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applications

Honeywell says its newest PLC dramatically reduces integration costs for industrial plants

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Honeywell Process Solutions has launched the latest version of its ControlEdge Programmable Logic Controller.

This release, combined with Honeywell’s Experion distributed control system, provides a “significant reduction” in integration efforts and project costs as well as increased security and availability through enhanced cyber security for industrial facilities, says the company.

The PLC is used in a variety of balance of plant applications, such as equipment and device level control.  [Read more…] about Honeywell says its newest PLC dramatically reduces integration costs for industrial plants

Qualcomm says it’s producing 1 million chips a day for IoT applications

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qualcomm board

Qualcomm says it is currently shipping more than 1 million chips per day for the internet of things. 

The company made the announcement at its IoT industry analyst workshop.

The company says its production momentum reflects Qualcomm’s “unique ability to invent and deliver the technologies needed for the IoT, and to meet challenging customer requirements for interoperability, connectivity, compute and security”.  [Read more…] about Qualcomm says it’s producing 1 million chips a day for IoT applications

ST Robotics launches new ‘super-fast’ industrial robot arm for $18,000

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ST R17HS

ST Robotics has launched what it says is a high speed version of their five-axis vertically articulated R17 robot arm.

The company says its new machine compares favourably to the Universal Robots UR5 model.

ST claims its new ST R17HS is one of the industry’s fastest robots. Standard tool speed is “over four times as fast as the nearest competitor”, yet it’s less than half the price, says the company.  [Read more…] about ST Robotics launches new ‘super-fast’ industrial robot arm for $18,000

Growing pains at ADL as it launches ‘industry’s smallest’ Intel-based embedded PC

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Exclusive interview with JC Ramirez, director of engineering, ADL Embedded Solutions

If there’s one problem most companies would be happy to have is the one related to having too many orders to deal with. 

This is the situation ADL Embedded Solutions finds itself in, according to JC Ramirez, the company’s director of engineering and product manager.

In an exclusive interview with Robotics and Automation News, Ramirez says the company is experiencing “serious growing pains”, especially in Germany, where there is “too much work” going on.

ADL has generally been highly regarded and known as a “board company”, specialising in supplying technology for military and defence applications.

But the company has been going higher, into the upper levels of integration with its products in the past few years.  [Read more…] about Growing pains at ADL as it launches ‘industry’s smallest’ Intel-based embedded PC

IoT ‘transforming’ industrial robotics market, says report

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industrial robots

Sharmila Annaswamy, industrial automation and process control research analyst at Frost & Sullivan, provides an exclusive insight of the impact of industrial robots on manufacturing and how the IoT is changing everything 

During the last decade, the advent of robotics has phenomenally transformed the industrial sector in terms of manufacturing capability.

They are traditionally used to carry out tasks that are complex, repetitive or hazardous to enhance productivity, quality and reduce operational costs for the manufacturers.

However, the industrial robotics market is going through a phase of transformation driven by Industrial Internet of Things.

But the challenges in integrating and programming them restrain their widespread application across verticals. [Read more…] about IoT ‘transforming’ industrial robotics market, says report

Kuka’s new lightweight collaborative robot for medical applications goes into series production

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Kuka’s new, lightweight collaborative robot has gone into series production, says the company. 

The Kuka LBR Med – short for medical – is designed to be operated in the “immediate vicinity” of the human operator.

The robot maker sees the new cobot as having applications in the health sector, as “an assistant for tasks rehabilitation or in the operating room”.  [Read more…] about Kuka’s new lightweight collaborative robot for medical applications goes into series production

ADL launches what it claims is ‘industry’s smallest Intel-based embedded device ever’

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ADL Embedded Solutions has launched its ultra-compact ADLEPC-1500 Embedded PC, which the company claims is “the industry’s smallest Intel-based embedded device ever released”.

At 3.4” x 3.2”, the ADLEPC-1500 is a “full-feature embedded PC” targeted at unmanned, industrial controls, robotics, traffic management and surveillance market, says the company.

ADL adds that the device’s wide voltage and temperature range make it “ideal” for a variety of applications and environments.  [Read more…] about ADL launches what it claims is ‘industry’s smallest Intel-based embedded device ever’

Advantech launches WebAccess 8.2 to round out the end-to-cloud IoT applications

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advantech webaccess

Advantech has launched WebAccess 8.2 to round out the IoT applications from the end to the cloud.

Based on the previous powerful features, the latest version supports MQTT protocol and adds two new drivers (Ethernet/IP for Allen-Bradley PLC and B+B Wzzard MQTT) enabling manager/administrator/System Integrator to effortlessly integrate more on-site devices and upload the front-end data to the cloud.

In order to push product performance to perfection, Advantech has enhanced Dashboard performance in this new release to ensure stable and synchronous data transmission.  [Read more…] about Advantech launches WebAccess 8.2 to round out the end-to-cloud IoT applications

Technical insight: The brake chopper size conundrum

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brake choppers

John Mitchell, global business development manager of maintenance and repair specialist CP Automation, looks at the dangers of taking your IGBT for granted

Many drives manufacturers design and build their products with a seventh Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT), in the form of a brake chopper, incorporated into the device. 

Manufacturers often include a brake chopper up to a certain size of inverter, but beyond that size, they will expect customers to use an external unit.

However, to reduce the cost of the drive to the end user, the seventh IGBT isn’t necessarily rated to the full power rating of the drive itself.  [Read more…] about Technical insight: The brake chopper size conundrum

Manufacturing: Benefits of universal peripherals

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Benefits of using peripherals
Even drives with onboard brake choppers are not rated sufficiently for the braking demand of the application

John Mitchell, global business development manager of maintenance and repair specialist CP Automation, discusses the benefits of using a universal brake chopper that works with any inverter

There is a real danger in the specification of inverters for use in heavy-duty applications. Fresh from the manufacturer, most drives – even ones with onboard brake choppers – are not rated sufficiently for the braking demand of the application.

Non-specialist engineers face an extremely complex task when asked to choose the correct inverter, resistor and brake-chopper combination for a project.

To help counteract this problem, CP Automation recommends using an external brake chopper unit that simplifies the process of inverter selection. Where an inverter doesn’t feature a built-in brake chopper, the new CP Automation unit, manufactured to the highest standards, supplies that functionality. It’s a universal model that works with any inverter, from any manufacturer.  [Read more…] about Manufacturing: Benefits of universal peripherals