People's Choice for a Cost-Effective and Energy-Efficient Solar-Powered Home
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookAutomationDirect SpotlightDrivesEducation/DIYEnergy/UtilitiesHMIIndustryIssue 29 - 2014Learning ResourcesNotebook IssueOperator InterfacePLCProcess ControlProductProgrammable ControlStudent SpotlightStudent SpotlightVariable Speed Drives

People's Choice for a Cost-Effective and Energy-Efficient Solar-Powered Home

UrbanEden, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s entry to the Solar Decathlon 2013, is a concept home consisting of four connected indoor and outdoor spaces that create a unique
Automation System Retrofit Transforms 175-ton Hydraulic Forming Press
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookIndustryIssue 29 - 2014Learning ResourcesManufacturingNotebook IssueOperator InterfacePLCProcess ControlProductProgrammable ControlUser Solutions

Automation System Retrofit Transforms 175-ton Hydraulic Forming Press

In less than one month, a rebuild automated press operations to increase production rates and improve quality. Southern Manufacturing Group (SMG) located in Morrison, Tennessee, was founded in 1993. The company makes automotive components and industrial valves. In the fall of 2012, the automation system for its 175-ton hydraulic forming press received electrical damage resulting from a lightning strike…
Do-more Designer Gets More Amazing!
+Tech TopicsAutomation NotebookIssue 29 - 2014Learning ResourcesNotebook IssueOnline OnlyPLC SpeakingProductProgrammable Control

Do-more Designer Gets More Amazing!

Do-more Designer is the full-featured programming tool for the Do-more CPUs that can be downloaded for FREE. That’s the entire Do-more programming package, NOT a demo version, for FREE. The software package already includes outstanding features such as a Project Browser, Data View, Trend View, PID View, Debug View, and a built-in simulator that creates…
Systems & Controls Takes Time for Tea
ApplicationApplication StoriesDrivesFood and BeverageFood Beverage AutomationHMIIndustryMachine ControlOperator InterfacePLCProductProgrammable ControlVariable Speed Drives

Systems & Controls Takes Time for Tea

Systems & Controls in Lenoir City, Tennessee, was contacted by a scale manufacturing company to develop a brewed tea and coffee container filling machine using four weight transmitters, a DirectLOGIC DL-205 PLC, a RHINO power supply,  a C-more touch panel and a GS2 variable frequency drive.
An Affordable Retrofit Prevents Expensive Replacements
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookAutomationDirect SpotlightData CollectionIndustryIssue 28 - 2014Learning ResourcesNotebook IssuePLCProcess ControlProductProgrammable ControlSystem IntegratorsUser SolutionsWater/Wastewater

An Affordable Retrofit Prevents Expensive Replacements

The Harvest-Monrovia Water & Sewer Authority (HMWSA) was established in August 1965 to operate and maintain a water system to provide domestic water in the Harvest-Monrovia area of Madison County, located near Huntsville, Alabama. In the early years, the utility serviced only 700 customers. As a result of growth in the area, the HMWSA now…
DataWorx with Do-more PLC support
+Tech TopicsApplicationAutomation NotebookData CollectionIssue 28 - 2014Learning ResourcesNotebook IssueProductProgrammable ControlTechnology Brief

DataWorx with Do-more PLC support

AutomationDirect has partnered with BizWareDirect for several years, supplying DataWorx data collection and monitoring software for compatible DirectLOGIC programmable logic controllers (PLCs), Productivity3000 and WinPLC controllers. Previously, it had been necessary to purchase an OPC/DDE server and write code, or buy an HMI package, to collect data from AutomationDirect controllers. BizWareDirect’s data collection software makes…
Switching to Do-more Saves Time
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookData System MonitoringEnergy/UtilitiesIndustryIssue 27 – 2013Learning ResourcesNotebook IssuePLCProductProgrammable ControlUser Solutions

Switching to Do-more Saves Time

Almost 14 years ago, I converted the controls in my 80KW hydro electric plant, located in the mountains of western North Carolina, from custom micro-controller cards I developed while at Georgia Tech to the DirectLOGIC DL205 PLC with a D2-260 CPU. In 2013, it was time to make some upgrades to the plant by adding…
Students help Manufacturing Center See AND Do More
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookData System MonitoringEducation/DIYFacilitiesIndustryIssue 27 – 2013Learning ResourcesNotebook IssueOperator InterfacePLCProductProgrammable ControlStudent SpotlightTest and Measurement

Students help Manufacturing Center See AND Do More

When the mechatronics students at Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) in Hickory, North Carolina, went looking for a suitable project to challenge their recently acquired PLC and HMI skills, they didn’t have to go far. The Problem The college’s Manufacturing Solutions Center (MSC) in nearby Conover needed a way to monitor the status of a…