Student Spotlight: Droid Names, Faraway Galaxies or Automation Components?
2018AutomationDirect SpotlightIssue 39Issue 39 - 2018ProductStudent SpotlightVariable Speed Drives

Student Spotlight: Droid Names, Faraway Galaxies or Automation Components?

VFDs, RS485, PLCs — these terms may seem like names of droids or faraway galaxies and planets in a “Star Wars” movie. However, they really refer to earthly based components that Vermont Technical College engineering student Dan Rapoza learned about when he set out to help a dairy farmer save time and money by automating…
Copley High School's Automation Success
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomationDirect SpotlightEducation/DIYIndustryIssue 38 - 2017Machine ControlNotebook IssuePLCProductProgrammable ControlSimple PLCStudent SpotlightStudent Spotlight

Copley High School's Automation Success

The Innovator team at Copley High School in Akron, Ohio needed to design a piece of equipment to snap caps together for Weaver Industries ProPak, a company that has been employing people with disabilities for about 40 years. With the existing assembly method, Weaver was struggling to meet production and contract requirements for component assembly.
Robotics Is So Much More Than Robots
AutomationDirect SpotlightCompany TopicsIssue 38 - 2017Learning ResourcesNewsNotebook IssueOnline BlogOnline OnlyStudent Spotlight

Robotics Is So Much More Than Robots

If you subscribe to any of our media channels then I’m sure you know about our involvement with after-school robotics programs in our community. These programs prepare students for careers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields by getting them excited and engaged when it comes to not only learning new skills, but…
Roxburgh EMC | Keeping Electrical Noise at Safe Levels
AutomationDirect SpotlightElectrical PowerProductSupplier ProfilesSupplier Profiles

Roxburgh EMC | Keeping Electrical Noise at Safe Levels

We’ve all experienced issues with interference of Wi-Fi signals whether on our phones or computers. Sometimes the Wi-Fi goes out or we can’t update our connection and it causes an error. This is undoubtedly annoying but nothing compared to the interference that electrical noise can produce in certain situations. This kind of interference can actually…
Beam Testing at Portland State
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.
Integra Enclosures: An Integral Part of their Community and Beyond
AutomationDirect SpotlightEnclosures & AccessoriesProductSupplier ProfilesSupplier Profiles

Integra Enclosures: An Integral Part of their Community and Beyond

On a walk around most any city, you’ll discover dozens of gray “boxes” that are fast becoming an ordinary part of the landscape. You can see these “boxes” attached to utility poles, along sidewalks, and near businesses and schools. Such “boxes” are really enclosures that protect wiring and electrical components vital to our ever-increasing automated…