Control Systems

The controls upgrade to the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant will include installation of new digital components for all control facilities, an updated and modern control room and robust new protection schemes to help protect against physical and cyberattacks. Courtesy: Burns & McDonnell

Project Management January 23, 2020

Electrical control system and modernization upgrade for power plant

Burns & McDonnell will serve as engineer-procure-construct (EPC) contractor for an electrical control system upgrade and modernization project for the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant.

By Mary Young

These AutomationDirect StrideLinx VPN routers provide built-in firewall protection to isolate machine level LAN and companywide WAN networks, and optional 4G connectivity, enabling cloud-based remote access and simplifying implementation. Courtesy: AutomationDirect

Virtualization, Cloud Analytics November 7, 2019

Secure remote connections with cloud technologies

Cloud technologies enable remote connectivity for industrial applications, but can introduce security issues unless built from the ground up with cybersecurity in mind. See top five cybersecurity issues to address.

By Jonathan Griffith

PLCs, PACs

Figure 3: Realizing the benefit of providing an easy upgrade path, Emerson designed the latest RX3i platform to have the same footprint as existing 90-30 systems and accept both legacy and new I/O modules. Courtesy: Emerson

PLCs, PACs January 7, 2020

Modern controllers ease upgrades

Legacy industrial automation systems must eventually be ripped and replaced or upgraded. See four challenges and five benefits of upgrades using modern controllers.

By Vibhoosh Gupta

See more about PLCs, PACs

Embedded Systems, Edge Computing

Sensors, Vision December 1, 2018

Embedded vision is changing how people, machines interact

Embedded vision immerses the user in a more natural way by allowing the products to better augment our existing capabilities.

By AIA

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Dedicated Controls

Events and Awards October 11, 2018

Vote now for 2019 Engineers’ Choice Finalists

The official ballot is open for voting for Control Engineering North American print and digital edition subscribers, for a limited time. Review finalists and vote by using CFE Media's New Products for Engineers platform. (Voting closed Jan. 4, 2019.)

By Amanda Pelliccione

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PID, APC

Industry expected model-predictive control (MPC) to naturally expand into the multi-loop control (MLC) region, but that never happened; MPC costs of ownership remain high and MPC remains primarily a high-end solution. MLC represents an important, but under-developed part of the APC matrix spectrum. Courtesy: Control Engineering webcast, Advanced process control: Past, present and future.

PID, APC January 15, 2020

Advanced process control: More answers

After a webcast on “Advanced process control: Past, present and future,” more answers to audience questions are provided by the webcast speaker covering advanced process control (APC) to help with process optimization.

By Allan Kern

See more about PID, APC

DCS, SCADA, Controllers

Figure 1: FreeWave’s ZumLink IQ integrated with Inductive Automation’s Ignition Edge MQTT installed at one of Sylvan Lake’s field stations. Courtesy: Freewave

Remote Monitoring January 12, 2020

Real-time monitoring and control for a water, wastewater operation

Water and wastewater operations improved with an industrial radio with messaging queuing telemetry transport (MQTT) for faster communication and new supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) software. A system integrator used the wireless system to help improve reliability and reporting and reduce risk.

By Crayton White

See more about DCS, SCADA, Controllers