Who doesn’t love going to the beach? I know I do, a least for the first few days. Then the sand begins its advance and outflanks my defenses. Children are its ally, and before you can say, “Don’t shake that!”, it’s everywhere. But besides the sandy blitzkrieg, the beach does offer a lot of fun. One activity that everyone seems to enjoy, at least where I’m from, is heading to the beach late at night with flashlights and nets to catch sand crabs. You may know them as ghost crabs, but they are impressively quick and built for their environment. For one, they blend in perfectly with the sand. As mentioned, they are super quick and I’ve read they can reach speeds up to 10mph! For food, they can survive on almost anything including clams, decaying material, and, if needed, other crabs. Their eyes can swivel 360° to detect predators or a meal. To escape predators, they hide in deep burrows they’ve dug in the sand or make lightning-fast escapes into the water. But for all their preparedness, it’s obvious they never expected a child, at night, with a net and a flashlight. This just goes to show that even the best laid plans and preparation can go awry and have to be modified in an instant. As your supplier, we understand that unexpected things can happen, and that’s why we offer hassle-free returns and 30-day money back guarantees on most products. Our webstore is open 24/7/365 so you can order any last-minute items you need, and our 2-day shipping will get it to you fast.
This issue of NOTEBOOK is loaded with informative articles such as our Tech Brief, which looks at some important PLC fundamentals. We also have a great Cover Story on how recent advancements have expanded the role of PLCs in enterprise data collection and analysis. The User Solutions show how ProductivityOpen was used to increase heat exchanger efficiency and how ABS-certified Productivity PLCs are helping modernize the luxury yacht industry. Our PLC Speaking section discusses a common coding technique used to program package tracking applications. For information about exciting events happening in and around AutomationDirect, take a look at the Business Notes. In this issue, you’ll also find information on our newest products, such as the new CLICK PLUS PLCs, IronHorse ACN Series NEMA 4X AC drives, the NITRA Pneumatic Automation Link (PAL) system, Saginaw enclosures, Datalogic safety laser scanners, and more. As always, the Break Room is stocked with fun and challenging brainteasers, so give them a try and see how many puzzles you can solve.
Zig or Zag The factory manager wants to know how many routes there are for the AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) in the lower left corner to get to the charging station in the upper right (see the diagram below). The AGV must always travel along the lines shown such that it gets closer to the…
August 11, 2021- AutomationDirect has added PS-AMC motion controllers designed to work seamlessly with select Productivity PLCs to provide accurate, coordinated, plug-and-play motion control. These controllers are capable of up to 4 coordinated axes of motion per controller (PS-AMC4) with differential encoder feedback for each axis and a maximum switching frequency of 1MHz. Up to…
July 28, 2021 – AutomationDirect has added new NEMA 4X AC drives to their IronHorse brand of drives. These new high-performance VFDs support four control modes including V/Hz, slip compensation, sensorless vector, and torque control, and come in a variety of voltage and horsepower ratings for an extremely affordable price. The ACN / ACNND series…
Old-fashioned automation architectures suffer from complexity and slow communications. See how today’s PLC advances boost simplicity and performance. Damon Purvis, PLC Product Manager at AutomationDirect, an article for the April 2021 edition of Machine Design. The article is titled The PLC Breaks Out! and it looks at how modern PLCs can streamline classically rigid architectures…
May 5, 2021 – AutomationDirect has added Datalogic Safety Laser Scanners to its lineup of safety products. Safety laser scanners offer an ingenious, cost-effective way to protect an entire area. This can be a static application such as a robot cell or the area surrounding a moving device such as an AGV. They are ideal…
The innovative AutomationDirect ProductivityOpen controller combines the IT-centric open-source capabilities of an Arduino® microcontroller with the robust reliability needed for industrial OT applications, leading to end user recognition for Plant Engineering’s highest award. AutomationDirect’s ProductivityOpen controller was announced as a Plant Engineering 2020 Grand Award recipient. This is the highest award a product can receive…
April 22, 2021 – AutomationDirect’s StrideLinx Cloud has been upgraded to provide machine builders, system integrators, and end-users with an end-to-end cloud solution offering improved collaboration, advanced user management, easier navigation, and custom user-defined dashboards to make remote access and monitoring even easier. The StrideLinx secure VPN, a remote access solution, allows users to securely connect…
March 17, 2021 – Saginaw has been serving the electrical industry since 1963, specializing in manufacturing top-quality carbon steel, galvanized steel, and stainless steel electrical enclosures built to accurate dimensions. AutomationDirect is proud to add Saginaw’s standard stock of enclosures, including freestanding, floor-mount, wall-mount, disconnect, modular, operator system, pushbutton, junction box, and wire trough enclosures,…
Sponsored by This award celebrates the art of digital animation and its close relationship to STEAM (Science,Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics). The Digital Animation Award is offered to help encourage students to cultivate skills in design and creation of animation including, but not limited to, storytelling, creativity, use of computer software, and an understanding of different…
March 3, 2021 – The NITRA Pneumatic Automation Link (PAL) series of components from AutomationDirect is a versatile field I/O system that can include electrical I/O or pneumatic valves, or a combination of both. The system can be controlled either by an Ethernet/IP master or direct wiring (for exclusively pneumatic valves). All components are rated…
February 24, 2021 – The new CLICK PLUS PLC series is the next generation of simple control. Building on the practical and popular CLICK PLC series, CLICK PLUS PLCs provide the same low-learning-curve control but with advanced options like Wi-Fi communication and data logging. CLICK PLUS CPUs are offered in wired-only, wireless-only, and wireless/wired styles…
A seagoing story about how a premier yacht builder has progressively incorporated reliable AutomationDirect devices for monitoring and controlling ship systems. Westport Yachts, based in Washington State, constructs luxury 112- to 172-foot-long models and has launched hundreds of seagoing vessels since 1964. As the leading yacht builder in North America, and one of the largest…
AutomationDirect industrialized open-source hardware and software provides flexibility and options for OEMs looking to deliver tough, IT-capable systems. Güntner is a worldwide original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of evaporative condensers, serving a wide range of industries and users with their reliable large-scale heat exchangers. The company has developed in-house embedded microcontrollers specifically optimized for their equipment….
PLCs play a major role when it comes to material or package handling operations. Conveyors, motors, drives, object detection sensors and of course controllers are used quite often when it comes to delivering your suitcase to the right airplane or getting the laptop you ordered to the right delivery truck. But how would you go…
With PLC control, it’s important to understand the sequence of operations for the CPU. Some may think when an output is set to ON in the ladder code, that this output change is immediately reflected in the output card. Or that when an input is activated, the CPU instantly sees it. While it may seem…
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…
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…
