Simulation Has Its Advantages
Automation NotebookCover StoriesIssue 32 - 2015Learning ResourcesNotebook Issue

Simulation Has Its Advantages

Creating an accurate software simulation for a complex system can be difficult, but there are many reasons to do it. Creating simulations of automated equipment, processes, and robot sequences is a great way to validate controller programming, test hardware settings, and check HMI configurations—all without cycling the actual equipment.  There can be many advantages to simulation,…
New C-more Configuration Software
Automation NotebookIssue 32 - 2015Learning ResourcesNotebook IssueOperator InterfaceProduct

New C-more Configuration Software

The new C-more HMI configuration software version 6.0, from AutomationDirect, delivers more functionality, more usability and more value to our popular C-more HMIs. The new software offers more alarm and recipe features, additional math and tag logic, plus improved Windows compatibility. New menu options, customizable toolbars, and updated graphics provide improved ease of use. The…
Product Snapshots -- Issue 32, 2015
Automation NotebookIssue 32 - 2015Learning ResourcesNotebook Issue

Product Snapshots -- Issue 32, 2015

Issue 32 of Automation Notebook is filled with new product information. Highlights about some of those new products include: additions to the NITRA® pneumatic products line, new DirectSOFT6® programming software, more sensor products, SureMotion® motion control products, additional electromechanical and solid state relays, and more. NITRA Special Purpose Push-to-Connect Pneumatic Fittings New NITRA special purpose…
First Team Honoree
Business NotesCompany TopicsIssue 32 - 2015NewsNotebook IssueOnline Only

First Team Honoree

AutomationWorld’s “Leadership in Automation” program highlights preferred suppliers as identified by their readers across more than two dozen automation technology categories. Now in its fifth year, the program remains relevant as technologies change and supplier preferences shift based upon needs, and/or peer recommendations. Allegiance to a particular brand or resentment toward another brand may last…
2015 Engineers’ Choice Awards
Business NotesCompany TopicsIssue 32 - 2015NewsNotebook IssueOnline OnlyProductProgrammable Control

2015 Engineers’ Choice Awards

The annual Control Engineering Engineers’ Choice Awards program recognizes categories of control, instrumentation, and automation products, revealing the best of those products as selected by their readers. Established in 1954, Control Engineering is recognized as the global information leader for the automation engineers who design, implement, maintain and manage control/instrumentation systems, components and equipment. The…
Pick and Place your HMI
+Tech TopicsAutomation NotebookeBookIssue 32 - 2015Learning ResourcesNotebook IssueOnline OnlyOperator InterfaceProductTechnology BriefWhy HMI

Pick and Place your HMI

There are many ways to irritate an operator working with automated equipment and a bad human-machine interface (HMI) implementation is right up there with the worst of them. Following these guidelines can help you pick the right HMI for your application, keep you on the good side of your operators and engineers, and also help…
Ohio Students Improve Assembly Process for Employees With Disabilities
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookAutomationDirect SpotlightControl & Signaling DevicesEducation/DIYIndustryIssue 32 - 2015Learning ResourcesManufacturingManufacturingNotebook IssuePneumaticsPneumaticsProductStudent SpotlightStudent Spotlight

Ohio Students Improve Assembly Process for Employees With Disabilities

The annual SourceAmerica® Design Challenge is a national engineering competition to design workplace technology for people with disabilities. For this competition, high school students spend months partnering with a nonprofit that employs people with disabilities to invent a device, process, system or software for a more productive work environment. Kirby Harder, Copley High School’s (CHS) Industrial technology…
The Bulgarian Bat Detector - Simulating Bat Echolocation
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…