AB Fair 2004: Photos from the show floor

Orlando, FL—Rockwell Automation and its partner companies exhibited hundreds of industrial automation solutions at the 13th annual Allen-Bradley Automation Fair 2004, Oct. 27-28, at the Orange County Convention Center.

By Control Engineering Staff November 2, 2004

Orlando, FL— Rockwell Automation and its partner companies exhibited hundreds of industrial automation solutions at the 13th annual Allen-Bradley Automation Fair 2004 , Oct. 27-28, at the Orange County Convention Center. Last week’s event featured more than 100 exhibitors, 49 technical sessions, and more than 20 hands-on laboratory exhibits. Some of the most innovative exhibits, demonstrations and solutions included:

Visitors check out some of the more than 100 exhibits, include the Pro-Soft Technology booth (foreground), on the show floor at Rockwell Automation’s Allen-Bradley Automation Fair 2004 last week at the Orange County Convention Center.

Ky Ryder, manufacturing solutions consultant (center, seated), and Michael Helduser, manufacturing solutions engineer (right, seated), check out a downtime report for a simulated packaging line at the Performance Solutions for Manufacturing exhibit at Rockwell Automation’s Allen-Bradley Automation Fair 2004, Oct. 27-28, at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center.

Vivek Bapat, Rockwell Automation’s supply chain solutions manager, demonstrates the firm’s integrated Arena and RSBizWare software solution, which uses MES data for planning, scheduling, and design functions, and builds 3-D models that allow users to compare the impacts of existing and proposed facilities.

Dave Ness, president of Hardy Instruments (left), shows his firm’s new closed-loop Tension Controller to Michael Bosworth, president of NorthWind Technical Services Inc., a system integration firm. Tension Controller can gauge tension in web printing presses, and then control braking.

Ron Bright, of Salt River Materials Group, a cement manufacturer, takes a quiz on a flat-panel touchscreen mounted on an ABB robot that demonstrates how Rockwell Automation’s new Flex Cell architecture selectively powers down the robot and its enclosure’s light curtain to allow reportedly unprecedented and safe interaction between users and robotics.

Jason Hughes, channel specialist for Cognex Corp. (left), demonstrates the firm’s new In-Sight 5400C color vision sensor and In-Sight 5401 high-resolution sensor at AB Fair 2004.

Mike Johnson, of Sola-Hevi-Duty (right, center), shows visitor Maureen White (left, center) some the firm’s redundant power supplies for mission-critical applications.

Control Engineering Daily News DeskJim Montague, news editor jmontague@reedbusiness.com