October 2007 Contents
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Cover Story
Driving Energy Efficiency
G Venkatesh reports.With motors consuming the vast bulk of industrial electrical energy supply, there are obvious attractions in the solutions that can cut bills and boost your green credentials.
Direct and indirect energy costs – be that of electricity, industrial fuels as sources of heat, or transport fuels – account for a good chunk of the outgo of energy-intensive industries, affecting t...
Editor Comment
Standard issues
A bright Saturday morning and the guy’s driving up to the big electrical superstore in that brand new mall just off the highway. A man on a mission. Park the car, quick gulp of espresso at the coffee ...
Inside Process
The Fuel Cell Future
A small but growing slice of the power generation pie, Peter Welander delves into the fuel cell alternative.
Green power proponents are looking ahead to a time when the world runs on hydrogen, with our energy needs supplied by this simple and hugely abundant substance. Cars will run on it leaving only wate...
News
Multi-core the focus in latest LabVIEW
As processor manufacturers look to parallel multi-core architectures for performance improvements, National Instruments says its new LabVIEW 8.5 graphical system design platform running on these new p...
Electric bikes growth market for microcontrollers
In what it calling a “new business opportunity”, Infineon Technologies is launching an 8-bit microcontroller for electric bicycles (e-bikes). Positioned at the heart of the e-bike control unit, the mi...
Emerson and Cisco to collaborate on wireless
Emerson Process Management is getting together with Cisco to offer open-standard solutions for wireless process and plant management applications that install easily and operate reliably in challengin...
Beckhoff moves into India
Beckhoff Automation is expanding its international sales network with the establishment of a subsidiary in India, Beckhoff Automation Pvt Ltd. The branch headquarters is in Pune, a metropolis with a p...
China now biggest RFID market
For the first time, China has become the world’s largest market for RFID by value, says a new report out from specialist industry researchers IDTechEx. In 2007, the spend on RFID in East Asia will be ...
Harting makes ‘significant step’ in Asia
A celebration to inaugurate the new Harting plant in Zhuhai, China, is scheduled for 19 October 2007. The opening, which Harting says marks a significant step forward in its development in China an...
Invensys expands operations in Thailand
Invensys Process Systems has opened a new office to provide local sales and support services to the company’s large base of Foxboro, Triconex, SimSci-Esscor, and Avantis customers in Rayong, one of th...
Belden makes executive appointments
Signal transmission solutions provider B e l d e n h a s announced that Naresh Kumra, President, Belden Asia/Pacific, has been appointed an officer of the company, overseeing the entire Belden Asia se...
GE Fanuc and Wipro team up for auto industry
GE Fanuc Automation and IT services player Wipro Technologies are to work together globally to serve automotive industry customers looking to integrate their production management and ERP systems. ...
Schneider Electric joins Clinton Climate Initiative
Schneider Electric’s Building Automation Business Unit is joining the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), a global effort to help cities around the world improve the energy efficiency of buildings and d...
Yokogawa to supply Shell complex in Singapore
Yokogawa has been awarded the contract from Shell Eastern Petroleum (SEPL) to supply control and safety systems plus instrumentation for the Shell Eastern Petrochemicals Complex (SEPC) expansion in Si...
HART 7 released with WirelessHART
The HART Communication Foundation (HCF) has announced that the first open wireless communication standard for process measurement and control was approved and released on September 7 as part of the HA...
Back to basics
Selecting Servo Motors
Permanent magnet synchronous, AC induction asynchronous, Dan Jones explores some options for servo motors.
A servo is not just a motor. It is a closed loop motion system composed of a controller, a drive, a motor and a feedback device, usually an optical or magnetic encoder. The servo motor can be a s...
Inside Information
Constructing Solid Control System Software
Hank Hogan takes a look at tools for improving control system software reliability and at what controller manufacturers are doing to ensure high quality code.
Eelco van der Wal, managing director of Netherlands-based industrial control organization PLCopen, is on a crusade – one that impacts applications and, hence, the part of software reliability contro...
New Solutions
Dual-core embedded CPU module
The EmETXe-i9455 COM Express CPU module from ARBOR Tech supports Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Intel 945GME/ICH7M chipset. With dual-core processor technology, EmETXe-i9455 can handle multitasking si...
Servo motors for high inertia applications
Beckhoff extends its Drive Technology range with the AM3500 servo motor series. In contrast to current trends, these new servo motors have a higher moment of inertia, making them particularly suitable...
Meeting wafer ID challenges
Cognex has added the In-Sight 1720 model to its family of semiconductor wafer readers. The In- Sight 1720, which joins the 1721 and 1722 models to provide semiconductor fabs and equipment with automat...
Store 10,000 readings
Log data and view it graphically on screen to solve complex problems in electronics, plant automation, power distribution and electromechanical equipment. That’s the promise of the new Fluke 289 True-...
Expanded microcontroller portfolio
NXP Semiconductors has announced the expansion of its portfolio in the ARM7 and ARM9 microcontroller space with the introduction of the LPC2900 series, which is based on the ARM968E-S processor and ta...
Radar level transmitters with Profibus PA
Siemens Automation and Drives (A&D) has added Profibus PA interfaces to the Sitrans LR250 and Sitrans LR460 radar level transmitters. The improved diagnostic capability aims to deliver substantial cos...
HMI/SCADA supports 200 clients
GE Fanuc Automation announces the availability of the Proficy HMI/ SCADA iFIX 4.5 visualization product, providing comprehensive monitoring, control and data management functions. This new version pro...
Wireless Ethernet for the factory
The 802.11abg Industrial Hotspot from ProSoft Technology functions as a wireless access point, repeater, or client, and offers high-speed wireless Ethernet communications including EtherNet/IP, Modbus...
Executive Insight
Billion Dollar Business
CEA: How long have you have been with Rockwell Automation? Deken: I came in via the Reliance Electric acquisition in 1995, as Director, Product Ma...
Inside Networks
Wi-Fi for the Floor
You can fi nd it in your local Starbucks, at the airport, and now also in the plant. Gunter Baumann takes a look at Wi-Fi, industrial style.
Wireless networks are widely used in offi ce environments and are also moving into the fi eld of automation. However, classic wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies and products do not meet...
