Katherine_Bonfante
Katherine_Bonfante
Katherine_Bonfante
Katherine_Bonfante
Katherine_Bonfante

Foreseeing the Future of Process Automation Technologies

July 1, 2008
Control Editors Make Prognostications on the Future of Automation Technologies. We Have These on Video
By Katherine Bonfante, Managing Editor, Digital Media

In October 2008, Control marks its 20th anniversary. As part of our year long celebration, we’ve launched a special section on our site, where our editors look back at automation technologies for the past 20 years, and make their own prognostication about what the future holds.

You can access our 20th anniversary video page by logging on to ControlGlobal.com/20years.

Our celebration entails monthly videos covering different automation technologies, such as batch automation, primary process variable measurements, operator interface and others.

So far we’ve covered the following subjects:

  • Advanced Controls
  • The Future of OPC and Software Connectivity
  • Control Valves
  • Networking Technologies

Our recently released video on advanced controls features Editor in Chief Walt Boyes peering into the crystal ball, and seeing what the control strategies of the future will be like.

Our video “The Future of OPC and Software Connectivity,” launched in June, looks at how this important concept is developing. In this video, Boyes asks, will software of the future be built like Legos? If you want to know his answer, log on to our page and watch the video.

Executive Editor Jim Montague’s May report, “Control FutureCast: Control Valves,” talks about how field transmitters and controllers have been getting smaller, faster and cheaper for decades, and speculates on what the next changes will be. Montague answers this question, and predicts control valves’ next technological change.

Back in April, Vice President of Content Keith Larson hosted our first FutureCast video “Networking Technologies.” In it, he reviews the ongoing development and prevalent use of digital communication protocols to communicate and integrate process control and plant information streams.

All of our FutureCast videos are available on our 20th anniversary page. In upcoming months, we will be covering batch automation, primary process variables, operator interface and calibration subjects.

Check back monthly to see our process automation video predictions, or contact me directly at [email protected] with ideas of other automation technologies you would like us to cover. 

White Papers

Installing Fieldbus
How to deal with first-time fieldbus application installation issues.

Performance Comparison of Flexible Detector Designs
Results of test measurements on fill-fluid and fiber-bundle detector designs.

Future Trends for Instrumentation in Hazardous Areas
Reviewing the future of instrinsic safety.

Download PDFs of these white papers at ControlGlobal.com/whitepapers.

Special to the Web

Asish Ghosh on Process Safety
Walt Boyes and ARC’s Asish Ghosh talk about why process safety is so hard.

Mynah’s Martin Berutti on Simulation and Training
The current state of simulation/training technology and how it’s likely to evolve.

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