NMW 2002: Numerous product introductions abound at Industrial Automation Show

Control Engineering editors visited the exhibit floor at National Manufacturing Week's Industrial Automation Show and uncovered a number of noteworthy new products. Here are highlights from a few of them.

By Control Engineering Staff March 20, 2002

Chicago, IL. – Control Engineering editors visited the exhibit floor at National Manufacturing Week’s Industrial Automation Show and uncovered a number of noteworthy new products. Here are highlights from a few of them.

Integrated Control (Huntington, N.Y.) introduced InteMod Control System, a system designed specifically for applications requiring complex control to be used with a minimum of user training (i.e., fast food). Using a 128×64 or 240×128 LCD display, an intuitive operator interface consisting of graphic icons and text information is developed in conjunction with specially designed interface overlays. Single-board controllers are programmed for specific control actions and connected via a bus network. A wireless Internet interface board permits sending and receiving messages including changing recipe values for such actions as cook temperature, hold time, etc.

Intel’s (Santa Clara, Calif.) e-Business Solution Blueprints for manufacturers permit deploying application solutions more quickly by using pre-configured, pre-tested software modules. Working on the familiar 80:20 rule, Solution Blueprints uses industry standards and architectures to deliver core technologies on computer platforms that are near-ready-to-use. Application solution developers, such as Accenture, KPMG, Dell, IBM, and SAP add the application specific software to provide fully configured, ready-to-use solutions for e-Business applications.

Emerson Process’s Intellution division (Foxborough, Mass.) introduced infoAgent, a web-based tool for accessing, analyzing, and reporting production data in a format designed by the user. Using an intuitive data presentation toolkit, users can configure customized views of production information including trend & event charts, XY-plots, and calculations. Because infoAgent is browser based, once a view is defined, its content is available via of login from anywhere. A key infoAgent feature is the ability for authorized users to add time and date stamped annotations to report screens further advancing data into information and knowledge critical to minimize business disruptions.

VIA Development’s VIA Wiring Diagram electrical design software now includes AutoDesk’s AutoCAD engine and an underlying database to create robust electrical drawings and publish the contents as web pages or XML files. Online drawings can be panned, zoomed, reviewed, and red-lined, thus eliminating shipping costs and delays and speeding up design reviews. When a drawing is complete, the underlying database generates a detailed bill-of-materials. New in Wiring Diagram version 16.0 is pneumatic piping design tools with over 200 new features and enhancements, including a graphical user interface that makes creating new I/O modules easier. A 30-day, full function evaluation copy is available.

For more on National Manufacturing Week, visit Control Engineering’s special show section .

Control Engineering Daily News DeskDave Harrold, senior editor dharrold@cahners.com