Educational Resources

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Nothing to show for IPCs (Industrial PCs) category yet. Here are some other education that may interest you.
Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs)

Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs)

Human-machine interfaces, or HMIs, are a critical part of nearly all control systems, complementing the…


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Differential (87) Current Protection

Differential (87) Current Protection

One of the fundamental laws of electric circuits is Kirchhoff’s Current Law, which states the algebraic…


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Logic Programming in PLCs

Logic Programming in PLCs

Although it seems each model of PLC has its own idiosyncratic standard for programming, there does exist an…


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Design-based Fortifications

Design-based Fortifications

A design-based fortification is one rooted in technical details of system architecture and functionality. Some…


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Analog to Digital Conversion and ADCs

Analog to Digital Conversion and ADCs

In order to provide an interface between the internal (digital) world of a computer and the external (analog)…


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Sequential Function Chart (SFC) Programming

Sequential Function Chart (SFC) Programming

(Will be addressed in future versions of this book)


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Ladder Diagram (LD) Structure Commands

Ladder Diagram (LD) Structure Commands

The simple PLC ladder diagram (LD) commands consist of contacts and coils, arranged in sequences that mimic…


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Limit, Selector, and Override Controls

Limit, Selector, and Override Controls

Another category of control strategies involves the use of signal relays or function blocks with the ability…


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Vibration Monitoring Hardware

Vibration Monitoring Hardware

The following photograph shows a large air blower in a wastewater treatment facility equipped with a…


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Control Valve Actuators

Control Valve Actuators

The purpose of a control valve actuator is to provide the motive force to operate a valve mechanism. Both…


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Function Block Diagram (FBD) Programming

Function Block Diagram (FBD) Programming

(Will be addressed in future versions of this book)


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Analog Signal Conditioning and Referencing

Analog Signal Conditioning and Referencing

Modern analog-to-digital converters are phenomenally accurate, dependable, repeatable, and surprisingly…


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WirelessHART Radio Communication Standard

WirelessHART Radio Communication Standard

An exciting development in industrial instrumentation is the WirelessHART radio communication standard,…


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Digital PID Controllers

Digital PID Controllers

The vast majority of PID controllers in service today are digital in nature. Microprocessors executing PID…


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Introduction to Modbus

Introduction to Modbus

Developed by the Modicon company (the original manufacturer of the Programmable Logic Controller, or PLC) in…


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Introduction to Power System Automation

Introduction to Power System Automation

Those familiar with industrial instrumentation will find much within the electric power industry remarkably…


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Memory Maps and I/O Addressing

Memory Maps and I/O Addressing

A wise PLC programmer once told me that the first thing any aspiring programmer should learn about the PLC…


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The HART Digital/Analog Hybrid Standard

The HART Digital/Analog Hybrid Standard

A technological advance introduced in the late 1980’s was HART, an acronym standing for Highway…


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Motives for Compromising the Security of an Industrial Control System

Motives for Compromising the Security of an Industrial Control System

There are multiple motives for compromising the security of an industrial control system, some of which…


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Ladder Diagram (LD) Programming Contacts and Coils

Ladder Diagram (LD) Programming Contacts and Coils

In the United States, the most common language used to program PLCs is Ladder Diagram (LD), also known as…


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Fluid Mechanics

Fluid Mechanics

A fluid is any substance having the ability to flow: to freely change shape and move under the influence of a…


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Bi-metal Temperature Sensors

Bi-metal Temperature Sensors

Solids tend to expand when heated. The amount that a solid sample will expand with increased temperature…


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Open-ended, Shorted and Properly Terminated Transmission Lines

Open-ended, Shorted and Properly Terminated Transmission Lines

Many years ago, when I was first learning about electricity, I happened to discover a length of coaxial…


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The HART Digital/Analog Hybrid Standard

The HART Digital/Analog Hybrid Standard

A technological advance introduced in the late 1980’s was HART, an acronym standing for Highway…


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Differential (87) Current Protection

Differential (87) Current Protection

One of the fundamental laws of electric circuits is Kirchhoff’s Current Law, which states the algebraic…


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Phasors, Phase Shift and Phasor Algebra

Phasors, Phase Shift and Phasor Algebra

Phasors are to AC circuit quantities as polarity is to DC circuit quantities: a way to express the…


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Limit Switches

Limit Switches

A limit switch detects the physical motion of an object by direct contact with that object. An example of a…


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Heuristic PID Tuning Procedures

Heuristic PID Tuning Procedures

In contrast to quantitative tuning procedures where definite numerical values for P, I, and D controller…


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Supervisory Control

Supervisory Control

In a manually-controlled process, a human operator directly actuates some form of final control element…


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Filled-bulb Temperature Sensors

Filled-bulb Temperature Sensors

Filled-bulb systems exploit the principle of fluid expansion to measure temperature. If a fluid is enclosed in…


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Calibration Standards to Produce and Measure Physical Quantities

Calibration Standards to Produce and Measure Physical Quantities

As previously defined, calibration refers to the checking and adjustment of an instrument so that its output…


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Insertion Flowmeters

Insertion Flowmeters

This section does not describe a particular type of flowmeter, but rather a design that may be implemented for…


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Differential Pressure Transmitters

Differential Pressure Transmitters

One of the most common, and most useful, pressure measuring instruments in industry is the differential…


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Energy in Chemical Reactions

Energy in Chemical Reactions

A chemical reaction resulting in a net release of energy is called exothermic. Conversely, a chemical reaction…


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Legal Code

Legal Code

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License By exercising the Licensed Rights (defined…


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Basics of pH Measurement in Industrial Control

Basics of pH Measurement in Industrial Control

Hydrogen ion activity in aqueous (water-solvent) solutions is a very important parameter for a wide variety of…


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Pressure Switches

Pressure Switches

A pressure switch is one detecting the presence of fluid pressure. Pressure switches often use diaphragms or…


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Displacement and Displacer Level Instrumentation

Displacement and Displacer Level Instrumentation

Displacer level instruments exploit Archimedes’ Principle to detect liquid level by continuously…


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the Negative Consequences of Poor PID Controller Tuning

the Negative Consequences of Poor PID Controller Tuning

Much has been written about the benefits of robust PID control. Increased productivity, decreased equipment…


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Chemiluminescence Measurement

Chemiluminescence Measurement

Recall that an exothermic chemical reaction is one that releases a net sum of energy, as opposed to an…


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