Top 5 Control Engineering articles December 5-11: DCS and PLC action items, robotic advances, Engineers’ Choice finalists, more

Articles about DCS/PLC action items, robotic advances, the Engineers' Choice finalists, PID and digital control efficiencies, and configuration implementation considerations were Control Engineering’s five most clicked articles from December 5-11. Miss something? You can catch up here.

By Chris Vavra December 12, 2016

The top 5 most read articles online, from Dec. 5-11 for Control Engineering, covered DCS/PLC action items, robotic advances, the Engineers’ Choice finalists, PID and digital control efficiencies, and configuration implementation considerations. Links to each article below.

1. Six action items for an aging DCS/PLC

Plant and operations managers need to be aware that their distributed control systems (DCSs) and programmable logic controllers (PLCs) could be obsolete and they should take appropriate steps to deal with the problem. Six immediate action items for an aging system are highlighted.

2. Robots advance with connectivity, collaboration, easier programming

Cover Story: Advanced robotic developments include improved designs for safety and specialized environments, collaborative applications, better integration with other systems, and augmented monitoring to reduce risk of downtime and lower maintenance costs. See photo gallery, links to five videos of robots.

3. 2017 Engineers’ Choice Finalists 

For a limited time, the official Engineers’ Choice ballot is open for voting for Control Engineering North American print and digital edition subscribers. Vote for the best Engineers’ Choice finalists of 116 entries across 28 categories. 

4. PID and digital control efficiencies

Most proportional-integral-derivative (PID) applications use digital controllers, though some still use analog. Digital control can offer additional process control system efficiencies.

5. Configuration implementation considerations for distributed control systems

There are many manufacturers that have designed and built distributed control systems (DCSs) and there are several methods that can be performed to make the plant implementation process more efficient.

The list was developed using CFE Media’s web analytics for stories viewed on controleng.com, December 5-11, for articles published within the last two months.  

Chris Vavra, production editor, CFE Media, cvavra@cfemedia.com.


Author Bio: Chris Vavra is web content manager for CFE Media and Technology.