Automation

• Automation

Guarding Your Investment - A Guide to Safety Fencing

A physical barrier between hazards and operators is an effective, low-tech solution for significantly reducing the risk of injury and the costly lawsuits or machine downtime that result from these accidents. Before implementing a safety fencing system, the following considerations should be taken into account.

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• Automation

What is an Omron NX Power Module and Do You Need One?

One of the big benefits of using a PLC from the Omron NX1P PLC family is the ability to add I/O modules directly to the side of PLC. Any I/O module receiving power through the NX bus will require an additional I/O power supply unit, but this is commonly overlooked.

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• Automation

Configure Servo Drive to Run with Parker Automation Controller

Walkthrough guide on configuring the Parker Automation Controller (PAC) with a servo motor via EtherCAT network.

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• Automation

Upgrade from Iconics Genesis32 to Genesis64

Upgrade ICONICS Genesis32 Application to Genesis64 Save 50% on the cost of new software

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• Automation

Interfacing with SQL Databases Key to Machine HMI Upgrade

We were recently contacted by a customer about helping to upgrade some test machines that were built in the 1990's. These machines had a single axis motion control requirement to accurately adjust some positions within the machine as material moved through the machine. The machine also was originally developed with a user interface that had been created using Visual Basic Version 6, that at the time was one of the few software environments that allowed interfacing with a database.

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• Automation

Embedded Computer is the Solution

Helping a Customer Find Just the Right Solution for their Information Application We have been working with a customer that has created a unique information display application using FTP servers distributed in a manufacturing facility. They sell this solution to many different companies that are all in the same industry. This application had been solved using single board computers that were mounted in a NEMA12 dustproof enclosure along with typical computer power supplies and all of the cabling.

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• Automation

How To Decrease Equipment Energy Consumption

Hint: It's a lot more than just tracking energy usage and consumption One can read an endless variety of articles regarding how to improve energy usage in building and manufacturing facilities. But what does it really take to decrease energy consumption.   In my experience, many suppliers offer meters and software for tracking energy usage. These software products allow for the creation of very nice energy dashboards and support the use of mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones that allows key personnel to monitor energy usage.

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• Automation

4 Reasons to Use Pilot Operated Solenoid Valves vs Direct Acting Solenoid Valves in Pneumatic Manifolds

Solenoid valves used in air manifolds can be direct acting or pilot operated. In the case of a direct acting solenoid valve, the coil acts directly on the valve spool to actuate it. In the case of a pilot operated solenoid valve, it uses system air pressure as a pilot to actuate the spool. Both have been in use for many years and each has their benefits.

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• Automation

Directly Command Motion from a Red Lion Graphite HMI to an Integrated Stepper Motor via Modbus TCP/IP

Bill of Material Red Lion 7” Graphite HMI (G07C0000) LMDCEXXXX (for this example I used LMDCE573 and LMDCE571) Phoenix Contact Quint 24 VDC power supply (2866747) Phoenix Contact 5 Tx Ethernet Switch (2891152) Phoenix Contact Power Distribution Module (2903717) Windows 7 laptop with 64-bit environment Introduction The purpose of this instruction is to show how to set up and manage a Red Lion Graphite HMI Modbus master.

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