The maintenance department at Blank Park Zoo (www.blankparkzoo.com) in Des Moines, Iowa was looking for a cost-effective way to keep their train running safely. The train ride is part of the 49-acre park which includes almost 1500 animal specimens.
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Automating Hazardous Gas Delivery
When a highly flammable, toxic and corrosive gas delivery system for semiconductor production tools became unreliable, Headway Technologies contracted with system integrator KCC Software for the needed upgrades. KCC Software’s experience and expertise led to the successful replacement of a failing automation system with a new automatic gas control (AGC) system.
AgricultureApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookHMIIndustryIssue 37 - 2017Learning ResourcesNotebook IssueOperator InterfaceProcess ControlProductProgrammable Control
Improving Pivot Irrigation Systems with AutomationDirect
If you’ve ever taken a long road trip, you’ve probably passed large fields of crops, which every now and then contained odd looking metal pipe structures on wheels stretching across the fields. These metal monsters, known as pivot irrigation systems, are used extensively in agriculture and have greatly improved the efficiency of the crop irrigation…
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookAutomationDirect SpotlightDiscrete SensingEducation/DIYIndustryIssue 37 - 2017Learning ResourcesMotion ControlNotebook IssuePLCProductProgrammable ControlStudent SpotlightTest and MeasurementVariable Speed Drives
Beam Testing at Portland State
For their undergraduate senior capstone project, a team of Mechanical Engineering students at Portland State University (PSU) recently designed an electronic system upgrade for the control system of a 100-year-old beam testing machine. Using a range of AutomationDirect parts, the purpose of the project was to make the operator experience comparable to modern machines.
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Cool Strawberries
MACS Cooler—with the help of Hawkins Engineering, Quantum Automation and AutomationDirect—designed a more efficient precooling system for produce. Not only do these forced-air portable precooling systems reduce labor costs by 60%, they also help assure fresh strawberries quickly make it to market.
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PLCs Have Many Uses in Radio Broadcasting
There is lots of impressive technology used in broadcasting, but control of transmitters, audio sources, power and facilities is often low tech. A seasoned broadcast engineer is addressing this issue by using PLCs to improve broadcasting, starting with remote transmitter sites at iHeartMedia in Los Angeles.
ApplicationApplication StoriesEducation/DIYEntertainmentHMIIndustryMachine ControlOnline OnlyOperator InterfacePLCPneumaticsPneumaticsProductProgrammable ControlVariable Speed Drives
The Halloween Box
In every haunted house, you’ll find automated props: chairs that rock on their own, slamming doors, rattling chains, drawers opening and closing as if by some supernatural force. These “tricks” enhance the “treat” of getting the life scared out of you. The process behind making a Halloween prop can be quite simple. Here is just…
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Lock-Jaw2 Robot Competes in BattleBots TV Show Using AutomationDirect Parts
Robots Activate! Is a familiar phrase to those fans who follow the BattleBots competition which just completed its 2016 season broadcast on ABC Television in the United States. One of the BattleBots competition veterans, Donald Hutson, has been involved since the show began and has been on the robot combat circuit since 1986.
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookEducation/DIYIndustryIssue 36 - 2016Learning ResourcesMachine ControlNotebook IssuePLCProductProgrammable ControlUser Solutions
Keeping the World's Largest Model Train Display On Track
Ahhh… model train displays. There is just something about walking into a showroom with model trains in operation. But what does it take to control the world’s largest indoor train display with over 80?
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookAutomationDirect SpotlightDrivesEducation/DIYIndustryIssue 36 - 2016Learning ResourcesMachine ControlMechanical Power TransmissionMotion ControlNotebook IssueOperator InterfaceProductProgrammable ControlStudent SpotlightStudent Spotlight
Machine Produces Nanofibers for Biomedical Research
If you can’t buy it, you have to build it. This was the situation our group of engineering students encountered when we needed to grow vascular tissue for a bioengineering project at Walla Walla University, and found existing solutions were not acceptable.