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Pressure Sensor Fundamentals and Types

Pressure Sensor Fundamentals and Types

Pressure sensors are essential tools in industrial applications, required wherever there is a hydraulic or pneumatic system to keep pressure quantities under control.


Sci-Fi on the Factory Floor: Brain-machine Interfaces

Sci-Fi on the Factory Floor: Brain-machine Interfaces

While robotic "mind control" is still very early in development, a fully-integrated brain-machine interface would result in having a thought acted out in real life just by merely thinking of it.


News Apr 18, 2023 by Seth Price
When To Calibrate: Making Sense of Calibration Intervals

When To Calibrate: Making Sense of Calibration Intervals

Calibration is performed on a regular basis to ensure proper measurement tool function, but how do we determine the proper interval? Factors include environment, usage, and level of dependence on proper function.


Endress+Hauser Field Test Ethernet-APL, Readies Portfolio Launch

Endress+Hauser Field Test Ethernet-APL, Readies Portfolio Launch

Endress+Hauser test a new technology that brings high-speed Ethernet, industrial protocols, and power to field devices to support ever-advancing Industry 4.0 demand.


News Apr 17, 2023 by Shawn Dietrich
Compact Tower IPC Fit for Upright In-Cabinet Requirements Across Industries

Compact Tower IPC Fit for Upright In-Cabinet Requirements Across Industries

Advantech has designed its latest control console, the IPC-320 compact tower, with IoT capabilities in mind, giving end users greater functionality in a small, space-saving design.


News Apr 16, 2023 by Damond Goodwin
A Look at Magnetic and Inductive Sensing: Sensor Principles and Types

A Look at Magnetic and Inductive Sensing: Sensor Principles and Types

Seeing use in a variety of industrial applications for position sensing and object detection, inductive sensors are based on the phenomenon of magnetism and its resultant magnetic fields.


SMC Ups Pneumatic Offerings With CXS2 Series of Dual Rod Cylinders

SMC Ups Pneumatic Offerings With CXS2 Series of Dual Rod Cylinders

SMC has added to its CXS product family with the CXS2 series of pneumatic actuators. The new series of dual rod cylinders is faster and has a higher kinetic energy capacity than SMC's previous offerings.


News Apr 13, 2023 by Shawn Dietrich
Control Wiring for Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs)

Control Wiring for Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs)

Many VFDs use digital inputs to control operation, rather than PLC-driven network communications. Learn about 2-wire and 3-wire digital input control schemes for ABB, Omron, Rockwell, and others.


Comau Designs Mobile Cobot, Sees Use in Projects Across European Union

Comau Designs Mobile Cobot, Sees Use in Projects Across European Union

Comau has created a mobile cobot arm to help manufacturers implement the benefits of both collaborative and autonomous robots in a single mobile platform. The solution has been implemented in several projects across Europe.


News Apr 12, 2023 by Damond Goodwin
Stratus Unveils Next Generation of ftServer Fault Tolerant Computing Platforms

Stratus Unveils Next Generation of ftServer Fault Tolerant Computing Platforms

Stratus Technologies has announced their fastest, most reliable generation of ftServers yet, with more processing power and better reliability for use in managing automation systems in manufacturing.


News Apr 12, 2023 by Seth Price
Fluid or Electric Power? Understanding Hydraulic and Pneumatic Motors

Fluid or Electric Power? Understanding Hydraulic and Pneumatic Motors

There are many different kinds of electric motors used for industrial power transfer, but there are also hydraulic and pneumatic motors that can lend advantages in some situations.


Motor Control Expanded: Rockwell Automation Announces Product Upgrades

Motor Control Expanded: Rockwell Automation Announces Product Upgrades

Motor control is accomplished by circuit devices from simple contactors to complex frequency drive systems. Rockwell Automation recently added a host of new features and upgrades to common product lines.


News Apr 11, 2023 by David Peterson
Balluff Unveils Inductive Sensor That Detects Ferrous and Non-ferrous Metals at Same Switching Distance

Balluff Unveils Inductive Sensor That Detects Ferrous and Non-ferrous Metals at Same Switching Distance

Balluff’s new Factor 1 inductive sensors offer users a single sensor that senses both ferrous and non-ferrous metals at the same switching distance, fit for use in environments with various metal types.


News Apr 08, 2023 by Bob Odhiambo
The Power of Invisibility: Infrared Sensors for Automation

The Power of Invisibility: Infrared Sensors for Automation

Operating just outside the visible light spectrum, infrared energy emits from anything with heat stored in it. Detecting this energy, infrared sensors find use in applications from proximity detection to temperature measurement.


Ladder Logic for the Arduino Opta PLC: Creating Your First Program

Ladder Logic for the Arduino Opta PLC: Creating Your First Program

Arduino’s Opta mini PLC platform is supported by the new PLC IDE. Learn to create and download your first program and take advantage of built-in I/O for an easy introduction to the platform.


A Hands-on Walkthrough of MQTT Protocol Using the paho-mqtt Open Source Library

A Hands-on Walkthrough of MQTT Protocol Using the paho-mqtt Open Source Library

No more IIoT buzzwords! This article aims to walk through an implementation of MQTT using the paho-mqtt library using nothing more than your local machine and some simple Python programming.


New Possibilities for Power, Data, and Fluid from Fischer Connectors

New Possibilities for Power, Data, and Fluid from Fischer Connectors

Fischer Connectors has released several new series of heavy-duty cable layouts, allowing reliable fastening of single-pair Ethernet (SPE) and USB 3.2, as well as offerings for combined data and fluid connection.


News Apr 04, 2023 by David Peterson
Leveraging IIoT and Energy Measurement Tools for Machine Optimization

Leveraging IIoT and Energy Measurement Tools for Machine Optimization

Analytics from data algorithms can predict machine failures and provide diagnostics—but what should we measure? Then, once the information has been collected, what trends might point to problems?


Lasers and Their Uses in Sensing and Object Detecting

Lasers and Their Uses in Sensing and Object Detecting

A subset of light is the focused cohesive beams that make up lasers, which can be used in optical sensing. These devices provide benefits of greater range, precision, and even mapping for mobile robotics.


What’s This Standardized Code for Information? Funny You Should ASCII

What’s This Standardized Code for Information? Funny You Should ASCII

ASCII is a familiar acronym, found in applications like Modbus communications and string data types—but what is it, and what does ASCII mean for automation engineers?