EPN Industrial Automation Blog

On to pastures new

Automation bus systems and components have reached a level where they can easily be used in other application areas. This is especially true for image processing systems and all kinds of rough application environments.

embedded world 2011: The industrial touch

Ruggedized touch panel computers can serve as control front ends for industrial networking systems. However, the usually delicate touch screens have to withstand all kinds of mistreatment.

Fly, Eddie, Fly

Oberstdorf is not just a holiday paradise embedded in the Alps of the Allgäu. Here, in this remote southernmost village of Germany you’ll find the famous Heini Klopfer ski jump – a ski flying hill and the second largest ski jump in the world. If you are plucky enough you can ride a unique diagonal elevator to the top of the Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze. Cheer up! Nowadays, Bosch takes care of safety and security at this ski jump.

SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2010: Energy and Safety

Focusing on energy efficiency and Safety/Security, Moxa is going to exhibit products from its railway, public transportation, ITS, marine, factory automation, and power business segments at SPC/IPC/DRIVES in hall 9 stand 221.

Robotics + motion control + PLC

EtherCAT , the Industrial Ethernet system, has become the process communication standard in many robots. Its use in the field of robotics offers a number of advantages: EtherCAT enables extremely short update times for the process image (50 μs); control loops (up to the current controller) can be closed via the bus. Control of the axes can take place centrally in the controller – including the coupled movement function. It integrates redundancy, hot connect and hot swap options.

Sunshine on my display

You may have experienced the disappointingly poor quality of the visual experience on your mobile devices — particularly when it comes to watching a movie, mobile TV or still pictures. While this is just an inconvenience, it can become a safety-critical issue on handheld terminals for field operation in industrial applications. Even with the advancements being made in mobile display technology, they still fall short in terms of adequate contrast ratio for viewing high quality multimedia content. Reflecting sunshine can make this experience even worse. The fundamental problem can be summarized in two four-letter-words. In order to avoid heart attacks while trying to read the information on a floodlit display, QuickLogic has signed an agreement with German, Munich-based, Data Display to bring VEE to industrial and digital signage applications.

Green Automation

The German Engineering Federation VDMA is going to present at this year’s Automatica trade fair together with the show organizers its "Green Automation" initiative. Automatica takes place in Munich June 8-11, 2010.

Industrial 3D

While the entertainment business rediscovers 3D every ten to fifteen years, stereoscopic methods are quite common in industrial applications, be it 3D scanners or digital fabricators (“3D printers ”). Since 3D movies in 2009/2010 may be technically more advanced than in 1954 , today’s childish plotlines may kill off the current 3D hype - James Cameron is definitely no Alfred Hitchcock. Industrial 3D technology remains unfettered by those petty concerns and is becoming more and more advanced.

IDS: New member of the management board

The manufacturer of industrial cameras for digital imaging and visualization, IDS Imaging Development Systems, has appointed Mr. Torsten Wiesinger to its management board.