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Instrumentation and Control News
See Archive Page for earlier news.

The news section is suspended until further notice

19/2/99

• Lowest internet charges in Europe - Telecom Eireann (Semi state telephone company) has submitted proposals to the Telecommunications Regulator which include new low-cost telephone charges of between IR20 (Eur25.22) to IR30 (Eur37.84) per month for 100 hours of Internet access. Telecom currently charges IR1.44 (Eur1.82) per hour at peak times and 0.48p (Eur0.61) per hour at evenings and weekends. Should the new proposals be accepted, charges will drop to between 20p(Eur0.25) and 30p(Eur0.38) per hour, giving Ireland the lowest Internet connection charges in Europe. The advocates of e-commerce believe that the high level of US Internet activity, with 35% of the population believed to be online compared with 10% of Europeans, is a direct result of flat-rate charges. Telecom has stopped short of offering a flat-rate in the belief that it would be against EU competition rules although it is using the term, presumably because the same rate will apply for peak and off-peak access. It is hoped that the new charges will apply within the next month

• Asia set to outgrow Europe and US - A new report (Global Control Systems) from Datamonitor claims thet the Asian markets for PLCs and DCS will continue to grow faster thatn US or European markets right up to 2003. The report examines the automation market in 25 countries across three continents.

• Law suit settled out of court - Out-of-court settlements have been reached that end all disputes involving two leading HMI software suppliers, Wonderware and Intellution, and OEM industrial network software supplier Cyberlogic. Two lawsuits alleging copyright infringement were originally at issue. One was filed by Wonderware against Intellution and Cyberlogic. The other was filed by Cyberlogic against Wonderware. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed, but the cases were settled without any admission of wrongdoing or liability by any of the parties.
• Workshop on Nonlinear Analysis and Control Theory - The central theme of the workshop is the interaction between a certain complex of ideas in nonlinear and nonsmooth analysis on the one hand, and its attendant applications in control on the other. The workshop is being held in Porto, Portugal in June.
  (see our Ehibitions & Conferences Page.)
• Control Conference - The American Automatic Control Council will hold the 18th American Control Conference (ACC) June 2-4, 1999 in San Diego,California. Held in cooperation with the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), this conference will bring together people working in the fields of control, automation, and related areas from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), Association of Iron and Steel Engineers (AISE), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME),International Society for Measurement and Control (ISA), Society for Computer Simulation (SCS), and the IEEE.

• Motion control forum - The transcript of a roundtable discussion on Motion Control held at the AHTD (Association of High Technology Distributors), in Chicago is now available. Published by Bull's Eye Marketing Inc and copies are available from the publishers at $50.00US. Contact Thomas Bullock.
• New developments at FieldComms'99 - The profile of FieldComms99 is therefore expanding to encompass all developments in digital communications and their application within the process, manufacturing and building automation sectors. PC based control systems, together with Scada software, data acquisition and soft PLC technology will now form a new integral part of the event in addition to the latest smart process control solutions for intrinsically safe areas. All the current and emerging fieldbus protocols will be covered including the latest developments in Ethernet and FireWire. As a result FieldComms will now be known as FieldComms99 "Open Solutions for Process & Manufacturing Automation" and will be held on 5-6th October this year at the Telford International Centre, Telford UK.
  Companies interested in taking part can obtain additional information by contacting Diana Shepstone on +44 (0)1953 850 257.
• Relay technology guide - There are approximately three billion relays produced annually world-wide and more than 20 billion relays in use - equating to approximately three for every person on earth! These fascinating facts are confirmed in Matsushita Automation Controls' information-packed relay technology guide. Produced in a convenient pocket-size book, it is extremely informative and not only documents fundamentals and latest developments within the relay technology field but also provides an understanding of how the relay has evolved since its birth in 1837. Contact Ian Purcell.
• New MTL MD appointed - As part of MTL Instruments Group plc's new global strategy, Jamie Lumsden moves to this key position within the Group from Mm's wholly owned sub sidiary Telematic Ltd. where he was Managing Director for three years.
• Intelligent CAN Controller - PEP Modular Computers has introduced an intelligent CAN controller with optional single or dual CompactPCl CAN interface. The CP350 is a 32-bit industrial I/O module designed for CompactPCl-based systems that incorporates the SJA1OOO CAN protocol controller from Philips.
• Ultra-slim isolatIng signal converters launched - Just available from IMO Precision Controls is a range of ultra-slim isolating signal converters. Available in five different input configurations, current, voltage, thermocouple, resistance and RTD, IMO isolating signal converters provide 0.1% accuracy in virtually every process application.
• New low-cost data acquisition boards - The PCI-6023E, PCI-6024E, and PCI-6025E, from National Instruments, are new plug-in data acquisition boards that lower the cost and simplify the collection of physical measurements into computers for analysis, display, and networking. With these boards, engineers and scientists can move heyond the confines of traditional instrumentation and take advantage of their computer's low cost, superior processing, and connectivity features in their applications.
• New team leader and chief archetectect appointed - Fieldbus Foundtion announced the appointment of Fisher-Rosemount's Lee Neitzel as technical team leader and chief architect for HSE (High Speed Ethernet)management team.

The Instrumentation Signpost has interesting pointers for the I&C Professional.

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