"Land of opportunities!" -

Availability Virtualised in Automation - HardwarePT has joined forces with Stratus Technologies in this year's Availability Virtualised in Automation road show 2013. They provide fault-tolerant hardware platforms, and virtualisation technologies to deliver assured uptime for virtualised plant IT environments in Ireland and Britain.

Process automation system upgrade! - Honeywell has upgraded Experion® PMD, boosting the range and functionality of its comprehensive automation solution for controlling processes, machinery and drives through a single system.

The direction of embedded systems - National Instruments has released Embedded Systems Outlook 2013, which shares the company's conclusions about the direction of the embedded systems market.

New handheld configurator - The cost and complexity of configuring instruments in the field has now been significantly reduced following the introduction of ABB’s new DHH805 lightweight and robust handheld configurator.

Enhanced network-based control system - Yokogawa has released an enhanced version of the STARDOM™ network-based control system.

Upgrade automation on North Sea platform - New safety and automation systems using Emerson's new electronic marshalling with CHARMs technology will help improve oil recovery from Visund platform.

Premier stockist - Forward 2000 (Oxon) has won the prestigious Festo 'Premier Stockist of the Year' award for outstanding performance in 2012.

Caravan alarm! - LPRS is supplying their Duet wireless Keyfob and RX3 AM receiver module control to state-of-the-art alarm systems for caravan manufacturers and owners.

The direction of embedded systems - National Instruments has released Embedded Systems Outlook 2013, which shares the company's conclusions about the direction of the embedded systems market.

Fan and filter units - Rittal’s range of TopTherm fan and filter units has been extended with electronically commutated (EC) variants now available in all but the smallest unit.

First past the post! - Tapeswitch are now providing sensors for horse riding simulators to Racewood Equestrian Simulators.

Vector Signal Transceiver - National Instruments has announced its second vector signal transceiver, the NI PXIe-5645R, which is built on a software-designed architecture that engineers can modify with LabVIEW to meet their specific needs.

Automation interests explored at Far East meeting - Underscoring the International Society of Automation's (ISA) commitment to global partnership-building, ISA's Executive Director and CEO Patrick Gouhin participated last week at a meeting in Hong Kong exploring collaborative initiatives among industry associations throughout all areas of the world, including the rapidly growing Asia-Pacific region.

Machnie vision training! - New machine vision training seminars in Britain by Stemmer are to provide machine vision education for end-users and vision integrators alike.

Effective detection of residual currents - The two Sirius 3UG4625 and Sirius 3UG4825 relays for IO-Link have two separate outputs that can be assigned different limit values for a two-phase alarm system involving a warning and subsequent shutdown.

Rocker arm inspection system protects against engine failure - Olmec has worked with a major vehicle manufacturer to develop an automated vision inspection position to verify the position of piston valve roller rocker arms in commercial automobile engines.

Distributership extended in Europe- Hover-Davis has announced expansion of AdoptSMT Europe GmbH sales and support distribution adding the countries of Austria and Switzerland to its territory

A letter to the President! - The CEOs of the largest European non-ferrous metal companies have addressed an open letter to EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, urging a rethink of short-term fixes to the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and a comprehensive review of Europe's industrial, energy and climate change policies.

Fieldbus safety & security - In response to recent concerns, the PROFIBUS Group has developed a free-to-attend one-day seminar addressing important safety and security issues arising from the use of digital communications technologies in automated manufacturing and advanced engineering applications.

Two social media pioneers in Automation ask "Why?" and "How!" -

Outdoor cabinet technology protects process analysers - Intertec has won the contract for the environmental protection cabinets and shelters that will protect the field-based process analysers at the new Sadara petrochemical complex in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Twenty years of communication! - The HART® Communication Foundation announces the 20th Anniversary of its founding.

Smart touch computer - ADLINK Technology has launched a brand-new 15.6" Smart Touch Computer BFS-15W02. The Ultra-slim unit is in stylish aluminum alloys and fits various industrial applications

New product catalogue for position sensors - With its new product catalogue ASM provides engineers with a practical decision-making tool for selecting the right position sensor.

Champions! - Chris Roebuck and Steve Watts have been recognised as LabVIEW Champions to thank them for their time and effort in helping others in the LabVIEW community.

Analyser manufacturing - The laboratory instrument manufacturer SEAL Analytical has transferred the production of its market leading automated discrete analysers, the AQ1 and AQ2, to the company's facility in Mequon (WI USA).

Automation body recognised! - Automation Federation among 100 world-class manufacturing companies and individual leaders announced as winners of the 2013 Manufacturing Leadership 100 Awards (ML100 Awards).

Robust connector housings for outdoor applications - Harting has expanded its Han-Eco® industrial connector series with a range of plastic housings including a variant designed for outdoor applications

Calibrator communicates - The 709H Precision HART Loop Calibrator from Fluke, is an easy-to-use tool with a user-friendly interface and HART capabilities that reduces the time it takes to measure or source, voltage or current, and power up a loop.

Low temperature fluorescence spectroscopy - Liquid nitrogen and liquid helium cryostats are available as part of the range of temperature-controlled accessories for the FLS980 and FLS920 series of photoluminescence spectrometers from Edinburgh Photonics.

Wireless races ahead! - LPRS is supplying their market leading easyRadio Advanced (eRA) wireless modules to Microgate, the specialist Italian sports timing system manufacturer, for use in their new wireless athletics training timer - WITTY.

Adding functionality for mechanical test apps & embedded software validation - National Instruments has announced NI VeriStand 2012, the latest version of its configuration-based software environment with an open, intuitive software interface for developing real-time testing applications.

Implementing automated machinery safety -

Optimistic about manufacturing - More than two dozen workshops are planned for CSIA Executive Conference, Keynote speaker, economist Alan Beaulieu is optimistic about the future of manufacturers and the control system integrators who help them automate industrial equipment and systems.

Evaluating the effect of forces in electrical devices - Cobham Technical Services has extended the multiphysics capabilities of the well-known Opera-3D finite element software for electromagnetic design with a new solver that can be used to analyse natural vibration modes.

Vision inspection system - Olmec will be showing the Quality Station (QS) turnkey, self-contained in-line vision inspection system for the first time at Total 2013 next June.

Bus-mounting fuse bases - Rittal's new easy connect bus-mounting fuse bases are supplied as complete units, which includes a cover plate, contact hazard protection and exterior connection clamps.

Manage risk for breakthrough performance! -

Wireless AC current meter - Fluke has introduced an AC Current Meter with a flexible measuring loop that can be used to take and store individual readings, and to wirelessly log readings on a PC using an optional PC adapter.

Thickness measurement for rubber & vinyl calendering - NDC Infrared Engineering has completely redesigned its website and published two new, industry–specific brochures.

Multi-market software solution - Aegis Software's FactoryLogix is the first software system designed to support all types of discrete manufacturing.

Engineers decide best software - three times - InduSoft, has won three awards in the 26th annual Control Engineering Engineers’ Choice Awards. This competition recognizes the best control, instrumentation and automation products introduced in 2012.

LCD plant for China - LCD manufacturer Varitronix has announced a €19m (US$25m) investment in a new LCD design and manufacturing facility in Heyuan, Guangdong, (PRC).

Automation input into US cybersecurity standards - Working with the US Government, the Automation Federation is helping to forge national security standards, guidelines and compliance testing for safeguarding America's critical infrastructure from cyberattacks.

Freebies at London show! - Fluke is offering a free SD card to the first 100 people visiting its stand every day at Ecobuild 2013, providing the person has pre-registered on Fluke’s web site.

New suite of data acquisition and control programs - Windmill Software has launched their Enhanced Windmill software suite.

Move facilitates expansion - Brennan Industries has expanded its capabilities in Canada by moving into a more efficient distribution facility, located in Mississauga, Ontario.

Enclosures from stock - To overcome the problems associated with the need to design, source and build outdoor enclosures to order, Rittal's popular CS basic range of aluminium enclosures is available from stock in a range of standard sizes with either single or double doors.

Gas mixers, dilution and calibration systems - Air Monitors Ltd has been appointed distributor in Britain for Environics, the US-based manufacturer of gas mixers, gas dilution and calibration systems.

Vibration meter for maintenance engineers - The MTN/VM220; a compact, handheld meter for measuring vibration and temperature levels has been launched by Monitran.

Waterproof connector - Intelliconnect (Europe) has introduced a new 7 way multi-pin waterproof connector.

3D smart cameras - The use of the LMI Gocator 3D smart camera, from Stemmer Imaging, mounted on a robot arm offers a rapid and accurate way of making gap and flush measurements on automotive panels.

Office in Switzerland - Werum Software & Systems now has a regional office in Basel (CH).

Russian refinery upgrade - Russian refinery improves process efficiency and safety - Honeywell has been selected by OOO Kirishinefteorgsintez, part of OAO Surgutneftegaz holding, to supply its Experion® Process Knowledge System (PKS) and Advanced Alarm Manager system at the company's refinery in Kirishi, in the Leningrad region of Russia.

Toolkit for functional safety verification - National Instruments has announced the Tool Qualification Kit for NI TestStand to help meet functional safety standards, such as RTCA DO-178B/C, IEC 62304 and ISO 26262, in numerous industries that need qualified tools to verify safety requirements for electronic systems.

Compressors keep pace - When Michell Instruments needed to upgrade its compressed air supply and installed oil-free compressor and dryer solutions from Atlas Copco.

Acquisition adds automotive capability! - HMS Industrial Networks has acquired IXXAT Automation - a leading supplier of communication technology for industrial automation, machine manufacturing and the automotive industry.

New meter totaliser! - Precision Digital has announced the PD6830 ProtEx®-RTP Pulse Input Rate/Totaliser. With a rugged, explosion-proof, NEMA 4X enclosure, the PD6830 is designed for quick and easy display of local or remote flow information in hazardous areas or the harshest safe area applications.

Air/Water Heat Exchanger - For quick and easy installation the Rittal's range of wall-mounted air/water heat exchangers can now be mounted and removed completely from outside the enclosure without having to open the enclosure door.

Protection from cyberattack! - New book from ISA reveals proven ways to protect national infrastructure, production capabilities etc from cyberattack!

Door interlock switch - Honeywell has expanded its portfolio of Relialign™ door interlock switches with a version designed specifically for commercial applications, the Commercial Door Interlock Switch, CDI Series.

Energy management & optimisation - Yokogawa has added Soteica Visual MESA's best-in-class energy management and optimisation solution services to its portfolio of plantwide energy management solutions (EMS). The company has also acquired 44.3% ownership of Soteica Visual MESA to accelerate the joint development of EMS.

Direction detection sensor - The new A1233 from Allegro MicroSystems Europe is a dual-channel, Hall-effect direction detection sensor IC that provides digital output signals indicating the speed and direction of a rotating target.

R.I.P
Maurice W Bryan, who has died recently at his home in Dublin was the first Editor of Read-out, when it was the house magazine of Industrial Instruments Ltd.

Medical computer! - ADLINK Technology has announced the first of its new TOPAZ line of medical computers, the 3rd edition of EN-60601-1 certified TPZ-1300, featuring rich I/O connectivity, wireless support, and duty-specific performance processors with long life support.

Paul Price has been appointment as Vice President of Sales Worldwide for Aegis Software.

Most looked at story in last 7 days: - Factors driving the global Ethernet test equipment market.

Diamond jubilee for remarkable company - Endress+Hauser, specialist in measurement and automation engineering is in fine fettle in its 60th year: the family-owned company has just welcomed its 10,000th employee and in the last year alone, over 500 jobs were created worldwide.

New miniaturised connection technology is ideally suited to field assembly - har-flexicon® from the Harting Technology Group is a miniaturised individual conductor PCB connection technology featuring 1.27 mm spacing and ideally suited to field assembly.

No deal - After spending almost four years to find a technical path to converge the WirelessHART specification (IEC 62591) with that of ISA 100 Wireless (ISA/ANSI 100.11a, IEC 62734), the ISA100.12 WirelessHART Convergence Subcommittee has abandoned its work without finding a single convergence solution.

Moisture of synthetic rubber - A major producer of synthetic rubber has selected Michell Instruments’ Liquidew I.S. moisture in liquids analyser to monitor critical process at its plant in Asia.

Fieldbus course in the Lebanon - ProfiBus Ireland in Co-operation with Industrial technologies (ITEC) has conducted a very successful Certified PROFIBUS Engineers (CPE) Course in Beirut.

Dirk Villé is the new General Manager in Ireland & Britain region for Atlas Copco.

Measuring torque - Kistler Instruments has added three new measuring ranges to its KiTorq torque measuring system. The new ranges of 100, 200, and 5 000 Nm have been added

Conference takes shape - The technical program for the 2013 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium (WWAC Symposium) is taking shape, and the final program is to be be announced soon.

Smart machinery helth for compressors - Emerson Process Management's Smart Machinery Health portfolio now provides an integrated protection and prediction solution for critical reciprocating compressors.

Leaking pipe monitoring - Krohne is offering a series of lectures to provide an overview of the official guidelines, technical requirements and technologies behind modern leak monitoring systems for pipelines as part of the nationwide seminar series entitled "System and process solutions in the oil and gas industry" which starts on March 5.

Call for papers for 2013 event - The Program Committee of ISA Automation Week 2013: Technology and Solutions Event - #ISAutowk - has issued a Call for Papers inviting authors, experts, innovators, thought leaders, and automation and control professionals to submit abstracts for presentation consideration at the conference, which will be held 5-7 November 2013 in Nashville (TN USA).

Control in cement, mining etc! - The Siemens Industry Automation Division has added a host of new functions to Version 8.0 of its Cemat process control system for the cement, mining and related industries.

Comprehensive Ethernet switch monitoring - Red Lion Controls have integrated its Crimson 3.0 configuration software with N-View server software from N-Tron. With this announcement, all N-Tron and Sixnet industrial Ethernet switches can be monitored from any locally-mounted Red Lion G3 operator interface.

Compact safety valves sets new standard - Festo has launched a new combined soft-start and quick-exhaust safety valve. The MS6-SV-C offers exceptionally high flow rates in a compact size.

Jonathan Purdue (Technical Sales), Louise Stubbs (Marketing Coordinator) and Andrew Edkins (Production Coordinator) with Mantracourt!

Sight site tour! - ISA Ireland Section is scheduled to have a Site Tour at Vistakon Ireland manufacturing facility located in Limerick (IRL).

New connector modules - Two new modules have been added to Harting's Han-Modular® industrial connector family to provide enhanced mechanical robustness and signal integrity in industrial and transport applications.

Automation auditing in Ireland - Endress+Hauser (Ireland) Ltd has launched a new offering to the Irish market. The Installed Based Audit (IBA) will deliver significant benefits to our Irish clients enabling them to optimise maintenance and increase equipment lifecycles on site.

European expansion - GreenPeak Technologies, one of the leading semiconductor companies in low power RF-communication, in the ZigBee market segment, with a rich offering of communication solutions for Smart Home applications has established a new European office in the Paris region.

World first for tuning fork level switch - The latest addition to the VEGA portfolio of vibrating limit switches for liquids, VEGASWING 66, is a world first.

Field Communication Lounge! - The HART® Communication Foundation joins the FDT Group, Fieldbus Foundation, OPC Foundation and PI (PROFIBUS & PROFINET International) as co-sponsors of the third annual Field Communication Lounge exhibit at the Hannover Fair 2013 (8-12 April, Hannover, D),

"Best Use of Automation" Award to budding engineers!- The Twin Cities (Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN USA) Section of the International Society of Automation (ISA) on 19 January 2013 presented a "Best Use of Automation" award to a Lino Lakes, Minnesota middle school in conjunction with a national engineering competition.