentium III Processor 512K with up to 1.5 Gbytes 133MHz ECC SDRAM. The PP 110/01x is ideally suited to I/O intensive embedded applications.
• Pneumatically operated switch probe - Peak Test Services have added to their wide range of switch probes by offering a pneumatically operated version, Series P401/SW. This is believed to be the first ever pneumatic switch probe on the market, and is ideally suited to any application requiring sequential testing or switching operations.

• Simple integration of up to three fieldbus systems into IE networks - With the new FieldGate module, Softing offers a family of rail-mounted gateway solutions enabling fieldbus networks to link directly with Industrial Ethernet. FieldGate makes it easy to connect enterprise-wide office and IT network with automation systems at the plant floor level where fieldbuses are now common. Currently, FieldGate is available with connectivity for ProfiBus, CAN, CANopen, DeviceNet and Foundation Fieldbus. Each FieldGate module has up to three ports for the selected fieldbus, providing Ethernet connectivity for up to three independent networks. Compact design, low cost and self-configuration ensure that FieldGate can be added easily to existing communications structures to extend existing networks or integrate new ones.
• An unbiased look at the world's Coriolis Mass Flow meters written especially for engineers and end-users! - Copperhill and Pointer Inc. and ISA-- the Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society, have released the second volume in the "The Consumer Guide toŠ" series through ISA Press. The second in the series is "The Consumer Guide to Coriolis Mass Flowmeters". This book is the first completely independent guide to the world's Coriolis mass flowmeters, ranked by performance, by instrument type, and by manufacturer. This guide is indispensable for designers, engineers, owners and end-users of mass flowmeters. Now users can see where their flowmeter ranks and use this guide to help choose their next Coriolis mass flowmeter.
  Already published is "The Consumer Guide to Magnetic Flowmeters." Vortex Shedding and Fluidic Flowmeters Guides are to be released in October 2002 and there are other titles in preparation.
• A practical explosion proof guide for consultants, control engineers, O.E.M. companies and operators - With this new complimentary documentation, Schischeks has compiled clear and concise information on the subject of explosion proof. It refers to the ATEX 100a (guideline 94/9/EG) and ATEX 118a (guideline 1999/92/EG). In addition it explains the new labelling of electrical explosion proof products under ATEX. It also provides practical examples and advice for O.E.M. companies and installers.

• Innovative system for dispensing medical sterilisation and disinfectant fluids in situ uses plastic turbine meters - Turbine flowmeters from Titan Enterprises in non-metallic housings have been developed for use in the unique new Sterilox 2501 generator and dispenser system for Sterilox chemical sterilisation and disinfection liquid. Used particularly in medical applications, for example on endoscopes, Sterilox is a safe, environmentally friendly, fast acting biocide, effective at low temperatures.
• Design productivity delivered by collaboration - National Instruments and Tektronix have announced a cooperative effort that maximises design engineer productivity by delivering Nil LabView software preinstalled on the Tektronix open Windows oscilloscopes. Beginning in September, Tektronix open Windows oscilloscopes will include ready-to-run applications of NI Lab VIEW graphical development environment optimised for the oscilloscope as well as a fully functional evaluation version of the software.
• Caro launches out - Dick Caro, the former ARC Advisory Group vice president , who, throughout much of the '90s, led both the ISA and IEC fieldbus standardisation efforts, has established his own consultancy, CMC Associates, to offer strategic planning for all types of data communication networks and auto-mation systems for industry, buildings and homes. Joining him in the venture are Heather Angus, former editor of the Canadian publication Manufacturing AUTOMATION and Rob Green, a former colleague from Arthur D. Little.
• Coriolis mass flowmeter for highly corrosive applications - Endress+Hauser is introducing a new Coriolis sensor which was especially designed to serve highly corrosive applications such as hydrochloric acid (HCl). Hydrochloric acid is one of the most commonly used active ingredients in various chemical processes. It is also widely used as an industrial cleaning agent . For these reasons, hydrochloric acid is one of the most heavily produced chemicals in the world. Endress+Hauser has developed a new Coriolis sensor, Promass H, which features zirconium for all wetted parts. Zirconium is one of the few materials capable of withstanding HCl over a wide range of process conditions. This allows Promass H to directly and accurately measure the mass flow of this very important chemical. With zirconium as tube material, Promass H is able to measure hydrochloric acid as well as other highly corrosive liquids such as sulphuric acid up to a concentration of approximately 70%.
• Control system for an egg-sorting machine - How's this for a news item! The egg-processing line developed by the Russian Federal Nuclear Center - All-Russian Institute of Theoretical Physics (VNIITF) was designed to automatically weigh eggs, sort them into five groups based on their weight, irradiate and mark them. Well it is better than thermonuclear bombs!
• European low power AC drive market to top €1.9 Billion in 2006 - The Low Power AC Drive Market in Europe, which exceeded €1.6 billion in 2001, will top €1.9 billion by the end of 2006, growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3 percent over the next five years, according to a new ARC Advisory Group study. "AC drives now span a wide range," according to Senior Analyst Himanshu Shah (mailto:hshah@arcweb.com ), the principal author of ARC's Low Power AC Drives Outlook for Europe. "Simple, energy-saving drives with speed control in the constant Volts/Hz mode comprise the high volume segment and are becoming as ubiquitous as motor starters. Sophisticated flux vector controlled drives with near-servo performance, built-in application algorithms, auto-tuning, network communications, built-in Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), graphic LCD displays, and touch screen-based operator interfaces are the premium high-value drives that dominate the coordinated automation systems of most manufacturing plants."

• An analysis stampede requested! - The ISA Analysis Division has announced that the 48th Annual ISA Analysis Division Symposium will convene in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on 27-30 April 2003. Papers and other materials are invited now for consideration to be presented at this event.

• Sophisticated EMI measuring receiver offers frequency range to 18 GHz - Latest from global EMC measurement leader, Schaffner, is a sophisticated EMI measuring receiver with a frequency range of 9kHz to 18GHz. The new SMR 4518 receiver can be used stand alone, or form the core of a fully-compliant CISPR-16 emission test system. For example, the versatile instrument is capable of being used for highly-sensitive selective voltage measurement, calibration of other measuring tools and attenuation measurement of shielding effectiveness. When using an open area test site (OATS), fully anechoic chamber or GTEM cell, it can be integrated with all parts of the system for simple, accurate testing.

• Drives and systems in Nuremberg - From 26 - 28 November the automation branch will be meeting once again at Europe's innovative and most significant show for electrical automation technologies: the SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2002M. Whilst many conferences have found it hard to stay on course this year, the show continues to grow. More than 700 exhibitors covering more than 40,000 sqm can be expected in November at the Nuremberg exhibition centre. More than 130 companies have opted to exhibit for the first time at the this exhibition.
• New photoluminescence quantum yield accessory - A new integrating sphere accessory for the JY SPEX FluoroLog-3 and FluoroMax-3 spectrofluorometers, from Jobin Yvon, greatly simplifies measurements of solid state photoluminescence quantum yields of films. This new approach significantly improves existing experimental methods as there is no need for special equipment on the excitation and detection side. The integrating sphere has been designed to fit into the standard spectrofluorometer sample chamber eliminating coupling optics and avoiding any associated losses. The complete system can be delivered fully calibrated and used with or without the sphere in place.