See Archive Page for earlier news.

30/1/03

New chairman appointed - New chairman appointed - Automsoft, the leading global provider of advanced database software designed specifically to manage production data for process industries in a secure environment, has announced the appointment of Donal J. Geaney as Chairman of the company. Donal Geaney is Senior Adviser to the Chairman and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Elan Corporation. He also chairs the Irish Government's National Pensions Reserve Fund, the Irish Aviation Authority. He is a member of the Court of Bank of Ireland and a member of the boards of BIO, the Biotech Industry Organisation which represents biotech companies around the world, the Trinity Foundation and the US-Ireland Council.
The company's core product suite, Rapid,allows manufacturers to collect, store, analyze and report on production data, bridging islands of information throughout the plant. By providing one true and reliable picture of the manufacturing process, RAPID becomes a powerful business tool helping to improve production quality, reduce costs and meet regulatory requirements. RAPID's industry-specific software helps to optimize the production process for gas and oil, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical and utilities industries. RAPID-Pharma, designed specifically for the pharmaceutical sector, is operating in eight of the world's top 20 pharmaceutical companies and complies with the FDA's 21 CFR Part 11 regulation on Electronic Records and Electronic Signatures.

State Of The art on-line tools For selection of flow and density products - "All the information you need for selecting, installing and troubleshooting Micro Motion Coriolis flow and density meters (Emerson Process Management), is now available on-line. Using the simple drop down menus and data entry fields to enter your service conditions and preferences, the new web based selection guide, at www.micromotion.com/select, shows the best meter to suit a given application and service conditions. The chosen meter can be configured, and the data sheet and model number used to request a quotation or place an order. Within the first month of being operational this Micro Motion site was accessed 2,200 times by customers. No software needs to be downloaded and no password or access restrictions apply.

Instrumentation displays offer long life and easy upgrades - Trident Displays is offering an upgraded range of mono and colour STN LCD modules, featuring greatly improved, long life, low power backlights, and a wide operating temperature range. Ideal for instrumentation, ticket machines and hand held systems, the new modules form part of a range of displays with mechanically compatible mono, colour and touch variants, allowing different versions of a display to be fitted into the same casing aperture.

Dual channel fast Ethernet PMC adaptor - Concurrent Technologies has announced the release of the latest addition to its range of networking PMC mezzanine cards - the CL PMC/551, a two channel Fast Ethernet adaptor with 1 OBase-T and I OOBase-TX capability. The adaptor is targeted at applications that will benefit from reducing the CPU's Ethernet processing load while maintaining low system latency.

The ultimate solution for all flow measurements - The SM4000 Electromagnetic Flowmeter, a uniquely user friendly and cost effective measurement solution has been launched by ABB. "This instrument with its many distinct advantages is the perfect application for the food, agri-business, brewery, dairy, chemical and pharmaceutical industries." according to a spokesman. It is specially designed to measure difficult flow applications. It can be used to measure pulp stock-flows, fast changing process, two phase liquids, mining slurries and pulsating flows. It is especially well suited for the measurement of fluids with extremely low conductivities including defoamers, deionized water, condensate and polymers.
The book every trouble-shooter, technician or engineer should have - Fluke, leader in compact, professional electronic test tools, has just released its 2003 Test Tools Catalogue. The 56-page full-colour book is available free of charge, and contains complete descriptions of features and specifications for Fluke's full line of handheld test tools. Sections include handheld digital multimeters (DMMs), basic electrical testers, ScopeMeters (handheld oscilloscopes), insulation resistance testers, process calibration tools, power quality tools, clamp meters, digital thermometers and accessories.

Controller area network users now can interface with 50 I/O modules - National Instruments expands the functionality of its controller area network (CAN) product line to provide access to more than 50 I/O modules and simplifies its configuration with the release of the new FP-1300, FieldPoint CAN interface module, and the NI-CAN 2.0 driver software. With the FP-1300 CAN interface module, engineers now can expand the capabilities of CAN-based measurement systems to include reliable distributed input/output (I/O). FieldPoint provides high accuracy, isolated analogue and digital I/O modules, adding direct CAN connectivity to virtually any sensor or actuator. With this new CAN interface module users can easily add CAN nodes, containing up to nine I/O modules (144 points) each, to existing CAN networks.
New remote terminal unit with Modbus capabilities - Nematron Corporation, the developer of embedded and open architecture control solutions, has introduced the new 0L4228 Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) utilising the Modbus communications protocol. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Optimation Inc., has a long history of providing RTUs that deliver point of use I/O, built-in Ethernet, and operator panel capabilities under the OptiLogic brand name. The new 0L4228 extends the OptiLogic family of products to systems using Modbus communications. Any Modbus/TCP capable, PC-based application can now interface with the complete line of OptiLogic Ethernet I/O modules.

Dublin inspired by highest stand alone monument in the world - 120 metres high and 3 metres in diameter at the base, the monument rises above O'Connell Street (main street of Dublin), breaking above the roof line with as slender and elegant a movement as is technically possible. Its structure and surfaces respond to the character and climate of the Irish landscape. The spire will gently sway in direct response to the wind and during daytime the monument will softly reflect the light of Ireland's sky. From dusk the base will be gently lit and the tip strongly illuminated to provide a beacon in the night sky over Dublin. It has its roots in the ground, the surrounding base symbolises Ireland's past, and its light in the sky. It is made entirely of stainless steel.
Designed for a competition by Ian Ritchie, Dubliners are already hard at work deciding on the "real" name for "The Spire of Dublin", Names like "The Spike", "The Pole in the Hole", "The Metropole" and "The Stilletto in the Ghetto" are among brainwaves from citizens who with remarkable disrespect have cristened various works about the city as "The Tart with the cart", "The Hags with the Bags", "The Floozie in the Jacuzi," or "The Prick with the Stick."
New automation publication website has insider's view - Industrial Automation INSIDER's home page, along with the Automation Links pages which provide links to more than600 industrial automation and process control related sites, has moved to its own web site at www.iainsider.co.uk/

Computer filter monitoring a breeze with new detector - Omron has introduced an 'air flow detector' specifically to detect clogged conditions in air filters on servers and other types of computer equipment efficiently. Aimed especially at large server farm type installations, the Omron D6A-N sensor uses a thermistor to measure the velocity of the air passing through the air filter, detecting when filters become clogged with dust particles more efficiently than a conventional time totalling meter. By designing an appropriate response to the 0 -5V output signal from the detector, system engineers can provide a reliable indication of which servers' filters need cleaning or replacing, before a more serious fault develops.

Two Technology Innovation Awards - GE Fanuc Automation has won two technology innovation awards for its automation software from the well-respected industry trade publication Control Engineering. They received Control Engineering Editors' Choice Awards for Cimplicity Machine Edition software and their Intellution infoAgent software.
Fast response digital motor load controls - A new series of fast motor load controls designed specifically to monitor and protect valuable industrial machinery and equipment has been released by sensing specialist Vydas International Marketing. The New Fast Response Digital Motor Load Control manufactured by Load Controls Inc monitors true motor power and detects common machinery problems such overloads, jams, obstructions, loss of load, sudden load changes, missing tools or misplaced parts.

Multi Function Tact Switch can replace Five - New from Knitter Switch, an European leader in switching products, is the TSSJ-2 multi function Tact switch. This micro-miniature surface mount switch has no less than five separate switch movements. The single actuator may be moved north, south, east, west and pushed down to select different functions. This means that up to five separate switches may be replaced by one or the TSSJ-2 may be used as a joystick controller.
Digital design customers taken to 10 Gigabit promised land - Tektronix, provider of test and measurement equipment for the communications market, has announced comprehensive support for the development of next-generation network equipment operating at speeds of 10 Gigabit per second (Gbit/s) and beyond.
Compact industrial connector for high-current applications - Han-Compact from Harting is a new compact industrial connector that will accept any single insert from the company's Han-Modular(r) range. The new connector is particularly suited to industrial applications where high-current (over 20 A) power connections need to be made in harsh environments (Pollution Degrees 2 or 3) where limited space is available.

New waveform generator - Berkeley Nucleonics has introduced the Model 632 True Arbitrary Waveform Generator as the latest addition to the company's precision signal source product line. The Model 632 features ppgraded operating modes and provides a versatile, cost-effective signal source. The Model 632 is designed for use by engineers, technicians, circuit designers and scientists in a wide variety of applications including communications, audio, video, power systems and consumer electronics.

Faster access to net wins prize for school-boy - Adnan Osmani, a student at St Finian's College, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, who was presented with the Esat BT Young Scientist of the Year award by the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, in Dublin last night. Mr Osmani, who hopes to study engineering at Harvard, spent two years producing a new kind of Internet "browser" which speeds the loading of information to four times faster that the standard browsers.
Cut months from contouring or profiling automation development cycles - The motion controller provider Baldor has released ground-breaking software that provides automation builders with an extremely rapid and flexible solution for creating contouring and profiling machinery and automation. Believed to be the highest-level and simplest-to-use machine control solution ever released for this application sector, the tool can cut development cycles by an order of magnitude, easily shaving months from time to market.

Latest catalogue now published - The The National Instruments Measurement and Automation Catalog 2003 is now available both in print and on the Web. The NI catalog details the complete line of NI computer based hardware and software, including the NI LabVIEW graphical development environment and a full line of data acquisition (DAQ) products, with comprehensive tutorials, detailed specifications, and selection guides.

2.4 GHz Wireless Ethernet Switch - ProSoft Technology's industrial grade wireless modems use advanced digital signal processing (DSP) processors to process digitized radio signals providing the ultimate in performance and reliability. DSP responds to the demand for faster, smaller, more cost effective and more energy-efficient processor technology. The versatility of the DSP core and small DIN- rail-mountable form factor make RadioLinx ideally suited for industrial and utility wireless applications.
In Ireland this product is marketed by Hanley Controls.
Romanian installations place orders - The Honeywell Industry Solutions business has been awarded over €2 million in orders for automation projects using process control systems, instruments, and engineering services at multiple SC Termoelectrica SA power plants in Romania. "We are convinced that the implementation of the Honeywell process management solutions for reengineering the SC Termoelectrica SA power groups and thermal stations will greatly improve their performance by increasing the exploitation efficiency and significantly lowering the operation costs," said Ion Marcu, General Manager of Termoelectrica.
Biovet orders second automation project to produce significant savings in Bulgarian Plant - Extending a successful two-year relationship, Emerson Process Management has announced that Biovet, a Peshtera, Bulgaria-based antibiotic and pharmaceutical manufacturer, has placed new orders for Emerson PlantWeb digital plant architecture. The new project will install the digital plant architecture on a second automation project to control the production of a fermentation unit (Production Unit 3) on the same Peshtera site where the prior automation was done. This new project will involve seven further DeltaV digital system workstations and 450 field instruments, all using the Foundation fieldbus communications protocol. Start-up for this second phase is planned for May 2003.

New I/O controller released - The SixTRAK I/O Controller (model ST-GT-1210) is designed as an affordable "entry level" Controller/Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) or upgrade for legacy SixTRAK I/O Gateways. This compact unit rounds out Sixnet's line of industrial open control products, which include the Linux open-source SixTRAK IPm DCS Controller and VersaTRAK IPm Remote Terminal Unit (RTU). The ST-GT-1210 includes 10/100 Ethernet, RS232, RS485 and ST-BUS I/O ports. It can interface to thousands of I/O with any of their three I/O product lines (SixTRAK Local I/O, EtherTRAK Ethernet I/O, and RemoteTRAK RS485 I/O), run ISaGRAF IEC 61131-3 programs, perform datalogging, and interface to 3rd party Modbus devices, all in real-time.

Web-Based Seminars on Industrial Ethernet - Led by industry expert Eric Byres, these 90-minute seminars from ISA, will help participants implement Ethernet in their facilities.
Part 1: Understanding Ethernet Cabling and Hardware (30 January) overviews equipment options and where each should/should not be used.
Part 2: Is Ethernet Ready for the Plant Floor? (13 February) discusses the myths and realities of using Ethernet in industrial environments.
Part 3: Designing Industrial Ethernet Networks (27 February) introduces the principles of good Ethernet system design.
To register or learn more, please visit www.isa.org/rd.cfm?id=1737
Instrumentation manifolds: "the definitive source" - Parker Instrumentation has published a major selection guide to manifold products. Covering the spectrum of manifold types for pressure, flow and other instrumentation and control applications, this free 120-page guide is a valuable addition for every plant and process engineer's data shelf.

Be in control of complex communication structures with FDTIDTM-technology - Up until now, users of field instruments received specific configuration and adjustment software for set-up from the manufacturer. Each of these packages had its own interface design on which the customer needed to be trained. A new standard of instrument drivers and their appropriate software will put an end to the diversity of these procedures and simplify them. On the basis of the open EDT specification, a consortium of well-known field instrument and DCS manufacturers has developed "PACTware" - a universal, manufacturer-, instrumentand communication independent frame application. In addition to PACTware other process control system manufacturers are providing support for FDT/DTM technology directly within their own system software. VEGA and other Pactware companies are offering the dowload of instrument and communication DTM together with PactWare from their websites free of charge.

Real-time electronic tactile sensor unveiled - Sensor Products Inc. announces Tactilus, a new electronic tactile force and pressure indicating sensor. This allows an engineer to monitor precisely how force is disbursed between any two contacting or mating surfaces in real-time while the event occurs. Any application of test where pressure lies between .01 PSI to 9,000 PSI (0.007 kg/cm2 to 632.7 kg/cm2) is a viable candidate for this technology.