Hammond Manufacturing® enclosures, including disconnect, stainless, commercial, console and other enclosure styles, are now available from AutomationDirect along with our existing AttaBox®, Hubbell-Wiegmann® and Integra enclosure offerings. A wide variety of metal and non-metal enclosures, rated NEMA 1, 3, 3R, 3S, 4, 4X, 6, 6P, 12 or 13, are available in wall-mount, floor-mount and freestanding…
By Bill Dehner, Technical Marketer, AutomationDirect One of the most talked about new trends in industrial automation is the use of single-board microcontrollers. These controllers, along with their open-sourced programs, have begun to show up in industrial applications. Many up-and-comers, introduced to this type of control early on, are fueling this trend but if you come…
A key AutomationDirect value is to be a responsible, involved citizen of the communities where team members live and work. That’s one of the reasons the company has served for the past two years as an employer for Internship Forsyth which gives students the opportunity to learn real-world skills by working at local companies. The…
For the ninth year in a row, Automation World readers have voted for their “First Team” suppliers in PMMI Media Group’s 2020 Leadership in Automation program. This year, AutomationDirect made “First Team” in the following categories: HMI Hardware HMI Software PLCs/PACs First Team Honoree Automation World, a leading business magazine serving automation professionals, asks their…
The newest PLCs can communicate directly with internet websites, creating new automation possibilities. By Eric Witcher, AutomationDirect The July 2019 issue of Control Engineering magazine featured a cover story describing how modern industrial controllers are now able to interact directly with internet resources. Titled Benefits of Connecting a PLC to the Internet, this article shows…
Automated Integration replaced many relays, an old PLC and what seemed like miles of wire when it upgraded the control and safety system on the Hurricane roller coaster in New Mexico. By Manny Salazar, Manager, Automated Integration, LLC. The Hurricane roller coaster was purchased from the Santa Cruz Boardwalk in California, where it was originally…
A student design team developed a PLC-based control system to safely automate a test stand and prove out an engine prior to rocket launch. By Simon Bambey and Griffin Peirce, UBC Rocket Student Team At the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, a group of determined students faced a technical task more challenging…
By Chip McDaniel, AutomationDirect Robotic Shuffle The puzzle factory has a grid of 49 robotic work cells, but only 10 robots are currently installed as shown in the illustration below. One morning the eccentric factory owner declares that three (and only 3) of the robots should be moved to new work cells, such that the…
Control and signal cable from AutomationDirect is available in customer specified one-foot increment lengths in sizes from 22 AWG to 16 AWG with 2, 3 and 4 conductors, shielded and unshielded. The cable carries both UL and CSA approvals. Individual conductors are stranded tinned copper with PVC insulation in black, red, white and green color…
The “Internet of Things” for industrial applications (IIoT) allows greater visibility and access to machine and process data through cloud computing. The STRIDE Pocket Portal is a low-cost ($120.00) industrial wireless IoT end-to-end cloud data logger that connects industrial equipment and sensors to the cloud. The Pocket Portal has an RS-485/power port, input/output port, browser…