Designing, installing, and maintaining control systems involves a lot of wires. Each wire has a purpose, often indicated by the color of the insulation. But what are the common colors, and what do they mean? Riggs: Well, I’m cutting the red wire, okay? Murtaugh: What? What? A minute ago you said blue. Riggs: Did l … Read more
Learn how to get started with Phoenix Contact’s PLCnext and Engineer software, a platform that ultimately provides a PLC environment for plant control as well as an OS for more advanced IIoT projects. As we examine the scope of modern control systems around the world, there are three distinct categories of controllers. At the most … Read more
Every method of connecting to an industrial device—USB, serial, or Ethernet—poses challenges. For Ethernet, we often must adjust the IP address of our PC, not only the device itself. The story is familiar. You find yourself configuring a new networked device to find that it only contains a single or double Ethernet port. No familiar … Read more
Join Control Automation for a visit to Beckhoff USA in Minneapolis, MN, as we learn about cabinet-free controls, high-speed motion, and magnetic conveyance working to drive the future of the industry. Remember the year 2019? That was one year before COVID rocked the world with shutdowns and global shortages of resources that forced many companies … Read more
What is the future of manufacturing dependent on? Who plays a role in seeing where/how manufacturing will grow? Tracking raw materials is generally location-based, but the costs can change as environmental and political actions affect supply chains and pricing more and more. Tracking costs and the ability to get materials from point A to B … Read more
There are a lot of companies considering in-house automation or consulting with integrators for automated systems. But where do you start, and how do you even pick a project for automation? One of the most impressive things in the manufacturing world is when products are being made with little or no intervention, giving operators more … Read more
Sensor networks with built-in logic functions can save cost and program execution speed, but what are those various logic functions, and when might they be preferred over normal PLC ladder logic? The logic functions that exist within some sensors are fundamental operations that process input signals to determine an output. These functions help the sensor … Read more
Both lists and dictionaries can retain structured data in Python. The dictionary is unique in that it stores individual entries with human-readable logical names rather than index numbers. Following the previous discussion about data storage in the list format, the next most common type of data structure in Python is the dictionary. These new data types … Read more
Learn how to write a ladder logic program to assign a string value to a data register and share that register with any HMI compatible with Mitsubishi’s MELSEC PLC series. Human-machine interface (HMI) panels are often designed for the control and display of essential data from the control system to the users. From interaction with … Read more
Every automated cell requires a ‘brain’ in order to achieve the required tasks. How do you determine the necessary I/O, communication protocols, and processor necessary for controlling your system? Previously, we have covered the initial steps of choosing the proper automation project and getting started with the initial connections to the real world with sensor … Read more