Volumes & issues:
Volume 15, Issue 5
October 2004
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- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 15, Issue 5, page: 2 –2
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20040510
- Type: Article
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- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 15, Issue 5, p. 4 –5
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20040511
- Type: Article
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- Author(s): A. Bond
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 15, Issue 5, p. 6 –7
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20040501
- Type: Article
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Industrial automation is increasingly reliant on technologies developed for other, very much larger markets. While such technologies can bring immense benefits, their adoption is not cost free. Many automation software vendors have warned their users to delay the installation of Microsoft's SP2. All of which added up to another example of how the use of commercial off the shelf (COTS) technology in industrial applications can have its drawbacks as well as its very clear advantages. Those advantages are of course primarily to do with cost. - Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 15, Issue 5, page: 8 –8
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20040512
- Type: Article
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(2 pages) - Author(s): L. Reynolds
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 15, Issue 5, page: 11 –11
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20040502
- Type: Article
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The IEE conference `Developments in Control Systems in the Water Industry' is in its third year and is becoming recognised as the main networking event for the industry, an opportunity for water company specialist staff involved in delivering control system solutions to meet each other and the leading suppliers and consultants within the industry. Control systems technology is critical to enable the businesses to achieve opex and capex efficiencies. At long last, telemetry and SCADA are beginning to be seen as critical business tools rather than a costly necessary evil. Keynote speaker Ian Elliot, Engineering Director of Severn Trent Water, presents an overview of how his business is thinking about the strategic options. One of the big topics in the industry at present is standardisation. - Author(s): G. Hughes
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 15, Issue 5, p. 12 –18
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20040503
- Type: Article
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Mechanical and electrical systems have developed into more complex interdependencies that, by their nature, require more sophisticated control systems. Industrial computer-based processors, such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs), have been developed to perform control functions and provide the operator with visual information to allow him to operate and control the plant. The PLCs first used by United Utilities had limited functionality and display capability. Nowadays the equipment used typically comprises several networked PLCs and colour human machine interfaces (HMIs) offering both graphical and tabular displays. Connection of the telemetry outstation to the plant control and monitoring system is commonly via the PLC network. The outstation accesses data tables within the PLC memory to avoid the need for costly telemetry I/O and its associated wiring. - Author(s): D. Barritt
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 15, Issue 5, p. 19 –23
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20040504
- Type: Article
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Motor control centres have for many years been built using hard wired relays, timers and contactors but the drive to reduce cost has led to the development of the `intelligent' MCC based on programmable digital electronics and fieldbus communications. We use the abbreviation `μMCC' to indicate the underlying technology and reduced size. Wessex water is currently implementing its second generation of these panels. All routine operator interaction with the MCC is via a human machine interface (HMI) mounted on the common control section of the panel. - Author(s): I. Alexander and N. Maiden
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 15, Issue 5, p. 24 –29
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20040505
- Type: Article
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The requirements process, intended to solve `the software crisis' and equivalent challenges in systems engineering, has traditionally focused on documenting `shall' statements as discrete individual elements. These proved hard to write and to interpret; hard to make complete and correct; but uncomfortably easy to make ambiguous and unstable given the extended life of many industrial contracts. Scenarios, along with related structures such as goals and viewpoints, are often the best remedies for these ills. We have spent part of our time over the last two years editing and contributing to a multiauthor book about scenarios, to try to bring some of the benefits of research and industrial good practice to a wider audience. The basic idea of a scenario is a story, told from the point of view of one or several people who want to achieve a given result in the world. The most elaborate ways of describing scenarios include use case models, flow charts (e.g. UML's activity diagrams, with or without swimlanes), and message sequence diagrams. - Author(s): K. Voosen
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 15, Issue 5, p. 30 –31
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20040506
- Type: Article
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Machine vision systems, whether running embedded or on a desktop PC, are becoming more powerful as the hardware components that comprise them increase in performance. This has allowed for more complex algorithms to be developed that can learn, see, identify, and guide. Learning algorithms for machine vision are essential for many of the applications that require inspection and guidance. These algorithms typically require some type of learning step before the actual inspection can take place. Some of the algorithms that fall into this category include pattern matching, geometric matching, colour matching, colour pattern matching, classification and optical character recognition (OCR). Many industries rely on these algorithms to speed-up manufacturing, increase yields, and improve quality. - Author(s): M. Matheson
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 15, Issue 5, p. 32 –38
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20040507
- Type: Article
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Motion control networks must ensure synchronous and real-time updates across multiple axes. While Ethernet offers adequate performance for general purpose applications that use distributed control, it is generally too slow for more demanding situations. In these cases a fast synchronous network is required to connect a centralised motion processor to multiple servo axes. SynqNet was designed specifically to support high performance centralised control systems, and offers additional benefits including self-healing fault tolerance operation, simple discovery-based configuration, and high noise immunity. It is supported by multiple drive vendors delivering a wide array of cost competitive products. - Author(s): M. Babb
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 15, Issue 5, page: 39 –39
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20040508
- Type: Article
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A German manufacturer is working to produce what may be considered the ultimate in automation miniaturisation: a complete programmable controller cast in silicon. Its maker says that it will not only be the world's smallest, but also the fastest. VIPA is one company keenly interested in producing high-speed PLCs. In 1997 VIPA formed its ASIC design centre and a new subsidiary called Profichip and began working on Profibus interface chips and other devices, such as ASICs that consolidated much of the functionality of a PLC. Proflchip's next step in PLC evolution is to merge all the functions on its CPU 517 Slot into one piece of silicon, which it calls the PLC 7100. This is the real single chip PLC. - Author(s): S. Whitehead
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 15, Issue 5, p. 40 –46
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20040509
- Type: Article
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Successful adoption of machine-to-machine (M2M) technology requires a strategic approach to ensure that the technical solution is balanced with the business case to demonstrate an early return on investment. Simple solutions work best where the technology can be proven quickly and the benefits easily understood. There are many challenges in the successful adoption of machine-to-machine (M2M) technology. M2M is a modern term associated with the automated connectivity of remote machines with central management IT systems. Whilst IT systems conform to open standards that ease interoperability this is largely not the case when communicating with machines. In this article we provide an understanding of M2M, discuss the fundamental issues, and propose a strategic approach from early development to successful deployment of a resilient M2M solution. - Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 15, Issue 5, page: 47 –47
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20040513
- Type: Article
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- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 15, Issue 5, page: 48 –48
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20040514
- Type: Article
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Editor's letter
Letters
My view [COTS is an anagram of cost]
News
Developments in control systems in the water industry
Standardising control systems for the water industry
Big savings with 'micro' motor control centres
Scenarios, stories, and use cases: the modern basis for system development
Machine vision algorithms that learn
SynqNet: high performance motion control based on Ethernet
A complete PLC on a chip? it's not far away
Adopting wireless machine-to-machine technology
New products
Calendar
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