Oxygen analyser to reduce energy costs and help meet environmental regulations.

To improve energy efficiency and meet environmental regulatory requirements for small and midsize boiler markets, Emerson has introduced the Rosemount CX1100 in-situ oxygen analyser, the first high-performance, zirconia cell-based combustion control system designed for these users. The new system offers the ease of use, economy, and simplified maintenance they require for flue gas measurement. It features the same sensor reliability found in large industrial technology, but the system is built to the requirements of boilers used in such applications as food and beverage, manufacturing, commercial, and municipal.

With increasing environmental requirements, users of light industrial and commercial boilers are faced with escalating compliance demands that increase the need for measurement and control of the fuel-air ratio, which optimises energy efficiency and reduces emissions. Many small to midsize boiler users currently do not measure oxygen in combustion flue gas, leaving themselves open to regulatory as well as energy inefficiency problems. With the Rosemount CX1100, it is now economically feasible to bring high quality and repeatable zirconia technology to these markets.

“Midsize and small boiler users need a system that provides a high level of measurement reliability but justifying the costs and complexity of industrial combustion systems can be a challenge,” said Peter Lagerlof, vice president and general manager, liquid and combustion analysis products, Emerson Automation Solutions. “Our customers have requested a system that is right-sized for their needs – one that provides the performance they need without incorporating features the smaller end user doesn’t require.”

The lifespan of the sensor resulting from the zirconia sensing cell and the all-welded probe gives users and OEMs the quality and reliability they need. At the same time, the system offers an easy-replacement design that enables simplified post-warranty service. The combustion control system requires no reference gas, which keeps installation and maintenance costs low, a significant benefit for commercial and light industrial users with boilers that are sizes 10-100 MMBtu/h (3-30 MW).

With the addition of the Rosemount CX1100, Emerson now offers the full range of boiler combustion technology from smaller commercial boilers to high temperature, multi-measurement hazardous approval applications.

@EMR_Automation  #PAuto @Emerson_News @HHC_Lewis 

Test & Measurement leader relocates in vehicle testing facility.

HBM has relocated to Millbrook Proving Ground, (Bedford, GB), Europe’s leading facility for vehicle testing.

Bringing sales, marketing and product development together under one roof, the state of the art research facility also provides training facilities, which will enable HBM to provide even higher levels of customer service, whilst continuing to build on its leading position in test and measurement.

Millbrook is an ideal location, contained within a unique site with over 40 miles of varied test track, including hill routes, high speed areas and challenging off road courses, Millbrook has a range of test facilities for components and full vehicles. These include engine dynamometers, environmental chambers, crash laboratories, battery test facilities and advanced emissions chassis dynamometers.

Home to an increasing number of innovative companies who benefit from access to Millbrook’s testing facilities and expertise, HBM is delighted to be a part of the Britain’s vehicle technology cluster and looks forward to its continued growth and development plans.

@HBMmeasurement #TandM @millbrook_co_uk

Rugged, high resolution display.

A new 7.0-inch Rugged+ TFT display has been introduced by KOE. The TX18D212VM0BAA features WXGA (1280 x 768 pixels) resolution, a 5:3 wide aspect ratio, an extended operating temperature range and IPS (in-plane switching) wide viewing angle technology that delivers exceptional optical performance.

Jason Tsai, Marketing Manager, KOE, said, "KOE's new high performance, high resolution 7.0-inch display benefits with exceptional optical performance, highly consistent colour reproduction and wide viewing angles through the implementation of IPS technology. Additionally, Rugged+ displays have been specifically designed and developed to have robust electrical, mechanical and environmental characteristics that are highly resistant to vibration, shock, electro-static discharge and temperature variation."

Designed for use in high reliability industrial, in-vehicle, medical, aerospace and marine environments the Rugged+ 7.0-inch display is suitable for use where extreme temperature, mechanical shock and vibration are present. The environmental and optical specifications of KOE's Rugged+ display modules are derived from the same exacting standards as used in automotive specification display modules.

When used in human-machine interfaces, IPS display technology delivers exceptional colour saturation and image stability, high contrast and deep black levels with 170° wide viewing angles (vertical and horizontal). The 7.0-inch display features a contrast ratio of 1000:1 and a white LED backlight with a brightness specification of 1000cd/m². The display module has a built-in dimming control allowing backlight brightness to be controlled with a PWM or DC voltage input.

The 20-pin LVDS interface supports 8-bit RGB, which enables a colour palette of up to 16.7M colours.The display module is manufactured using COG (chip-on-glass) construction and has mechanical outline dimensions of 164.4mm (w) x 105mm (h) x 13.5mm (d) and an active display area of 152.45mm (w) x 91.47mm (h). The Rugged+ module supports a wide operating temperature range of -40°C to +85°C and storage temperature range -40°C to +90°C.

 #KOE #PAuto

Regional and mid-sized pharma manufacturer benefits from comprehensive product-based functionality.

Desitin Arzneimittel is implimenting Werum’s PAS-X Track & Trace as serialisation and aggregation solution at its plant in Hamburg (D). The company is a regional, mid-sized pharmaceutical manufacturer with leading positions in the treatment of neurological and psychiatric illnesses – especially epilepsy and Parkinson's syndrome.

Desitin’s HQ (Pic:Desitin Arzneimittel)

Desitin required a lean, powerful and easy to implement track-and-trace solution to comply with the anti-counterfeiting requirements of its various international target markets. These include all EU countries.

“We opted for Werum’s PAS-X Track & Trace solution as the connector between the shop floor and the serialization level because it meets all of our requirements,” says Daniel Weniger, Head of Process Engineering at Desitin Arzneimittel GmbH. “It is a proven serialization and aggregation solution that is already used successfully by many pharma and biotech manufacturers around the globe.”

Werum’s PAS-X Track & Trace solution is installed out of the box thus ensuring a short implementation time and safeguarding future upgrades. Initially the system covers two packaging lines and will be extended later.

@Werum #PAuto #Pharma

Programmable power!

Magna-Power Electronics has increased the power capability of its popular 1U (1.75” high) SL Series to 8 kW with the addition of 17 new models. The new 8 kW models further extend the SL Series lead for the most programmable power in 1U within its product class. The SL Series now spans 99 models from 1.5 kW to 8 kW, from 5 Vdc to 1000 Vdc, and from 1.5 Adc to 250 Adc.

The new 8kW models come in response to Magna-Power users’ ever-increasing demands for rack-mount power density. The SL Series was introduced in 2013 as Magna-Power’s first 1U power supply, building upon over 30 years of innovation in power electronics. When first introduced, the product series was offered up to 4 kW, an industry first for its product class. In 2015, the product series was further expanded to 6 kW and has since grown into Magna-Power’s most popular product line, satisfying the application demands for: automated test equipment (ATE) system integration, automotive testing, oil and gas, consumer product validation, and aerospace systems testing.

On the 8 kW models’ introduction, Adam Pitel, Magna-Power’s Vice President of Operations said: “Magna-Power’s growth is fuelled by incorporating state-of-the-art devices and technologies, while ensuring reliability through the company’s innovative power processing topologies.”

All SL Series models come as standard with monitoring and control from a variety of sources, including: front panel, computer interface and an isolated analogue-digital I/O connector. A Standard Commands for Programmable Instrumentation (SCPI) command set is supported, allowing easy ASCII text programming over a computer interface. In addition, an IVI driver is included for the Visual Studio programming environment along with a dedicated National Instruments LabVIEW™ and LabWindows™ driver. Additional computer interface options include LXI TCP/IP Ethernet (+LXI), IEEE-488 GPIB (+GPIB), USB and RS-485.

SL Series models are available with three-phase input, including 208 Vac, 240 Vac, 380 Vac, 415 Vac, 440 Vac, or 480 Vac. In addition, 1.5 kW models are also available with a single-phase active PFC Universal Input (UI), allowing for an input voltage range spanning 85 Vac to 265 Vac.

The new 8 kW SL Series models are available immediately.

@Magna_Power #PAuto @proactivefleet 

Linux, Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Connectivity.

BCD-Atlantik are to host workshops in Duxford* near Cambridge (GB) to help designers get the best performance from two key embedded module lines.

The first workshop on May 8th is based around the latest DIGI ConnectCore 6UL IoT development kit and YOCTO Operating System - The Industry’s smallest wireless low-power NXP i.MX6UL UltraLite System-on-Module platform. The workshop will be a hands on event intended to assist in developing customised Linux distribution for the NXP i.MX6(UL) based ARM Cortex-A7 and Cortex-A9 Multi Core System on Modules (SoM) and SBCs.

Starting with an overview of the Digi ConnectCore i.MX6UL and i.MX6 embedded product benefits the workshop will cover an introduction to the Yocto Operating System, Digi TrustFence Security Framework Overview, ConnectCore for i.MX6UL SBC Express and Yocto Hands-on Training.

Delegates will learn about the development environment setup and first steps, U-Boot Bootloader, application development using Eclipse or QT Creator, creating a custom Yocto layer and adding a custom application to a project, OS Customization and Device Tree Introduction and Kernel configuration

On May 9th the second workshop will cover designing Embedded Wi-Fi on the Lantronix – xPico 200 Series. The goal of the workshop is to assist designers to deliver seamless and secure Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. The Lantronix xPico 200 series allows OEMS to build and deploy their smart connected products with reduced complexity and lower risk.

The workshop will commence with an introduction to Lantronix and their products oxPico 240/250 and the MACH10 IoT application development and deployment platform. Two hands-on sessions will take place during the day.
Session 1 will cover, oLab1: FW upload + secure boot, oLab2-4: Tunnel (Serial to Ethernet, serial to WLAN0, serial to AP0), oLab5: Ethernet to WLAN0 bridge, oLab 6-8: Web manager, customise web page and multi user settings, demo MACH10 (OEM, portal, end user view), FW upload, remote reboot.
Hands-on session 2 will demonstrate Lab9: MACH10 end user view and Lab 10: SDK (Hello world, TCPtunnel)

Both workshops open at 9:00am for registration with a 9:30am start, Q and A sessions will follow each session at around 4:30pm.

*The IWM Duxford , is located at Duxford, Cambridgeshire, GB, CB22 4QR

New business in machine vision.

Protacon has strengthened its framework by purchasing the business of Vision Systems a Finnish company. For process industry customers this means an increasingly broad range of services with turn key deliveries that can include, in addition to measurement and quality control solutions, Industry 4.0 technology in the form of remote control as well as equipment functionality analysis.

Kari Pellinen (left) and Kari Rahkola

With the deal, the product portfolio and all employees of Vision Systems will be transferred to Protacon to form a completely new business unit specialised in machine vision.

“There are not many companies offering as broad range of services and we therefore believe that with this package we will be an even more interesting partner to paper industry customers, for example”, says Kari Pellinen, CEO of Protacon Technologies.

According to Mr. Pellinen, great growth potential is still linked to the utilisation of machine vision solutions in different industries, such as the wood processing and the metal and steel industry – as well as health technology.

“Generally, benefits can be found in areas where machine vision can help detect things that are invisible to the human eye, particularly when the object moves. For example, it can improve efficiency of production equipment”, he explains.

The transaction is a continuum to Protacon's investment in industrial integration services. In the past year, the company purchased several businesses that strengthen its concept of operation. Kari Rahkola, the owner of Vision Systems, a company founded more than 30 years ago, reflected upon various possibilities regarding the future of his company.

“I considered options of growing our business further and providing the best possible opportunities for success to our highly skilled and committed personnel also in the future. I have been following Protacon's strong development for a long time and my confidence in future perspectives is strong. In a larger company, the visibility and foothold in the market will certainly bring new opportunities and boost our business”, Mr. Rahkola says.

Kari Rahkola believes that there will be a great number of remarkable benefits for both parties, some of which are not yet even visible.

“A package containing a sufficient number of positive items creates a virtuous circle helping to find larger entities – good things will lead to other good things.”

@protacon #PAuto