By the Numbers – 2005-11-01

3 weeks was how long it took an educated hacker from Idaho National Labs to take control of automation, reaching through the Internet, enterprise network, control network, and related software and hardware. See “Think Again” in this issue for details. Idaho National Labs www.inl.gov

8.4% is the compounded annual growth rate worldwide for machine safeguarding hardware and services over the next five years. The market exceeded $1 billion in 2004 and may top $1.5 billion in 2009. ARC Advisory Group www.arcweb.com

4 points help with effective design of human-machine interface screens: Remember your audience; stick to the point; avoid unknown jargon; and use a template. For details, see “Back to Basics,” in this issue. www.honeywell.com/ps

7 areas of application information (description, spatial scale, measurements, information scale, Web environment, pod deployment, and pod description) are sought for a NASA/JPL project on Sensor Webs, “a new class of instruments for monitoring and exploring environments.” sensorwebs.jpl.nasa.gov/application.shtml

10x less is what you’d pay for a CMOS vision sensor compared to a CCD, perhaps $50 versus $500 for a 1,000 pixel-squared array. Chipmakers are creating CMOS with CCD performance, challenging the 3-5 million-pixel range by year end 2005. See cover story, this issue. kodak.com/go/imagers

5 ways that industry organizations help alliances grow: Emphasize ecosystem relevance and participation; develop specifications with wide industry support; sponsor and enforce compliance and certification programs; achieve market visibility and awareness; and accelerate market demand, says Deepak Kamlani, president and CEO, Global Inventures, organizer of ZigBee Alliance, Wireless Industrial Networking Alliance, and others. www.zigbee.org , www.wina.org

6 editions (Asia, China, Europe, North America, Poland, Russia) of Control Engineering will be available globally as of February 2006, in four languages, with editors on three continents. www.controleng.com

175 miles is how far driverless vehicles raced across the Mojave Desert, in the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Grand Challenge, on Oct. 12. Created in response to a Congressional and Department of Defense mandate, the robotics engineering field tests aim to help R&D of autonomous ground vehicles to assist on the battlefield. Five vehicles finished in 10 hours or less; a $2 million prize went to Stanford’s “Stanley.” www.grandchallenge.org

88 -year old Hydraulic Institute (HI) is reviewing a newly completed standard for the Condition Monitoring of Centrifugal and Vertical Pumps, including “the latest instrumentation available to ensure long, uninterrupted pump operation,” HI says. The 2002 Edition of ANSI/HI Standards exceeds 1,296 pages in 23 documents. www.pumps.org

362 speakers were scheduled in eight conference tracks at the ISA 2005 in Chicago in October. www.isa.org/isaexpo

Do you have experience and expertise with the topics mentioned in this content? You should consider contributing to our CFE Media editorial team and getting the recognition you and your company deserve. Click here to start this process.