For thousands of years, people have turned to water to help them with numerous tasks from grinding grain into wheat and sawing lumber to producing electricity. Today, hydropower is the largest single renewable energy source for electricity generation in the United States. All hydropower requires is water flowing through a turbine to make electricity; only…
+Tech TopicsApplicationAutomationDirect SpotlightIssue 41 - 2019Learning ResourcesMachine ControlNotebook IssueSystem Integrators
Mastering Machine Maintenance
Machine builders, robot builders and system integrators offer advice for maintaining industrial machines. In the May 2019 issue of Control Design magazine, the cover story focus was machine maintenance. The story, titled Machine design with maintenance in mind, discussed best practices for maintaining machines, with input from numerous sources including machine builders, robot builders and…
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomationDirect SpotlightFacilitiesIndustryIssue 41 - 2019Notebook IssuePLCProcess ControlProductProgrammable ControlSystem Integrators
Open System Provides Precise Temperature Control
System integrator Affinity Energy worked with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to design and install a new temperature control system for their research chambers. By Allan Evora, President of Affinity Energy The University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill was spending too much time and money supporting an existing control system….
Early civilizations used an arm’s length, the width of a palm or the number of seeds in a container to build buildings and trade items in a local marketplace. In today’s world, measuring liquids, solids, and even atomic particles has become an exact science. For day-to-day operations, manufacturers need to measure and maintain materials at…
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookAutomationDirect SpotlightEducation/DIYIndustryIssue 32 - 2015Learning ResourcesMachine ControlNotebook IssuePLCProductProgrammable ControlSimple PLCSystem IntegratorsUser Solutions
The Bulgarian Bat Detector - Simulating Bat Echolocation
Over my years working as an Automation Systems Integrator, I occasionally get projects that are different from the normal industrial, process and manufacturing systems. I was recently asked to develop the controls for a museum exhibit to simulate a bat’s echolocation. The museum, Children’s Center of Sofia, in Sofia, Bulgaria, and I promptly named the…
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookAutomationDirect SpotlightData CollectionIndustryIssue 28 - 2014Learning ResourcesNotebook IssuePLCProcess ControlProductProgrammable ControlSystem IntegratorsUser SolutionsWater/Wastewater
An Affordable Retrofit Prevents Expensive Replacements
The Harvest-Monrovia Water & Sewer Authority (HMWSA) was established in August 1965 to operate and maintain a water system to provide domestic water in the Harvest-Monrovia area of Madison County, located near Huntsville, Alabama. In the early years, the utility serviced only 700 customers. As a result of growth in the area, the HMWSA now…
Automation NotebookAutomationDirect SpotlightIssue 27 – 2013Learning ResourcesNotebook IssueSIDirectSystem Integrators
Get Linkedin with SIDirect
If you’re not familiar with it, LinkedIn is an online professional networking site used by businesses and individuals for recruiting and networking purposes. LinkedIn is home to more than 200 million users in over 200 countries/territories. However, there is more to LinkedIn than just jobs and resumes; LinkedIn can help with your business needs, connect…
Automation NotebookAutomationDirect SpotlightIssue 25 – 2013Learning ResourcesNotebook IssueProductProgrammable ControlSIDirectSystem Integrators
DG Controls
In this issue of Automation Notebook, we introduce you to Dan Gulley of DG Controls in York, Alabama. With over 30 years of designing and troubleshooting industrial machine controls and system integration, they are experts when it comes to custom control panels and retrofitting equipment. How did you get started in your Controls/Engineering career? My…
Automation NotebookAutomationDirect SpotlightIssue 24 - 2012Learning ResourcesNotebook IssueProductProgrammable ControlSIDirectSystem Integrators
KCC Software
AutomationDirect is proud to have a network of system integrators covering a wide variety of industrial control processes across the country. KCC Software, in Huntsville, Alabama, provides services in all areas of the United States and in several countries around the world. Tim Roberts, Integrator Coordinator for AutomationDirect, recently talked with KCC Software owner and…
Automation NotebookAutomationDirect SpotlightIssue 23 – 2012Learning ResourcesNotebook IssueProductProgrammable ControlSIDirectSystem Integrators
CH2M HILL Joins AutomationDirect’s SIDirect Team
Since its beginning in 1946, CH2M HILL has become a global leader by providing full-service consulting and design, as well as design-build and operations and program management in over 80 countries. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, CH2M HILL was founded on the principle of meeting high-end challenges and creating technical innovations. CH2M HILL provides turnkey solutions…