Control System World

Agilent Technologies Inc. has announced a new analysis software suite for the U4611A, U4611B and U4612A family of USB protocol analyzers. The suite features the new MegaZoom technology, offering USB device designers quick and easy insight into their designs' behavior, and streamlining USB test and validation.

"USB has truly become a universal connection for electronic devices," said Ross Nelson, general manager of Agilent's Digital Debug Solutions group. "USB 3.0 designs have been adopted as a default connection for external disk drives and adapters for high-speed networks, placing greater demand on USB performance. The new MegaZoom technology analyzes operations in real time with a full view of the connection's performance, helping designers optimize both new and existing USB devices."

• MegaZoom technology in the U4611A and U4611B quickly analyzes massive amounts of data and drills into the detail designers need. Features include:
• MegaZoom delivers up to 18 GB of deep memory data capture without the sluggish response times and complex user interfaces inherent with traditional analyzers.
• With patented indexing techniques performed in proprietary FPGA designs, MegaZoom can analyze the 5 Gbps bi-directional data of USB 3.0 in real time.
• Results are displayed in seconds, providing instant access to all events in the capture with a single click.
• MegaZoom is not a special mode-it performs at full bandwidth in every capture, regardless of additional triggers and analysis performed by the analyzer.

The software allows the U4611A, U4611B and U4612A USB protocol analyzers to monitor and capture bus activity and provide immediate access to the full detail of the entire data capture buffer-up to 18 GB. Real-time performance information is calculated, counted, logged and graphed in a single display. Performance data allows designers to quickly and easily identify the events that are causing throughput problems, endpoint data retry and communication errors.

The Agilent USB protocol analysis software with MegaZoom is available free of charge to all users of the U4611A, U4611B or U4612A family of protocol analyzers. Download it at www.agilent.com/find/USB.

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, signed a long-term Preventive Service™ agreement with China LNG Shipping International Co. Ltd (CLSICO) to provide maintenance services to all ABB equipment onboard of its six LNG vessels in the next five years. The contract commenced January 1, 2013.

The new service agreement will help CLSICO with optimized vessels performance at a predicted minimum level of budget. ABB will provide annual site survey and on-call services to the six vessels covered by the agreement, as well as dry dock service every 2.5 years. The scope of the agreement covers preventive maintenance on onboard, power generation plant and mechanical and electrical system.

“ABB’s modular service agreement concept allowed us to tailor make the service package that best suits CLSICO’s fleet management model. With a thorough five years maintenance plan, CLSICO will be able to achieve ambitious cost saving targets”, says Heikki Soljama, Head of Marine and Cranes business at ABB. “Additionally, the framework ensures effective communication and transparency between CLSICO management and ABB, which in turns strengthens the co-operation between both parties and streamlines key processes”.

Technip was awarded by Statoil an engineering, procurement, construction and installation lump-sum contract for the Norne field development, located in the Norwegian Sea at a water depth of approximately 380 meters.

The contract covers the:

• engineering and fabrication of two flexible smoothbore gas export risers*,
• marine operations to remove one existing roughbore riser connecting the Norne floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit with the gas export pipeline, and replace it with one of the new flexible smoothbore risers,
• provision of the second flexible smoothbore gas export riser on a reel to Statoil as spare for future use.

Technip’s operating center in Oslo, Norway will execute the contract which is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2014. Fabrication of the risers will take place in the Group’s Flexi France plant in Le Trait, France. Offshore installation will be notably executed with the Normand Progress, a flexible pipelay vessel from Technip fleet.

Technip’s patented leading flexible smoothbore riser technology eliminates noise and vibration issues, reduces pressure losses as well as need for compression (being an overall benefit to the environment) and helps increase the overall capacity of the system.

ICONICS, winner of the Microsoft® Sustainability Partner of the Year award, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and provider of Web-enabled industrial visualization software for Microsoft Windows® operating systems, is excited to announce the launch of its new MobileHMI™ solutions for Microsoft Surface™ devices running Windows RT, Windows 8 Phones, Apple iPads and iPhones and Android™ devices.

Users can visualize electrical generation and grid operations from any mobile device with dazzling, fully animated graphics or respond to alarms and alerts in real time. They can utilize natural multi-touch gestures to swipe through their utility assets and zoom or drill down into equipment to see all relevant information to support their maintenance tasks. ICONICS MobileHMI allows users to achieve instant, one-touch access to operational KPIs. The new Search charm allows users to explore and identify all available information on topics of interest. With MobileHMI, users are made immediately aware of critical alerts (notifications) that are delivered to mobile devices and displayed on the Start screen via MobileHMI Smart Tiles.

“ICONICS has proven that Windows 8 delivers the responsiveness and robustness needed for critical utility, process and discrete manufacturing applications," said John Richards, Senior Director of Windows App Marketing for Microsoft Corp. "Plant operators and supervisors no longer need to be tethered to the control room, and corporate executives are now virtually a touch away from real-time operations performance KPIs, independent of their travel schedules."

MobileHMI apps are fully secure and communicate with ICONICS products such as GENESIS64™, AnalytiX®, Hyper Historian™ and others. This integration enables OPC, OPC-UA, BACnet, SNMP, and Modbus TCP/IP compliance, helping ensure that data from any plant, building, equipment or system is immediately viewable on your mobile device. ICONICS offers a total solution that can integrate with almost any plant control network or building automation system network to make it accessible from mobile devices.

"Our MobileHMI apps deliver rich visualization using HTML5 and Windows RT thin mobile technology" said ICONICS CEO and President Russ Agrusa. "Standard features, including dynamic real-time graphics, alarm notifications and extensive trending and charting, are now available on any device. ICONICS is proud to launch our MobileHMI app, via the Microsoft Marketplace, the Apple App Store and the Google Play™ store, to enable operations from AnyGlass, Anytime™.”

Siemens has signed 15-year contract extensions with RES Americas to continue providing service and maintenance at two wind projects in North America. Siemens will provide long-term service for the 26 SWT-2.3-93 wind turbines operating at RES Americas' Whirlwind Energy Center. Long-term service will also be provided by Siemens for the 72 SWT-2.3-93 units in operation at RES Americas' Hackberry Wind Farm. Both projects are located in Texas, U.S.A. This is Siemens' first wind service contract signed with a duration of 15 years in North America.

Siemens currently has an existing five-year agreement with RES Americas for both sites. Under the new agreements, Siemens will provide 15 additional years of service, maintenance, and warranty along with an availability guarantee. The extensions will help both projects perform at high levels of efficiency and availability for years to come, and most notably, over the entire estimated 20-year lifecycle of the units. Siemens' advanced remote monitoring and diagnostics are included along with the company's Advanced Grid Performance (AGP) upgrade at both sites. Siemens' AGP upgrade comprises a series of tailored solutions that enable the wind park operator to comply with constantly evolving grid requirements.

With a combined output of approximately 226 megawatts (MW), the Whirlwind and Hackberry wind projects, located in West Texas, produce enough electricity to power an estimated 68,000 Texas households annually.

The two main technologies used today when designing combustible gas safety monitoring systems are infrared gas detection and catalytic bead gas detection. Both technologies reliably detect gas at or below the lower explosive limit (0-100% LEL). Each one of these sensing technologies has specific advantages, depending on your application. A thorough analysis of your application’s unique field environment is needed to ensure optimal performance, safety, reliability, and cost-effectiveness. A quick decision, of course, can lead to poor detector choices as well as safety, performance, maintenance, and life-cycle cost consequences.

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Advantech (2395.TW), a global embedded computing leader providing embedded platform solutions across multiple vertical markets, today launched a pair of server chassis, the 4U HPC-7442 and 2U HPC-7242, featuring new industrial designs that represent a breakthrough from the traditional line of industrial PCs. They provide users with intelligent, high-performance operating platforms that can serve as NVR and DVR servers for video surveillance applications and SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) servers for applications in factory automation, BEMS and so on, all apps with high storage demands.

Features:

• Supports EATX/ATX motherboard in 4U rackmount/tower chassis
• Shock-resistant disk drive bay holds four mobile 3.5" and 2.5" SAS/SATA disk trays, one slim optical disk drive, and one 3.5" internal drive
• With installation of optional storage upgrade kit, eight mobile HDD trays provide high storage capacity
• Supports 80plus single and redundant power supply
• Easy-maintenance, front-accessible system fan
• LED indicators and audiblealarm notification for system fault detection
• Smart fan speed control for system fans
• Remote management (with new alarm board + SUSIAccess)

These PCs will be available from late May to June, 2013. For details visit Advantech

The HI 6300 series of weight processors are engineered to provide accurate, stable and repeatable weight, while striking the optimum balance between price and application flexibility.

The HI 6300 series can be used as a standalone weight processor or as the front-end to a weight-based control system. The instrument reads, conditions, and digitizes load cell and strain gauge signals commonly found in process weighing applications, including inventory management, batching, blending, filling, dispensing, and check weighing. With a robust, ultra-low profile design, it is an ideal solution for applications where fast, precise weight-based controls are critical functions of a process.

For maximum visibility and usability, the HI 6300 series features a rugged high contrast display with a 140 degree viewing angle for easy reading. This high-definition display allows for discrete status messaging with no need to check a manual for error codes or instructions. Designed for use worldwide, the HI 6300 series supports messaging in a variety of languages.

The HI 6310 features a multi-channel display can show the weight readings of up to four instruments on one panel simultaneously! Since One display can serve as an easy-to-use scale interface for each of the connected instruments, you can save money, save space, and save time!

The HI 6310 includes Hardy's service-minimizing and time-saving features:

• C2/eCAL - automatic calibration where load cell data is stored on a microchip within the load cell and can be retrieved with the push of a button - NO NEED FOR TEST WEIGHTS!
• Integrated Technician (IT), trouble shoot a weighing system from the instrument display and eliminate the need open junction boxes, disconnect load cells, and input test signals.
• Webserver - connect your laptop and use the built-in webserver to monitor, configure or troubleshoot. Monitor your instruments from anywhere in the world on the Internet!

To learn more about the HI 6310, please visit product microsite