Issue 18 – 2010

Elephant Hunting Tactics of Professionals In order to hunt elephants: Computer programmers…Hunt elephants by executing Algorithm A: 1. Begin at the tip of South Africa 2. Perform alternating west to east and east to west searches 3. Decrement the latitude argument in a non integer sequence between each search 4. Catch an animal 5. Compare…

Sam Flournoy first contacted Automation Direct in February of 2009. As a 14-year old who had just finished building a biodiesel processor in his garage, he now wanted to automate the process. We immediately began looking around for the candid camera! But it turns out he was serious, as he was producing about 180 gallons…

Machine and robot builder OEMs and their end user customers face similar challenges. For OEMs in a highly competitive market, quick machine delivery can make the difference between getting the order and losing it to a competitor. In a challenging economy, end users tend to take more time making machine upgrade or purchasing decisions. However,…

Those of us who have worked with, or around, electrical equipment have witnessed electrical arcs. At the very least, we’ve seen the sparks produced when a relay or contactor switches off. Similarly, most of us also know that repetitive arcing can be very damaging to contacts over the long term, requiring periodic replacement of relays…

What causes all that heat?  There are basically two sources of heat which cause an electrical enclosure’s internal temperature to rise above the manufacturer’s recommended ratings for the control equipment: internal and external sources. Internal Sources The same items which can be damaged by heat may also be a key source of the heat. These…

History of KCC Software KCC Software, located in Huntsville, Alabama, was founded in 1994 and quickly developed an impressive client list including IBM, Bosch, HP, Bose, Johnson Controls, BASF, and Nucor Steel just to name a few. While primarily working with the semiconductor and steel industries, KCC Software has satisfied clients in several industries, including…

Product management teams at AutomationDirect constantly work to add products which complement our core PLC offering. The product offering now includes a number of automation components not normally found inside control cabinets. An excellent example of this is our line of NITRA™ pneumatic products which ties in with our existing PLCs and controls. With recent…

We have added several exciting products since our last edition of the Automation Notebook. Here are some highlights about some of those new products including: Air Conditioners; Single-piece flexible wire duct; ProSense temperature probes; select DINnectors in smaller quantities; GS Drive accessories; Encapsulated Power Supplies; UL 489 Miniature Circuit Breakers; Door safety hardware added for MCCBs;…

The NITRA™ line now includes several new series of products to help meet a broad range of pneumatic air supply pressure regulation and filtration applications. While each series is designed to work in stand-alone applications, the modular design enables field assembly for combining additional components. The AF Series particulate and moisture separation air filters are…

Advanced automation helps Casa Herrera produce tortillas reliably, quickly and precisely. Casa Herrera builds tortilla preparation equipment for the corn and flour tortilla industry, provides equipment for the bakery and snack food industries, and is the preferred supplier to several national brands. We build several varieties of our machines to meet customer specifications, and we…