Let’s take a minute to think about how far we have advanced with innovation and technology. It is truly amazing when you look at the devices and products we develop these days. From a simple small piece of wood with a spring-loaded thin u-shaped metal rod and an extremely simple trigger mechanism designed to reduce…
Most of us have a basic idea of what power surge means. We know it is something that affects the electric power we receive and that it can cause serious damage to industrial equipment, computers, and sensitive electronics. To offer a simple definition, a power surge is a fluctuation of the voltage coming in through…
Industrial facilities use many electrical enclosures to house automation and electrical components. Several of these enclosures require cooling and/or heating to control the climate within the enclosure to prevent condensation or component overheating. In this SlideShare, you will learn about the different types of climate control, reasons for use, and how to select and size…
I remember years ago walking into a production facility and being intrigued by the processes taking place in each section of the production line. It was so interesting to see how things were shaped, packed, filled and more. Every step or section of the production line had a specific purpose that needed to be completed…
Just like electricity, natural gas and water, compressed air is often a required utility in manufacturing facilities. Although compressed air is a bit more expensive compared to electricity for industrial machinery applications, it has other advantages and is thus frequently used to drive mechanical motion. Simplicity of Pneumatics Chip McDaniel, Technical Marketing Engineer at AutomationDirect,…
In the August 2017 issue of Control Design, the cover story discussed how micro-controllers coming out of the “maker” world hope to someday challenge PLCs in industrial applications. The article makes for very interesting reading, but if a picture is worth 1000 words, a video must be worth 1000 pictures. Doug Reneker and the team…
AutomationDirect’s line of NITRA® pneumatics now includes rotary actuators and pneumatic object grippers.
A quick look online for control of fluid power shows many types of pneumatic valves for use in factory automation, most of them standalone and individually mounted. But there are also many valve manifold options, including compact modular valves, which are often the best option in multivalve applications because they simplify selection, installation, use and…
Embedding videos is just one way AutomationDirect’s free Do-more® Designer Software does more. One of the big steps for an automation professional is understanding how to control a machine, and a huge part of that is becoming proficient with development environment for the PLC.
Since AutomationDirect is in the business of making automation hardware, including PLCs in all shapes and sizes, we’ve been watching the development of micro-controllers for some time. Indications are these devices can do all sorts of sophisticated functions, rivaling PLCs, at an extremely low price point. We see evidence of users experimenting with them, launching…