Control System World

Wireless Point-to-Point Ethernet Extender Kit  extends Ethernet links between buildings wirelessly and with ease. No laying cable!

The Wireless Point-to-Point Ethernet Extender Kit gives you a quick way to extend an Ethernet link between buildings. Because it’s wireless, you avoid the hassle and expense of laying cable. You get a 40-Mbps wireless link up to 3 miles away—and that’s enough bandwidth to support several workstations—with lower speeds at longer distances of up to about 6 miles (9.6 km). The kit comes with two wireless extender units synchronized to work together. Mount each on a building within line of sight of each other. The extenders are waterproof, weatherproof, and compact—about the size of a bottle of water. They blend unobtrusively into building architecture without large, unsightly antennas.

What’s more, the kit’s extender units don’t require a nearby power outlet because they receive their power through the Ethernet cable via a 12-VDC power injector included with each extender unit.

The extender units also offer easy setup. An LED indicator shows when the extenders are properly aligned and receiving a strong signal.

Product Highlights

• For affordable, point-to-point wireless Ethernet extension up to 6.2 miles (10 km).
• Simple to install and configure—extenders are pre-synchronized to work with each other.
• Tough waterproof enclosure for outdoor use.

Further Details

• Features 802.11n wireless for fast throughput—40 Mbps at up to 3.1 miles (5 km).
• LED indicator simplifies configuration and alignment.
• Easy to manage through a Web-based interface.
• Features an 8-dBi internal antenna or can used with an external antenna.
• Extenders also work as access points or customer premises equipment (CPE) devices. For more information, contact our FREE Tech Support.
• Powered through the Ethernet cable—no outdoor power outlet needed.
• Kit includes PoE injectors and pole-mounting rings.
• 10-/100-Mbps Ethernet port with MDI/MDI-X.

For details on this product click 'BlackBox Wireless Point-to-Point Ethernet Extender Kit'

Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) announced today that the company was awarded a new project by Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden). Fluor’s scope of work is to provide project management consulting (PMC) services related to the development of the Umm Wu’al greenfield phosphate project and related facilities in northern Saudi Arabia. Fluor will book approximately $200 million related to the contract in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The project kick-off was commemorated at a contract signing ceremony held on December 1 in Saudi Arabia where Ma’aden representatives, local dignitaries and Fluor senior executives were present including Chairman & Chief Executive Officer David Seaton.

Fluor’s scopes of work on the Umm Wu’al project will include the following areas:

• provide overall PMC services for the development of the Umm Wu’al phosphate project;
• supervise and manage the feasibility study including the development of basic design packages which is undertaken by FEED contractor;
• manage the development, strategy, and tendering of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) packages; and
• manage and supervise all EPC contractors during EPC stage until project turnover closeout.

“The Middle East has always been an important market for Fluor and we are delighted that our relationship with Ma'aden is expanding with the award of this significant project. We are honored that our client in Saudi Arabia recognizes the value that Fluor brings to a complex project like Umm Wu’al,” said Rick Koumouris, Fluor’s business line lead for Mining & Metals. "We will look forward to working closely with our client and bringing to bear all of the tools in our arsenal - especially our world class safety culture and rigorous processes and procedures - to secure the success of this project.”

Fluor will execute the Umm Wu’al project from its offices in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia with support from other global Fluor locations. The company has set a goal of at least 20 percent local Saudi labor content on the project beginning in year one. Once completed, the Umm Wu’al project will have an annual capacity of 100,000 metric tons per annum (MTPA) of food grade purified phosphoric acid; 90,000 MTPA of industrial grade sodium tripoly phosphate; 250,000 MTPA of animal feed grade dicalum phosphate/monocalcium phosphate; along with 280,000,000 MTPA of phosphate and compound fertilizers. The project will likely leverage much of the existing infrastructure including port, rail and other developments put in place by the Saudi Arabia Government.

ICONICS continues to make the most advanced technology options available to its customers. ICONICS demonstrates the ability to create virtual operation surfaces, to operate with natural gestures, and to execute actions with voice commands, all utilizing the latest version of Microsoft Kinect™.

Virtual Surfaces

Now, any surface, such as a control room wall, a conference room table, or even empty space on an equipment panel, can be utilized as a multi-touch interface. Simply point the Kinect device, parallel to the surface, and ICONICS GENESIS64™ HMI/SCADA software will interpret finger movements within the virtual plane as one or more touch points (for selection), or gestures such as swipes (to move through graphics or menus) or pinches (for zooming in and out). This technology enables control by operators with gloved hands and reduces equipment costs when compared to industrialized touchscreen technology

Natural Skeletal Movements

Utilizing the ability of Kinect to recognize the positioning and movement of the human skeleton, ICONICS GENESIS64 is now able to extend input options for the Human Machine Interface to include natural movements and actions. Plant control room operators can now command action on a video wall by looking at (with recognition of face/head position) and pointing to (for selection) large screen monitors. Operators in a manufacturing cell can stop their machinery by raising their hand with an open palm. The ability to interpret skeletal positions removes the restriction that the human interaction must occur in front of a computer screen.

Voice Recognition.

Further expanding the options for the manufacturing automation designer, ICONICS is demonstrating fully configurable voice command operation. Voice recognition has existed in industrial applications for many years, but recent advances in both recognition and noise cancellation, developed for devices such as Kinect and consumer interfaces such as Microsoft Bing®, have made voice operation realizable for industrial applications. Operators are able to change views by calling out the graphic name, pan through information by simply saying “Right” or “Down” or, in the manufacturing cell, display current temperatures by simply asking for “Temperatures”.

To download the full PDF of the Press Release, Click HERE.

Non-contact safety switches by AutomationDirect are interlocking devices that are designed to protect both people and machines. They are preferred in certain applications where no physical contact (under normal conditions) takes place between the switch and actuator.

• Available in industry standard style plastic and stainless steel housings
• Styles: Non-contact magnetic and non-contact coded magnetic
• Wide (>10mm) sensing distance
• High tolerance to misalignment after sensing
• Enclosure protections: IP67, IP69K
• All Models: cULus, RoHS, CE approvals

Non-Contact Coded Magnetic Safety Switches:

Coded non-contact safety switches use coded magnets to close the circuits, thereby offering even more protection. The safety switch and actuator work together in such a way that the enable condition from the safety device is only triggered if the actuating element is within the switch's response range and the code on the actuator matches that of the switch.

Non-Contact Magnetic Safety Switches

These are simple magnetic reed switches and are designed to conform to IEC 60947-5-3 and be used as directed by EN1088, EN ISO12100 and EN 60204-1.

Product Website

Rockwell Automation introduces the Connected Components Accelerator Toolkit (CCAT), a bundled, one-stop solution that simplifies and expedites complete, cost-effective, small-machine control design and implementation. The CCAT combines a simple, yet powerful controller with a full suite of compatible components and class-leading application development tools that enable OEMs to focus engineering and development resources on creating compelling and differentiating machine features.

The CCAT speeds the basic, common design functions that every machine design requires. By providing this functionality, the CCAT allows the OEMs to invest their design work in developing better, more competitive machines. The CCAT’s pre-configured Building Blocks include automation engineering design tools for comprehensive control application development from layout and component selection to troubleshooting. For example:

• Quick Starts provide information to use the CCAT and set up individual components.
• Selection tools and example bills of material streamline component and accessory selection.
• Wiring diagrams and panel layout drawings, in native AutoCAD Electrical and EPLAN formats, save weeks of design effort.
• Controller programming handles all communications, commands and status updates.
• Common application starting system examples jump-start control design.
• Sample human-machine interface (HMI) screens provide a superior operator interface, plus diagnostics, alarming and start-up assistance.

For more information:

• Connected Components Accelerator Toolkit: http://www.rockwellautomation.com/components/connected/ccat.html
• Connected Components Workbench software: http://ab.rockwellautomation.com/Programmable-Controllers/Connected-Components-Workbench-Software
• Connected Components Accelerator Toolkit diagram: http://flic.kr/p/drtVpY

The Amplicon Impact-E 100 is a compact light weight embedded PC powered by the Intel® N2800 ATOM™ processor. Being of a compact design and weighing in at less than 2kg, this unit is ideal for installations where space is at a premium. With a typical power draw of 10W this embedded system lends itself well to being powered by either a battery or solar panel in remote installations.

This compact system allows expansion for additional solid state, mSATA or hard drives, with optional expansion for Wi-Fi and cellular modules. This embedded PC system is suited to applications in various markets such as transportation, security and automation.

The International Society of Automation (ISA) announces that it has produced a new book that explains the concepts and terminology of advanced control, and highlights the advanced control tools and techniques most widely and effectively applied in the process industry today.

Advanced Control Foundation: Tools, Techniques, and Applications by Terrence L. “Terry” Blevins, Willy K. Wojsznis and Mark Nixon is designed to help control engineers and process engineers gain a more thorough understanding of the concepts and capabilities of advanced control products and solutions, which have been proven to reduce variation in plant operation, achieve production targets and improve plant production.

“The book is ideally suited to process and control engineers who have a sound understanding of conventional control techniques but have little or no background on advanced control,” says Blevins, who was instrumental in establishing Emerson Process Management’s Advanced Control Program and, along with his co-authors, has extensive experience in the design and startup of advanced control solutions. “It provides practical examples that allow readers to quickly become familiar with the advanced control techniques commonly utilized in the process industry today. In addition, the web site that accompanies the book (www.advancedcontrolfoundation.com) presents workshops on commercially available solutions that apply the advanced control concepts and techniques outlined in the book.”

Click to read the details and buy the ISA Book