Jeanine Katzel, Control Engineering

Integrated Controllers Grow in Power

Rapid technology advancements in hardware and software for panel PCs and related devices are improving equipment design and performance, bringing savings in time, space, and money while maintaining a stable, reliable, and familiar work platform. September 2010 cover story.

Machine Vision Eyes a Healthy Tomorrow

Industrial machine vision Product Research - Machine vision continues to play a major role in automation and control as products offer better, more reliable performance, ease of use, and state-of-the-art features such as smart vision sensors. Investment in well-designed, carefully-planned systems remains strong, and the future points to increasing application of—and spending for—this important and growing technology.

MES Closes Information Gap

Achieving — and maintaining — the competitive edge is imperative for manufacturers today, not just to stay a step ahead, but to survive. Success depends on operating lean and efficient. In this information age, this means harnessing all the tools available to improve precision and quality of production and manufacturing operations.

Servo Motors Speed Up

Rapid and often dramatic technological advancements have given new dimension and substance to automation and control systems of late. Throughout this time of change, however, some components have stayed stable and steady. Case in point is the servo motor. Enhancements and accessories may benefit the application, but the product remains nearly ubiquitous in manufacturing, providing critical serv...

HMI Software: Steady Growth Ahead

The role of human-machine interfaces in automation and control grows more prominent day by day. HMIs are key elements to the success of industrial manufacturing and production, which depends on these systems to do more and more to monitor and control processes, do it faster, and do it more accurately and precisely.

How to select marquee displays

The ballgame is about to start! As the first batter steps to the plate, the large electronic scoreboard provides name, number, and current batting average. As the train approaches the station, the pole-mounted sign over the platform scrolls the train number, time of arrival, and destination. Marquee displays are all around us, delivering consumer, retail, and entertainment information.

Eye on Hazardous Area Sensors

Sensors pervade our lives. From the appliances in our homes to the automobiles that move us from place to place to the automation and control systems that operate and monitor our industrial processes, sensors are everywhere. Like most components, however, they are part of the larger whole—elements in systems growing ever more complex.

Standardizing the Operator Interface

The sources of the problems that thrust Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear power plant into the limelight in 1979 were undoubtedly many, but some would argue that the root cause of that unfortunate incident was that operators, confronted with such a bewildering array of information, could find no clues in the display to tell them what had gone wrong…or what to do about it.

Anatomy of a display

A display has many purposes and many variations. But in today's automation and control environment, it is, essentially, a core ingredient in a human-machine interface (HMI), the dynamic device through which information is entered and presented, as text or images. Not too many years ago, the CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor—large, heavy, and bulky—was the common display device.

Defining (and re-defining) HMIs

From a simple device for viewing an activity to a complex, sophisticated tool for monitoring, controlling, and analyzing processes and systems, the human-machine interface (HMI) has grown—and grown up. Even its name has changed. From man-machine interface to graphical user interface to operator interface, the terminology has evolved, but the acronym HMI is seemingly universally accepted.