Converting a Mill/Drill and Installing a VFD
AC Motors and ControlsApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookDrivesEducation/DIYEnclosures & AccessoriesIndustryIssue 33 - 2015Learning ResourcesMachine ControlMachine ToolMotorsNotebook IssueProductUser SolutionsVariable Speed Drives

Converting a Mill/Drill and Installing a VFD

Several years ago I purchased a Wadkin lathe made in England in late 1964. It is equipped with a very special motor that is 220V, three-phase and 50Hz. Because of the special design of the motor, it has a long extended shaft that carries the four sheave pulley, and because I do not have three-phase…
The Bulgarian Bat Detector - Simulating Bat Echolocation
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookAutomationDirect SpotlightEducation/DIYIndustryIssue 32 - 2015Learning ResourcesMachine ControlNotebook IssuePLCProductProgrammable ControlSimple PLCSystem IntegratorsUser Solutions

The Bulgarian Bat Detector - Simulating Bat Echolocation

Over my years working as an Automation Systems Integrator, I occasionally get projects that are different from the normal industrial, process and manufacturing systems. I was recently asked to develop the controls for a museum exhibit to simulate a bat’s echolocation. The museum, Children’s Center of Sofia, in Sofia, Bulgaria, and I promptly named the…
Automation Improves Alternator Test System
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookEducation/DIYHMIIndustryIssue 31 - 2015Learning ResourcesNotebook IssueOperator InterfacePLCProductProgrammable ControlTest and MeasurementVariable Speed Drives

Automation Improves Alternator Test System

Opening the hood of your car will reveal a mass of cables and hoses running around the engine block. Somewhere in there is an alternator, which helps keep your car supplied with electric power when it’s running. When an alternator goes bad, most mechanics will replace it with a used unit that has been remanufactured,…
Precise Motion Control Gives Famous Vessel New Life
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookHMIIssue 30 - 2014Learning ResourcesMachine ControlMaterial HandlingMotion ControlNotebook IssueOperator InterfacePLCProductProgrammable ControlUser Solutions

Precise Motion Control Gives Famous Vessel New Life

A piece of Cold War history uses automation for precise control of its floating dry dock. Less expensive components and in-house engineering allowed for a more advanced system. A covered dry dock, with a history worthy of spy novels and action movies, recently received a sophisticated automation motion control upgrade from its previous all-manual controls….
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…