Modern PLCs Provide Support for Advanced Data Access
CommunicationsData and IIoTData System MonitoringIssue 51 2024Operator InterfaceProgrammable Control

Modern PLCs Provide Support for Advanced Data Access

Although many think of PLCs as primarily for real-time control, modern versions make it easy to implement extensive data connectivity and analytics. While everyday consumers are familiar with getting things their way, this type of flexibility has often been less available within the industrial manufacturing arena. This is an issue for many end users when…
Finding the Right Balance of Local Automation and Remote Connectivity
ApplicationCommunicationsData and IIoTData CollectionData System Monitoring

Finding the Right Balance of Local Automation and Remote Connectivity

Robust real-time industrial control is essential, and remote connectivity is also becoming indispensable for many users. Here are some considerations for achieving the best of both worlds. Damon Purvis at AutomationDirect wrote an article for the February 2023 issue of Processing. Titled Balancing Local Automation with Remote Connectivity, this article explores some concepts around designing…
Vision Sensing Becomes Practical for More Applications
Discrete SensingProcess Sensing & ControlSensors Automation

Vision Sensing Becomes Practical for More Applications

Smart vision sensors incorporate on-board machine learning, empowering users to deploy them in common applications, without the cost and complexity of traditional products. Common photoelectric (PE) sensors are the most basic type of “vision” device, but traditionally it has required much more advanced technology to capture and analyze actual images for advanced detection. In an…
Linear Actuator Options
Mechanical Power TransmissionMotion ControlProductProgrammable Control

Linear Actuator Options

Linear actuators, driven with servo or stepper motors, are an effective way to implement accurate automated machine motion. Chip McDaniel at AutomationDirect wrote an article for the January 2023 issue of Design World’s Linear Motion Tips. Titled A Straight Line to Effective Linear Motion, this article explains linear actuator technologies, and it shows how they…
Consider Newer Electrical Safety Products and Technologies
Equipment SafetyProductSafety

Consider Newer Electrical Safety Products and Technologies

Designers can improve personnel safety by incorporating modern products and technologies, and by following a “design for safety” approach. Marty Kronz at AutomationDirect wrote an article for the February 2023 issue of Applied Automation. Titled Addressing Electrical Safety Hazards, this article identifies how some newer products, sometimes in combination with automation, can increase the effectiveness…
Making a Clean Connection with Automated Carwashes
CommunicationsCommunications and EthernetIssue 50 - 2023Product

Making a Clean Connection with Automated Carwashes

This automated car wash supplier needed a better way to connect with a multitude of remotely-located digital systems, and it found the solution with AutomationDirect StrideLinx. Industrial automation isn’t just for factories, as it surrounds us and provides safe, reliable, and consistent performance for elevators, traffic lights, and even the neighborhood carwash. Aulio Gil is…
Light-Operate or Dark-Operate Photoelectric Sensors. Which is Better for your Application?
ApplicationMaterial HandlingProcess Sensing & ControlProduct

Light-Operate or Dark-Operate Photoelectric Sensors. Which is Better for your Application?

When choosing a photoelectric sensor for an application there are many things to consider. One of these considerations is whether to select a light-operate or dark-operate photoelectric sensor. The terms “light-operate” and “dark-operate” refer to when the sensor activates its output. For a light-operate sensor (also called light-activated, light-on, or simply L.O. sensor), the output…
Cybersecure and Remote-Friendly?
CommunicationsProduct

Cybersecure and Remote-Friendly?

By implementing layers of hardware, software, and procedural defenses, industrial automation systems can be made both cybersecure and remote-friendly. Damon Purvis, PLC Product Manager at AutomationDirect, wrote an article for the November/December 2022 issue of InTech. Titled Defending Remote-Friendly Environments from Cyberattacks, this article describes how cyber defenses can be layered, while still delivering usable…
What is PID Control?
ProductProgrammable Control

What is PID Control?

PID is the most common industrial technology for closed-loop control. Despite the elegant mathematics behind PID loops, they are easily implemented with modern PLC technology. Closed-loop control, where a digital system monitors a measured value and then controls some device to accurately drive the process to a desired setpoint, is a fundamental strategy widely applied…