Open Platform Communications (OPC) is an interoperability standard that allows multiple manufacturers to securely exchange industrial automation data. It defines a real-time transmission protocol for managing various devices with in-plant between sensors, field devices, controllers, and applications on the shop floor, as well as between the OT and enterprise IT (Cloud) systems.
Schneider Electric recently hosted U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and the Governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear for a tour of its Lexington, Kentucky smart factory. The Secretary and Governor were led on the tour of the 500,000 square foot facility by Aamir Paul, U.S. Country President, Schneider Electric, who briefed the officials on the facility’s state-of the-art technology.
The factory of the future wouldn’t be possible without communication protocols that facilitate fast and secure data transfer. A protocol is essentially a way of communicating information between devices on a network that follows a set of agreed-upon rules for formatting and processing. As the trend toward data-driven decision-making prompts manufacturers to gather increasingly large amounts of data from the plant floor, these protocols are gaining prominence.
UCEC have noticed an alarming trend with companies contacting them for urgent help with panels made overseas or by a different control panel manufacturer. Their crisis? Their panel has failed its inspection and their operations are shut down until it passes. UCEC stands apart from other OEM control panel manufacturers as one of the few companies that has passed the most recent stringent UL MTR exam.
Life safety today is top of mind for nearly everyone. There is a certain level of trust that fire alarm systems continue to work within a fire incident. With system survivability being a key concern to regulators, building managers, and the public, Siemens has developed systems that are designed to meet and exceed regulations that protect people, property, and assets.
IP routers connect two Internet Protocol (IP) networks together—passing appropriate traffic while blocking all other traffic using either a wired or wireless connection. Features like a firewall make the Wide Area Network (WAN) connection as secure as possible, but properly setting the firewall is a common IP router setup issue. IP routers connect separate networks, allowing information to travel between devices located on different subnets.
Unless you’ve been hiding in a cave for the past few years, you’re probably running into a lot more sensors and I/O components offering IO-Link to communicate with the PLC. With all this IO-Link buzz in the air, I’d like to explore all the exciting possibilities that IO-Link brings to automation and industrial connectivity with you, over the next few months. Let’s start with a quick introduction to IO-Link and its similarities to a connection technology we use every day.
Almost all of the systems built by special-purpose machine manufacturer Trebbin are custom-made individual units, because flexibility and inventiveness are essential when providing automation solutions for a huge variety of different industries. This company, located in Eichstätt, Bavaria, builds whatever the customer requests. Trebbin favors WAGO’s automation and interconnection technology more and more often as the standard for their machines.
Robotic solutions can dramatically sharpen your competitive edge as a manufacturer, but they can also introduce more complexity into your operations. To address this issue, Omron have recently introduced their most full-featured machine automation controller to date that’s ideal for complete robotic cells, high-speed motion systems, material handling, and multi-robot systems.
Global certification service provider TÜV SÜD has confirmed the cybersecurity of Siemens Energy’s proven SPPA-T3000 control system by awarding IEC 62443-3-3 and IEC 62443-4-1 certifications. This makes Siemens Energy the one of the few major suppliers of power plant control technology to hold this certification. It enables SPPA-T3000 customers to demonstrate the cybersecurity of their assets to regulators, insurers, investors and the public.
With self-driving cars and other major innovations just around the corner, the automotive and mobility industry is certain to be an exciting one to work in. To bring all these innovations to fruition and successfully navigate the changes ahead, automotive companies will need as many knowledgeable team members as they can get. That is why companies like Omron and industry associations like MICHauto are working together to engage today’s high school students and educate them about the automotive and mobility sector.
If you were around in 1980’s you will probably remember walkmans, vcrs, mix tapes and big hair bands on MTV, amongst other things. The decade started with the release of PacMan, the Rubiks Cube and a Hollywood actor called Ronald Reagan winning the US Presidential election. It ended with the first episode of the Simpsons, Timothy Berners-Lee inventing the World Wide Web and the Berlin Wall coming down to symbolize the end of the Cold War.
The International Society of Automation (ISA) and the ISA Global Cybersecurity Alliance (ISAGCA), with contributing author Gary Rathwell, have released a new white paper entitled, “Implementing an Industrial Cybersecurity Program for Your Enterprise.” ISA/IEC 62443 provides powerful tools to reduce the risk of financial, reputational, human, and environmental impact from cyber-attacks on Industrial Automation and Control Systems (IACS).
Data acquisition, data logging and data analysis are required functions for most modern industrial control systems. The simplest and lowest cost way to provide these functions is often by using the same platform that’s providing real-time control—namely the PLC or the programmable automation controller (PAC). A few years ago, this wasn’t possible as PLCs lacked the required processing power and data storage capability.
At utility substations, Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) are critical components used for monitoring circuit breaker positions, alarms, voltages/currents, temperatures, and additional data from a variety of wired sensors. They can also control breakers, tap changers, and capacitor banks. However, for many utilities, RTUs remain a trouble spot. As RTUs age, reliability issues, unforgiving software, lack of vendor support for older product lines, etc.
The following is Part 1 and 2 of a four-part series of articles on Control System Design that can act as a general guide to the specification, design and installation of automated control systems. The information and references are presented in a logical order that will take you from the skills required to recognize an operation or process suited for automating, to tips on setting up a program, to maintaining the control system.
