CAD model review on the phone.

Engineers, reviewers, and suppliers explore CAD models, PMI, and metadata on a phone or tablet.

Tech Soft 3D, the provider of engineering software development toolkits and industrial applications, has released SpinFire Insight for Mobile, a free companion app to its SpinFire Insight desktop viewer, now available on iOS and Android. 

Design review without a desk.
Engineering teams reviewing 3D models are typically tied to a workstation. Suppliers, quality staff, and project managers who need to check a design, confirm manufacturing information, or answer a question about a part often have to wait until someone with desktop access is available. This slows down reviews and adds friction to communication across distributed teams.

The new SpinFire Insight for Mobile gives teams the benefits of 3D CAD visualization wherever they may be. The app opens standard 3D formats, including STEP, IGES, and PRC, along with publishing formats 3D PDF and U3D, and reads ACT3D files created in the desktop version of SpinFire Insight. Users can navigate models with touch controls, apply standard views, switch between rendering modes, inspect part metadata, and access CAD views and PMI (Product Manufacturing Information) directly from a phone or tablet.

"Engineering data has always lived on a computer, but the questions about it don't wait for someone to sit down at a workstation," said Lionel Vieilly, Senior Product Manager - Industrial Applications. "SpinFire Insight for Mobile puts that data in people's pockets, so a supplier, a reviewer, or a project manager can pull up a model, check a dimension, or confirm a manufacturing note the moment it comes up, not hours later. It’s a small shift with a big impact on team efficiency and speed "

Fitting into existing engineering workflows.
The app is designed for quick, on-the-go review rather than replacing desktop workflows. For advanced design review, measurement, markups, or major CAD formats such as CATIA, SOLIDWORKS, NX, Creo, and Inventor, SpinFire Insight for Desktop remains the primary tool. SpinFire Insight for Mobile is intended to sit alongside it, giving teams a way to check model data, respond to a question, or review PMI when they are away from their workstation, without requiring a full CAD license or desktop session.

By making CAD data accessible from a phone or tablet, SpinFire Insight for Mobile reduces the delay between a question being raised and a model being reviewed. Technical, suppliers, and non-technical stakeholders alike can inspect geometry, manufacturing information, and metadata wherever the work takes them, supporting faster communication and fewer bottlenecks in distributed engineering and manufacturing organisations.

The app is available now as a free download on the App Store for iOS and Google Play for Android.

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@TechSoft3D @UnnGmbh @pressebox #PAuto #Design

Phone & tablet in industry.

The Ex-Handy 10 Featurephone and the ATEX/IECEx Zone 1/21; Div. 1 version of the industrial tablet Tab-Ex 02 has been recently introduced by Pepperl+Fuchs.

The in-house developed Zone 1/21 certified 4G/LTE Featurephone Ex-Handy 10 with Android 8 operating system is the ideal enabler and companion for innovative industrial 4.0 applications in hazardous areas. The latest member of the ultra-robust Ex-Handy family, developed since 1994, enables the use of push-to-talk (PTT) solutions over 4G as well as private LTE and Wi-Fi networks. This ensures optimum network coverage in all areas and situations – with low network latency and excellent data transfer rates. Speakers positioned at the front of the mobile device provide optimal voice and sound quality – even in noisy environments.

Dedicated, easy-to-use side buttons – large PTT and red emergency button – allow quick access to PTT and alarm services via one-touch. In addition, the automatic, lone worker protection function can be implemented application-specifically and can (server-dependent) be integrated into the company's IT.

The high-resolution, brilliant display of the Ex-Handy 10 is protected by extremely resistant and scratchproof gorilla glass. It features protection class IP68 and withstands permissible ambient temperatures from -20 °C to +60 °C in harshest industrial environments. The feature phone offers maximum planning and investment security thanks to very long availability and support (5-year lifecycle) as well as global approvals (explosion-protection, country-specific product conformity and a wide variety of radio bands).

With the Android 8 operating system, continuous security updates via FOTA (Firmware Over the Air) and its own software development team, the Ex-Handy 10 is future-proof. In addition, its highly developed and powerful rechargeable battery paired with advanced energy management allows operating times above average. A consistent, compatible product ecosystem with its own 3.5 mm audio jack connector fixation concept and neues ecom Radio Speaker Microphone (RSM) as innovative PTT sets, scan applications and BLE beacons complete the offer.

The ATEX/IECEx Zone 1/21; Div. 1 version of the new industrial tablet Tab-Ex 02 is successor of the world's first explosion-proof Android tablet Tab-Ex 01. The Tab-Ex 02 combines highest performance with innovative applications such as augmented reality. Equipped with an Android 8 operating system, the Tab-Ex 02, based on the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active2, features a powerful Octa Core processor with 1.6 gigahertz and 3 gigabyte RAM.

It is ideally suited for industry 4.0-capable applications and simplifies data exchange with SCADA/DCS systems, merchandise management systems (SAP, IBM Maximo), project management systems and computer-aided system planning. The compact Tab-Ex 02 is the perfect and worldwide approved companion for various tasks, including inventory, material tracking, maintenance, supply chain and asset management up to a professional solution for lone worker protection.

@PepperlFuchs #PAuto #Safety #Ex

Make your smart phone a control tool!

Fluke’s FREE Connect™ app turns a smart phone into a useful Fluke tool without purchasing any equipment. It enables the user to securely share images and data and communicate in real time with other authorised personnel using the same app, without leaving the field. Measurement data can be entered manually. Work orders can be scheduled from a remote location and data can be stored safely and free in the Fluke Cloud™. The Fluke Connect app can be downloaded free from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.

The Fluke Connect app features ShareLive™ video call, allowing users to securely connect and collaborate with others. This enables other team members to see what the technician can see, so that work approvals at a remote location can be authorised without the technician leaving the field.

Fluke Cloud storage infrastructure has been built to be one of the most flexible and secure cloud computing environments available, built upon state-of-the-art security, including secure access, electronic surveillance, multi-factor access control systems, built-in firewalls, and encrypted data storage.

When used in conjunction with Fluke Connect enabled test tools, the Connect app can wirelessly capture measurement data from those tools, allowing technicians to then utilise all the functionality of the app. More than twenty Fluke tools connect wirelessly with the Connect app, including digital multimeters, thermal imagers, insulation testers, process meters, and specific voltage, current and temperature meters.

Technicians can AutoRecord™ measurements and infrared images to Fluke Cloud storage from wherever they are working, without writing anything down. Everyone on the team with a smart phone and the app can see the data. EquipmentLog™ history allows technicians to assign measurements to specific equipment, creating a cloud-based history of test measurement data for easy access during both troubleshooting and reliability maintenance. TrendIt™ enables technicians to instantly graph data, helping to identify trends and quickly make informed decisions.

Mobile radio control

Monitoring and controlling plants and machines worldwide by mobile radio

The Siemens Industry Automation Division is expanding its TeleService (remote maintenance/diagnostics) and Telecontrol ranges with three new products for remote access by mobile radio. The CP 1242-7 module adds a GSM/GPRS (Global System for Mobile Communications/General Packet Radio Service) networks interface to the Simatic S7-1200 controller. The Telecontrol Server Basic control center software can address up to 5,000 Simatic S7-1200 and Simatic S7-200 microcontrollers via the mobile radio network. The third innovation is the IE Basic TeleService Adapter with the TeleService GSM module for dial-up connections which facilitate the remote maintenance of a Simatic S7 by mobile radio. Remote access solutions from Siemens enable plants to be economically monitored, controlled and maintained from afar. The technology also facilitates communications from machine to machine (M2M).

The CP 1242-7 communications processor adds a GSM/GPRS interface to the Siemens S7-1200 controller. It enables plant operators to cost-effectively diagnose, maintain, monitor and control remote stations throughout the world via GPRS and Internet. All that is needed to run a CP 1242-7 is a mobile radio contract with a SIM card or a special M2M contract. In service, the system informs the personnel via SMS (short message service) of the status of the plant or of any faults that have occurred. The CP 1242-7 also opens up remote access via the Internet. Access is provided by a computer with Internet access and Step 7 V11 software. Another field of application is M2M communications, in which physically separated plants are directly connected with one another, and processes are coordinated.

The Telecontrol Server Basic control center software acts as an OPC server for the Simatic S7-200 and Simatic S7-1200 controllers linked via the radio network. This enables the data from up to 5,000 connected stations to be brought together and made available via an OPC interface to HMI systems (human machine interface) or SCADA systems (supervisory control and data acquisition). Application examples are the continuous data exchange and central monitoring of widely branched infrastructure facilities, such as water supply and waste water systems. One system integrator can operate an OPC server for several customers.

The third innovation from Siemens in the field of remote access is the IE Basic TeleService Adapter. It can be fitted, among other things, with a Teleservice GSM module, which enables wireless access via a GSM dial-up connection to a Simatic S7 or to another subscriber with an Ethernet interface.

Mobile radio communications are becoming ever more important for remote access applications because it is not only more flexible than cable-connected systems but also frequently less expensive. The worldwide GSM network provides the basis for various data transfer services in the field of industrial automation. With CSD (circuit switched data), the data is transferred by setting up a dial-up connection via the mobile radio network. With SMS, messages are sent to personnel in the form of short text messages. GPRS enables mobile Internet connections to be set up for data transfer. With the previously available products, such as quadband mobile radio modems, and the newly introduced components, Siemens offers industry a wide range of solutions for Teleservice und Telecontrol via the mobile radio network.

Level switches and Transmitters by phone!

K-TEK, part of ABB, has launced a mobile edition of the company's ecommerce site for level measurement products. The new site, located at http://buy.ktekonline.com, allows industrial end users and sales representatives to purchase off-the-shelf K-TEK products. The site is designed for quick and easy browsing and purchasing of products using smartphones.
"Mobile phones have changed the way we communicate, personally and professionally," said Kevin Hambrice, Director of Marketing and Customer Service at K-TEK. "Mobile ecommerce removes infrastructure obstacles to purchasing. Customers can now buy whenever and wherever they have a need for a product. And shipment is within 24 hours if orders are placed by 2pm CST as all products listed are off-the-shelf."

K-TEK's mobile ecommerce site is organized by major product lines, including magnetic level gauge switches, magnetostrictive level transmitter modules and floats, guided wave radar modules, and laser level transmitters. The mobile site is optimized for the iPhone. Additional devices will be supported in the near future.

Mobile reports

Invensys teams with Sarla Analytics to deliver SaaS application that provides process and manufacturing reports to industrial workforce via smartphones.

Information on  iPad;  iPhone or Blackberry.

Invensys Operations Management has announced the availability of SmartGlance™, a new Software as a Service (SaaS) partner offering that delivers industrial and manufacturing intelligence data, archived in plant automation systems and data stores, to smartphones. The SmartGlance solution will be offered as part of an endorsed partner agreement the company has signed with Sarla Analytics, an innovative supplier of smartphone applications focused on business intelligence.

“Web-based reporting tools simply can’t match the speed, functionality or readability of Sarla’s SmartGlance reports,” said Rob McGreevy, vice president, platform and applications, Invensys Operations Management. “The great thing about SmartGlance is that it is a native phone app, not a web client, so you can use advanced touchscreen features on your smartphone to quickly access and scroll through the reports. Everyone has a smartphone these days. They are rapidly becoming an important, everyday tool that can be used to achieve productivity excellence. With SmartGlance, managers, engineers and operators can use them to view the most current process and equipment performance data as well.”

The new SaaS offering will be hosted at a secure SmartGlance data center that minimises the need for customers to have local IT support and maintenance. Invensys Operations Management will supply data connectors that enable data stored in its Wonderware® Historian and other products to be included in SmartGlance reports and analytics.

The native SmartGlance phone application takes full advantage of the many powerful display features of touchscreen-based smartphones. Interactive tabular reports, along with trends, bar charts and pie charts, can be manipulated easily, allowing extensive data drill down capabilities. Users can even issue or share reports with co-workers via e-mail, enhancing real-time collaboration and effectively adding enterprise control capability to smartphones. The reports are generated and sent to phones either on demand or automatically, and the robust Sarla SmartGlance application has three layers of security to keep important company data protected at all times

“Having timely data available anywhere at any time can accelerate decision making and improve plant performance,” said Snehal Shah, chief executive officer, Sarla Analytics. “We are very excited to partner with Invensys because  we share a vision for the mobile enterprise to drive operational excellence and enable the power of real-time response. Mobility lets you transcend distance and connectivity issues, create a virtual, personalised space for collaboration and empower users to make better, faster, smarter decisions anywhere, anytime.”

How to relax on the beach!

Full-scale vibration condition monitoring on a smartphone

Have you ever been lying on the beach and begun to wonder about the state of your LP turbines? Or maybe you’ve been out on business and anxious to know if that troublesome exciter bearing has settled down? Many people will be familiar with using their phone as a camera, music player, web browser, email client, calculator or even a navigation device, but not many will have anticipated using it for full scale vibration condition monitoring.

One of the many advantages of Prosig’s PROTOR Vibration Condition Monitoring System is it’s adherence to open standards and protocols. This means that it can easily take advantage of new technologies as they appear. Recently, Prosig undertook a study to examine the feasibility of using an Android based smartphone to remotely access one of its PROTOR systems monitoring a power station.

All PROTOR servers are configured to support VNC (Virtual Network Computing) access so connections can be made via any VNC client. By installing one of the free client apps available for Android it was a simple task to connect to the PROTOR server. This allows an engineer to access the full range of PROTOR diagnostic screens and access runup & rundown plots, mimic diagrams, trend plots, waterfall plots and all the other realtime and historic information available from the PROTOR system. Although an Android-based phone was used for this evaluation, similar VNC apps exist for the iPhone and other smartphones.

The monitoring and diagnosis of rotating equipment based on vibration analysis measurement is at the core of predictive maintenance systems. This type of system allows the condition and health of machines to be assessed. The PROTOR Vibration Monitoring System, designed and manufactured by PROSIG, provides reliable on-line monitoring of turbine generators, main boiler feed pumps and other auxiliary plant equipment. It provides both real-time and long-term historical access to the important vibration factors together with various plant process parameters which indicate the machine state.