Spread Spectrum Radio for RTU

Internet Protocol and spread spectrum radios come together for remote terminal applications. Semaphore, a Nashua, N.H. subsidiary of Singapore-based CSE Global has introduced an integral, spread spectrum radio option for its T-BOX LT compact remote terminal unit(RTU)and SCADA system. The product is said to be ideal for decentralized applications where its push and Web technologies enable high performance, economical implementation and operation.  The spread spectrum radio cost effectively extends license-free communications to T-BOX LT applications in areas lacking cellular or land line telephone coverage.

The T-BOX product family is said to be the first Internet Protocol (IP)-based telemetry solution that enables complete integration of SCADA, control, and communications functionality in one rugged package. The LT model is cost effective for installations requiring up to 32 I/O points. The product family incorporates full Web server technology with SMS reporting and remote control to provide real-time access through a standard Web browser. Operators can receive alarms and communicate with their sites remotely using a mobile device such as a cell phone, laptop or PDA.  Automatic alarm escalation allows key maintenance personnel to receive any unacknowledged alarms.

-Gary Mintchell

Motion Control Ethernet Module

Ethernet is fast becoming the network of choice for automation professionals–even for motion control and networking. Ethernet for the factory floor comes in a variety of “flavors”–one being Ethernet Powerlink. Baldor Electric Co. has launched a new plug-in motion/machine control module for its Ethernet Powerlink drives. The new controller module allows machine builders to eliminate the need for a separate external network controller, along with all of the cabling and panel space that would normally be required.

The new Mint Machine Module plugs into a hardware expansion slot in any of Baldor’s MotiFlex range of Powerlink-compatible three-phase AC motor drives. Two variations of the card are offered: a dual-axis version that will control the host Powerlink drive plus another external drive via a conventional analog interface, or a high-speed version that will also act as a Powerlink network controller to manage a complete multi-axis control system. Both options are compatible with Baldor’s powerful Mint motion language, with its rich development support.

Two further expansion card slots on MotiFlex drives also allow a system to be configured with any of a comprehensive range of fieldbus interfaces including Profibus DP, DeviceNet, EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP, and CC-Link – to act as a gateway to PLCs, plus further I/O including encoder or resolver interfaces for dual loop feedback. The encoder option can, alternatively, be employed as a line shaft encoder for electronic geared motion applications.

Baldor’s Powerlink hardware comes with a machine control development environment called Mint. Mint provides a high level control language that is similar in style to BASIC, but with advanced structured programming features, multitasking support, and a library of high-level ‘keywords’ that provide ready-to-use software for common motion control (and machine control) functions. The Mint language can be used to create a standalone system. Alternatively, developers have the option of developing motion control programs on a host PC and transferring movement  and I/O commands to the motion subsystem. Windows support is provided using the ActiveX protocol.

LCD Touchpad for Flow Computers

-Gary Mintchell

Improving operator productivity is sure to be a strategic imperative in process plants this year. Emerson Process Management has introduced a panel-mounted LCD Touchpad interface for its FloBoss Flow Manager family of natural gas and liquid flow computers that speed up information retrieval, configuration, tuning, and troubleshooting. The LCD Touchpad is transreflective for high visibility even in bright sunlight and is backlit for night viewing. It is currently available for the new FloBoss 107 Flow Manager.

The LCD Touchpad is weather resistant and mounts directly to the front of the FloBoss 107’s environmental enclosure. It gives users the flexibility to view and enter configuration and operating parameters and perform diagnostics without the need for an external local operator interface, such as a laptop. Users can browse through lists or screens and enter numeric values by simply touching the screen. Access is controlled by personal identification numbers and security levels that are assigned in ROCLINK 800.

Operators can detect and troubleshoot integrity and alarm conditions when using the LCD Touchpad. This is the first product of its kind to provide device-guided diagnostics to assist operators in troubleshooting and problem solving. The first notice of a problem is a red alarm LED located on the unit’s bezel that illuminates whenever an alarm or integrity condition occurs. Simultaneously, a flashing asterisk (*) on the main screen identifies the next screen to access. The flashing asterisk continues on each successive screen until the exact integrity or alarm problem is identified.

Gas Leak Detector

OptoAcoustic gas detection determines gas content via the measurement of acoustic pressure waves that are propagated as a gas is irradiated under an appropriately tuned light. A gaseous mixture sample passes through a membrane into a measurement cell, which contains an optical light source and a microphone. Incident light modulated at a specific frequency is briefly absorbed as intermolecular energy by the gas molecules and then released as translational energy, creating periodic temperature and pressure changes that generate measurable acoustic pulses.

Carthago’s OptoAcoustic Gas Sensor GLD-OA-01 (Patent US 7,213,444 B2) is comprised of two separate and identical cells that act interchangeably either as the primary gas-measurement cell or as a secondary compensation cell. This dual-cell design eliminates the need for calibration, making the sensor operational 60 seconds after being connected to a power source, as well as minimizing the potential for false positives or missed leaks. The secondary cell is also used as a redundancy measure – the company says it is the industry’s first redundant gas sensor with active sensing element plus backup sensing element – in the event of primary cell failure. Embedded with compensation algorithms that provide immunity from up to 95% humidity and temperatures under 150°F, the device is capable of continuously monitoring combustible gas leaks in a measurement range of 0–100% of the Lower Explosion Limit.

The gas sensor has been engineered to sustain harsh industrial conditions where they withstand vibration, temperature, and humidity extremes. The sensor requires less frequent maintenance due essentially to its self-diagnostics and false alarm rejection algorithms. As its design includes no materials that are consumed during the detection process, the sensor promises an extended and consistently accurate lifetime of up to 15 years.

In addition to the already available hydrocarbon version and a CO2 version with a concentration range of up to 50,000 ppm, the firm plans to release units for HCl, NH3 and H2S within the next 1–2 years.

Remote home monitoring

Posted by Gary Mintchell

Two Pakastani brothers, Aurangzeb and Zohaib Mufti, have designed a system that allows you to run electonic appliances and security systems at your home while you are traveling. There is a PC with custom software at your home and you can access remotely via a mobile phone with GPRS technology.

This project was their thesis at the Karachi campus of the Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology, and it won first prize in the All Karachi Programming Competition and Project Exhibition. The system enables users to monitor any unusual activity. Suspicious movement detected by the system will activate a loud alarm notifying neighbors and also send a signal to the user. The user can also log on to the Web site and watch live videos of the premises as well as capture pictures. Past activity can be tracked and logged. Users also have control over their electrical appliances, curtains, doors and lights.

They have no Web site yet, but I correspondended with them via email. If interested, let me know.

Video Historian

Posted by Gary Mintchell

Adding live video to operator’s consoles in HMI/SCADA systems for security or operations purposes is starting to gain some traction. Honeywell Process Solutions, leveraging technology from other Honeywell divisions, has done this for a few years.

Now, Longwatch, a Boston-area video technology startup, has launched Video Historian. This module can be added to a Longwatch Video Surveillance System via download. It enables users to acquire and store video clips linked with process and manufacturing variables such as time of day, camera number, batch step, machine ID and other tags.

The company states the resulting video archives document procedures in batch applications, provide visual proof of regulatory compliance, monitor machinery, observe operator actions to help improve quality, reduce downtime and avoid losses.

The video historian interfaces with “almost all” HMI/SCADA systems. Commands to archive video data can be entered into an ISA88 batch recipe using OPC commands or other scripts.

Longwatch’s unique point is the ability to send video from remote locations over low-speed networking.

Adobe releases Suite

Adobe has released Creative Suite 4. The intent of this product family is to “bring down the wall between designers and developers.” The new release includes new levels of integration for Flash technology. The products are Creative Suite 4 Design edition, Web edition, Production Premium, Master Collection and more.

Design Premium for creating and producing design for print, Web, interactive and mobile media includes new versions of InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash Professional, Dreamweaver, Acrobat 9 Pro, and the newly integrated Fireworks CS4 for prototyping Websites and applications.

Production Premium, for developing video, audio and interactive media, includes integration of After Effects Professional, Premiere Pro, Encore, Photoshop CS4 Extended, Illustrator, Flash CS4 Professional, Soundbooth, OnLocation—now natively supporting Intel-based Macs.

Power over Ethernet

Power over Ethernet (PoE) is gradually gaining some ground. I did a podcast interview on the subject last September.

Now, the EtherCat Technology Group has a Power over EtherCat enhancement. This specification uses IEEE 802.3af PoE functionality and can be implemented with commercially available chips. Power over EtherCat is said to be ideal for encoders or linear position sensors, which can now be designed to connect to EtherCat and be powered using a single, standard Ethernet cable.

The new specification was finalized at the recent fall meeting of the ETG Technical Committees, which took place near Frankfurt, Germany. Stub lines and star topology together with line, tree and redundant ring have always been among the EtherCat topology options. This flexibility is now enhanced with the possibility to design EtherCat devices with just one connector each that are powered over the data line.

The Power over Ethernet standard IEEE802.3af supports up to 13 Watts per device. For EtherCat slave devices, the ETG specifies mode A of the standard, which only needs four wires: standard Industrial Ethernet connectors such as the 4-pin M12 can still be used. Devices powered by a separate line can be connected to Power over EtherCat breakouts without problems. It is also possible to enhance the spec towards the future high power IEEE802.3at standard (PoE Plus or High Power PoE) because this is downwards compatible.

EtherCat Cabling

EtherCat is an Ethernet-based industrial fieldbus optimized for motion applications. It seems to be gaining some traction lately. Beckhoff is the “champion” of this network, and it recently released two new modules for fiber-optic cabling — the EK1501 EtherCat Coupler and EK1521 junction terminal. Fiber optic cabling allows long distance connection up to 2 km (1.24 miles).

The EtherCat I/O Terminal system supports all common wiring topology methodologies: line, ring, tree and star. Using standard Ethernet cabling (100BASE-TX), the maximum distance between two EtherCat I/O stations is 100 m (328 feet).

wireless instrumentation

(I think the company has quietly changed its name.) Cypress Envirosystems, a subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. announced it has partnered with Honeywell to create a OneWireless version of Cypress Envirosystems’ Wireless Gauge Reader. Based on technology from Cypress Semiconductor Corp., the patent-pending technology will be manufactured by Cypress Envirosystems to Honeywell’s specifications.

All process industry plants have hundreds or thousands of dial gauges measuring pressure, temperature, flow or other parameters that must be manually read by operators or technicians. The Wireless Gauge Reader simply clips on to the front face of an existing gauge and in minutes enables the data to be integrated with the plant distributed control system for equipment health monitoring, inventory management and other applications. It does not require removing old gauges, breaking pressure seals, performing leak checks, running wires or interrupting the underlying process.

“The Wireless Gauge Reader is a great example of easy to install sensors which deliver information to optimize operation, maintenance and reliability of plant assets,” said Harsh Chitale, vice president of strategy and global marketing for Honeywell Process Solutions. “We see a significant need for these types of technologies in our installed customer base.”

“Honeywell’s leadership in industrial wireless and its focus on helping plants improve operations makes them an ideal partner for Cypress Envirosystems,” said Harry Sim, CEO of Cypress Envirosystems. “Cypress Envirosystems will continue to introduce solutions that bring the latest technology to older plants and to look for strategic alliances that increase our market penetration.”