Two of the most important fundamentals to understand when it comes to sensors is sinking and sourcing circuits. To properly wire your control device, you need to first know whether the sensor you are using is switching the positive or negative connection. For AC (alternating current) sensors, this is not an issue since AC power ... Read More
The automation and electrical system on a large, 82-year-old cylinder honing machine was replaced with a variety of AutomationDirect hardware to improve cycle time, safety and quality. Andrew Marks, Maintenance Foreman and Master Electrician at Exline Leasing Inc., wrote an article for the January 2019 issue of Control Design magazine, titled Honing in on Machine ... Read More
For a better understanding of PLCs, let’s take a closer look at one of the fundamentals of automated control – logic circuits. Electrical components can be hardwired in a way to allow certain decisions to be made electrically. They can provide physical “If, then” statements that systems can use in their decision making. “If this ... Read More
Winn Paulk, automation controls group product manager at AutomationDirect, wrote an article for the January 2019 issue of Control Engineering magazine, titled Industrial controller selection: Look beyond the basics. See below for a summary, or click on the link above for the full text. Industrial Controller Selection Most industrial controllers, such as programmable logic controllers ... Read More
A variety of analog signals must be transmitted to a PLC for monitoring and control, with each processed to ensure correct operation. Winn Paulk, the Automation Controls Group Product Manager at AutomationDirect, wrote an article for the November 2018 issue of Processing magazine titled Configuring analog devices to integrate with PLCs. All programmable logic controllers ... Read More
Process skids are used in many industries and present a host of automation challenges, each of which can be met by using the right controller hardware and software. Jeff Payne, the Automation Controls Group Product Manager at AutomationDirect, wrote an article appearing in the September 2018 issue of Processing magazine titled Effective Process Skid Automation. ... Read More
No Purchase Necessary for Free PLC Training As the world around us becomes more and more automated, an understanding of electrical control systems becomes more and more vital. Manufacturers, as well as the technicians, integrators, and/or engineers they employ, know firsthand the benefits automation provides. In fact, for many, automation has been the key to ... Read More
Sensible Automation Solutions updated its customer to an AutomationDirect BRX Do-more PLC to add needed capabilities and data reporting to an existing wastewater treatment system.
When designing a PLC controlled system, one aspect that should not be overlooked is how the PLC scan will affect your operation. The PLC scan consists of a sequence of operations the CPU will follow repeatedly. The amount of time the CPU needs to complete this sequence is known as scan time and it can ... Read More
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. ... Read More
