Articles

The power of external-reset feedback

Preventing windup requires reconfiguration of the controller, according to process control consultant, F. Greg Shinskey, and external-reset feedback is the most satisfactory method of accomplishing it.
Post Date: 05/10/2006
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The past, present and future of PLCs

Famous futurist and 2005 ISA Rimbach Lecturer, Jeff Harrow, contributes to the discussion of the future of process automation and how today’s PLCs will eventually feel like the TTL logic chips of older days.
Post Date: 02/10/2006
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Old flywheel technology finds new uses

Read how high-tech flywheels can be used in place of batteries in process plant UPSs when backup power is needed during short-term disturbances and to ride through from utility to generator power.
Post Date: 12/21/2005
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Shazam! It's a real-time controller!

The TwinCAT software line from Beckhoff Automation has brought users the ability to turn any compatible PC into a real-time controller.
Post Date: 12/21/2005
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DCS engineering help is just around the world!

Where can you turn when you need design and engineering services and your local DCS technology providers have run out of ideas? Well, expertise today can be outsourced from just about anywhere.
Post Date: 10/14/2005
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Occupational therapy for the control engineer

Can companies and technologies adapt to change in a positive manner? CONTROL Contributor Dick Morley says yes and believes that with some occupational therapy, you can survive!
Post Date: 10/10/2005
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Features and capabilities of hybrid controllers

Is there a difference between a DCS and a hybrid control system? Bela Liptak and his cadre of automation experts suggest where to apply each technology in this installment of Ask the Experts.
Post Date: 09/20/2005
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It's the Resolution, Stupid! Part 2

Resolution Is More Important Than Most People Think. Read On to Find Out Why.
Post Date: 08/21/2005
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PLC and HMI platforms

Process control authority Bela Liptak brings in specialists from his cadre of co-authors to answer a reader's question. Find out which PLCs and HMIs they recommend to a wallboard manufacturer in West Virginia.
Post Date: 08/08/2005
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It's the Resolution, Stupid! Part 1

Do You Wonder What all the Decimals are for, or Where They Went? Do You Know why You Should Care?
Post Date: 07/21/2005
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Three decades of DCS technology

Distributed control system technology and its pioneers have had a profound effect on our profession and should be recognized, according to <EM>Around the Loop </EM>columnist Terrence K. McMahon.
Post Date: 04/18/2005
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Jimmy Neutron meets the Woz

Dick Morley, father of the modern PLC, believes a renaissance in industry technology will be the thrust for the next several decades. Will we, the control engineering geeks, be ready for simple innovations in the Age of Invention?
Post Date: 04/06/2005
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Painting the world brighter

A chemical batch manufacturing plant that creates finishes for automotive OEMs has improved its product quality, efficiency and reliability while saving $2 million with a control system upgrade.
Post Date: 03/15/2005
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Power supplies from China cut costs considerably

Competitive pricing from Asian manufacturers has prompted market growth of power supplies and considerable cost cuts. CONTROL Senior Technical Editor Rich Merritt provides a <EM>Product Roundup.</EM>
Post Date: 02/14/2005
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Technocrats take the '318 patent to task

In this <EM>DigitalField Insider</EM> web exclusive, Managing Editor Steve Kuehn reports on the Solaia patent case and how it continues to weave its costly way through the courts and U.S. industry.
Post Date: 02/01/2005
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Patent infringement case remains a tangled web

In the April issue of CONTROL magazine, Managing Editor Steve Kuehn reports on how Solaia may have finally met its match now that it has faced off against Rockwell Automation in a U.S. patent court case.
Post Date: 01/27/2005
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Out of the barn

This easy-to-read compilation of a series of articles by PLC inventor Dick Morley covers eight entertaining topical sections, including floor level control systems and the history of the programmable controller.
Post Date: 12/01/2004
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Advanced process control? "Think" it so!

Humans replacing PLCs? This "special to the web" article for ControlGlobal.com ponders the possibility of process operators controlling a myriad of automation control systems using only thought!
Post Date: 11/07/2004
Author: Jeffrey R. Harrow

Roundtable meetings on pharmaceutical manufacturing technology

<EM>Around The Loop</EM> columnist Terrence K. McMahon provides ControlGlobal.com with this "special to the web" report on last month's Pharmaceuticals Process Analyzer and Pharmaceuticals Automation roundtable meetings.
Post Date: 11/04/2004
Author: Terrence K. McMahon

PLCs becoming PACs as MRC invents new TLA

Senior Technical Editor Rich Merritt points out that market research companies have given up predicting the demise of programmable logic controllers in this <EM>Product Roundup </EM>from CONTROL.
Post Date: 10/26/2004
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