Top 5 Control Engineering articles, March 3-9, 2014

Were you out last week? Miss something? Here are Control Engineering’s five most clicked articles from last week, March 3-9, 2014, including articles about motion control, training simulators, CFE Media’s Apps for Engineers mobile application, Microsoft in process control systems, and control charts.

By Jessica DuBois-Maahs, Jordan Schultz March 10, 2014

1. Precise motion control gives famous vessel new life

A piece of Cold War history uses automation for precise control of its floating dry dock. Less expensive components and in-house engineering allowed for a more advanced system. 

2. Training simulators continue to adopt gaming technologies

Changing demographics and the ability to deploy trainers to remote locations are driving new technologies for the next generation of operators.

3. Apps for Engineers: Vision apps for iOS and Android

CFE Media’s Apps for Engineers is an interactive directory of more than 170 engineering-related applications for Android and iOS, created by various companies. We’ve organized apps by category, company, and type. This month, gain access to our vision category. 

4. Are Microsoft technologies still best for process control systems?

Engineering and IT Insight: Process control architects and designers are questioning the 15-year wisdom that you cannot go wrong by picking the Microsoft environment for a process control system. See 6 critical requirements for process controls.

5. Selecting the right control chart

For real-time monitoring, a control chart is a statistical tool to analyze the past and predict the future. Choosing the wrong one from among hundreds increases the risk of errors. Advice follows on how to choose the right control chart. This is a March Digital Edition Exclusive.

The list was developed using CFE Media’s web analytics for stories viewed on www.controleng.com, March 3-9, 2014, for articles published within the last two months.

– Jessica DuBois-Maahs and Jordan Schultz, associate content managers, CFE Media, jdmaahs@cfemedia.com and jschultz@cfemedia.com.