“Fermenting a Homebrew Automation System“…
AutomationDirect PLCs and products help a hobbyist automate his homebrew equipment, taking quality to the next level. Back in 2012, Jason Wilson toured a local brewery, and soon thereafter became a homebrew enthusiast. He was fascinated by the detailed science and math underlying the production process, and quickly realized automation would be key to precisely controlling the brewing process.
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Mastering Machine Maintenance
In the May 2019 issue of Control Design magazine, the cover story focus was machine maintenance. The story, titled Machine Design with Maintenance in Mind, discussed best practices for maintaining machines, with input from numerous sources including machine builders, robot builders and system integrators. Let?s start by looking at machine maintenance from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) point of view.
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Now Available
PS-AMC Motion Controllers & P1-RX Remote I/O Module
Motion controllersstart at $284
WON Linear
Bearings & Rails
Rails starting at $12.50
Contrinex M18 Short-Body Photoelectric Sensors
Starting at $22.00
Gefran Magnetostrictive Linear Position Transducers
Starting at $222.00
STAHL Hazardous Location Alarm Buzzers
Starting at $540.00
Automation Cookbook Series: Bar Code Scanning
Watch the video here
Putting Advanced VFDs to Work in More Applications
Although the first three-phase AC motor was patented by Nikola Tesla in 1888, it was the DC motor championed by Thomas Edison which remained the king of manufacturing during the first half of the twentieth century. This is because it was more practical to implement DC rather than AC speed control, but this changed as better methods became available to control AC motors. New VFD features and technologies improve the control, safety, networking, and efficiency of motor control for a growing number of applications.
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Pneumatic Control: Strength & Reliability without Overthinking
Pneumatic control is a very versatile power source, capable of moving large objects, pressing parts into tight spaces or just popping small parts around. These are just a few applications. Pneumatic components are very reliable and require little in the way of maintenance. Think of it as a ?set it and forget it? power source or method of control. Of course pneumatic control as a stand alone control method has no intelligence, and there is also very little that can go wrong. Pneumatic systems are very robust and will provide many years of trouble-free operation.
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Solenoid Valve Banks Provide Machine Automation Options
PLC systems have long used remote I/O devices to extend control to the far reaches of a machine, while minimizing the amount of signal wiring. Original devices were basic I/O blocks connected with simple serial networks, while later iterations became modular and used more powerful fieldbuses. These distributed devices gave designers
more flexibility to mix-and-match configurations to best fit their applications.
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FREE Giveaway for YOU!
This month you have a chance to win 1 of 50 very unique t-shirts celebrating the recent Saginaw enclosures launch. Contest is open for approximately 1 week after the newsletter is sent and is open to residents of the U.S. only. Winner will be contacted via email. If you don?t win this time, don?t worry there will be a new and exciting giveaway each month.
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