Volumes & issues:
Volume 18, Issue 2
April 2007
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- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 18, Issue 2, page: 2 –2
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20070211
- Type: Article
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(4 pages) - Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 18, Issue 2, p. 8 –9
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20070212
- Type: Article
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- Author(s): W. Baxter
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 18, Issue 2, p. 10 –12
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20070201
- Type: Article
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Overcoming the barriers to successful implementation of electrical safety in manufacturing plants. Process industry managers responsible for safety in manufacturing plants have had their work cut out in recent years. Several factors have contributed to confusion across engineering disciplines on the necessary steps in ensuring manufacturing plants are as safe as they can possibly be. The paper describes the IEC 61508, an international standard that was developed with the express aim of providing a methodical approach to demonstrating the fitness for purpose of safety systems. As safety systems have become more complex, so the need has grown to provide confidence that they perform in the intended manner whenever they are called upon to do so. IEC 61508 provides a framework for all parties to work together to ensure that systems operate to the required level of integrity. However, the complexity that IEC 61508 was designed to address has led to the standard itself being complex and impenetrable to the uninitiated. - Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 18, Issue 2, page: 13 –13
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20070213
- Type: Article
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- Author(s): P. Costello
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 18, Issue 2, p. 14 –15
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20070202
- Type: Article
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In harsh manufacturing environment, the twin goals of minimising downtime and maximising productivity are vital for all companies. Not only is it necessary to maximise returns for shareholders, for many companies it is as simple as whether they stay in business or not. As part of this quest for improved productivity, OEMs and systems integrators are looking to push their machines and processes to ever-increasing speeds. In modern machinery applications (such as packaging, palletising or conveying), it would not be considered unusual to switch three-phase electric motors every second or so. Even under almost ideal operating conditions, and specifying high-quality products, the electrical life of an electromechanical contactor is typically exceeded in fewer than two million operations. At this point, the contactor would have to be replaced, resulting in lost production time and increased costs with respect to labour and replacement devices. The whole life cost, including machine downtime and repair, needs to be included in any calculations when it comes to making the decision between the solid state and the more traditional electro-mechanical contactor. - Author(s): S. Mustard
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 18, Issue 2, p. 16 –17
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20070203
- Type: Article
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One of the biggest shake-ups ever in telecommunications is just around the corner, with the combined issue of new systems and infrastructure appearing and old ones being phased out. The changes affect just about everyone, but the utility and process industries experience a paradigm shift in the way they manage data - both in terms of protocols and transportation. For many years, control and automation systems have relied upon widely available communications options such as UHF radio, PSTN, private wire and, more recently, GSM and GPRS to get data to and from remote sites. Field devices at these remote sites, on the other hand, have communicated with central supervisory systems using a range of proprietary protocols that automatically inhibits vendor interoperability. The availability of traditional communications methods has meant that users have no need to seek out alternatives and, even if they did, proprietary communications and highly specialised equipment would not necessarily yield any significant benefit. The difficulty in cost-effectively integrating some specialised systems means that highly manual and error prone business processes remain in use. The wide range of IT and communications standards available provides all that is needed to choose the right foundations. - Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 18, Issue 2, p. 18 –21
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20070204
- Type: Article
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While robots have moved from the realm of science fiction to a myriad of real-life uses, the potential of the 'hard-bodied' robots of the 21st century remains limited by their stiff construction and lack of flexibility. A group of researchers at Tufts University has launched a multidisciplinary initiative focused on the science and engineering of a new class of robots that are completely soft-bodied. These devices make possible advances in such far flung arenas as medicine and space exploration. The project brings together biology bioengineering and micro/nano fabrication. Our overall goal is to develop systems and devices "soft-bodied robots" based on biological materials and on the adaptive mechanisms found in living cells, tissues and whole organisms. These devices have direct applications in robotics, such as manufacturing, emergency search and retrieval, and repair and maintenance of equipment in space; in medical diagnosis and treatment, including endoscopy, remote surgery, and prostheses design; and in novel electronics such as soft circuits and power supplies. This distinction between biological and man-made objects is so pervasive that our evaluation of artificial or living structures is often made on the basis of the materials alone. - Author(s): T. Jones
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 18, Issue 2, p. 22 –25
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20070205
- Type: Article
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When Microsoft introduces a major new version of Windows, almost everyone who uses computers, whether for work or play, eventually need to understand how it affect them. The paper outlines how Vista impacts engineers and scientists, to help determine whether you should adopt the new technology. It also describes best practices for developing engineering and scientific applications based on Vista. One of the stated goals of the Windows Vista release is to improve the security of the Windows operating system. Instant search provides advanced tools for designing more specific searches. In Windows Vista, there is a new interface for interacting with the operating system .NET Framework 3.0 (formerly known as WinFX). Now based on Microsoft .NET technology this interface was completely redesigned to be easier to use and more consistent across all Windows Vista features. - Author(s): T. James
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 18, Issue 2, p. 26 –30
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20070206
- Type: Article
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Wireless technology, now the networking backbone in homes and offices worldwide, is about to see widespread adoption where it will have, perhaps, its most profound impact: on the plant floor and out in the field. The desire for new and improved business processes extends across all types of manufacturing. A major factor favouring greater deployment of wireless technologies in manufacturing is the ability of wireless applications to enable new and better ways of operating manufacturing plants, and process manufacturing stands to feel the greatest impact. Field operations within a process plant are a classic case of the need for more information that can only be delivered wirelessly. Historically, process manufacturing has not been able to use wireless on a broad scale, but new sensor networking and WLAN developments wifi soon change this, presenting a huge opportunity for manufacturers who can use wireless to gain visibility into hidden processes, assets, and activities. These now represent 'invisible' assets still not well integrated into the enterprise. - Author(s): A. Harris
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 18, Issue 2, p. 32 –35
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20070207
- Type: Article
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GM's Shanghai facility is designed from the ground up with a control system built from scratch. Not every facility has the luxury of designing a production control system from the ground up. The majority of automotive OEMs and suppliers have plants with legacy production and control systems that are upgraded piecemeal. Outmoded controllers running on proprietary networks mean that production control is often carried out in islands of automation rather than adopting a holistic view. So, when presented with the opportunity to build a control system from scratch, GE ensured that the system it implemented at its production facility in the Pudong area of Shanghai was as integrated as the market could offer. - Author(s): W. Huhn and M. Schaper
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 18, Issue 2, p. 36 –39
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20070208
- Type: Article
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The problems of embedded software are rooted in the legacies of hardware development. At companies that once focused on the mechanics of hardware, the primary challenge today is developing high-quality, reliable software to embed in these products. The focus and value in engineered products is shifting from chips to code. As the focus shifts, companies accustomed to managing the development of their hardware need to learn new processes and metrics for managing the development of software so that they can make the process more productive and the software more reliable. Automobiles make a good case study for demonstrating the challenges of this mounting complexity and the devising a road map to improve the quality and reliability of embedded software, which now drives most of the industry's innovations and accounts for a substantial and rising part of each new car's value. Embedded-software systems control a wide variety of automotive applications and handle a number of fundamentally different challenges, such as those of suspension control and satellite navigation all while exchanging information in real time. - Author(s): J. Rock
- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 18, Issue 2, p. 40 –42
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20070209
- Type: Article
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PC technology helps keep the eye on the ball when it comes to outside broadcasting. Technology based on the PC acts as the core of the outside broadcast van for high-definition television (HDTV). A compact industrial PC calculates the video signals' path through the complex controller system in next to no time, and thereby assures that the right camera image is always shown on the right monitor. The innovation cycles in PC technology are accelerating and new processors and operating systems have to be integrated into the systems in increasingly shorter intervals. - Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 18, Issue 2, p. 44 –45
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20070210
- Type: Article
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Fairmount minerals are one of the largest producers of industrial sand in the United States. Its Illinois-based subsidiary, Wedron Silica, producing high-purity round-grain silica sand. The Wedron facility's biggest producing segment is for the fracturing sand market. When Wedron Silica wanted to upgrade its Ethernet system it opted for a full industrial Ethernet redundancy ring that monitors and controls the entire mining facility. - Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 18, Issue 2, p. 46 –47
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20070214
- Type: Article
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- Source: Computing and Control Engineering, Volume 18, Issue 2, page: 48 –48
- DOI: 10.1049/cce:20070215
- Type: Article
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The simple act of closing one of your eyes gives you an almost instant appreciation of stereoscopic vision.
News
Letters to the Editor
Confusion over safety [electrical safety in manufacturing plants]
Editor's letter
The case for solid-state switching
Communications conundrum [telecommunication computing]
Enter the softbot [soft-bodied robots]
Vista vision [Microsoft Windows Vista]
World without wires [WLAN development]
Holistic approach to control [automotive industry]
Code and chips [automobile industry]
Walking on air [high-definition television]
Conquering control in a harsh environment [industrial sand mining]
Calendar
Final word: One more dimension
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