Automated Dynamics, Corp

We Need to Talk!

Doug Egner — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:38:49 +0000

I read recently that it took some time for the telephone to catch on because most folks didn’t see a need to pay for a service to talk to someone. They could either go next door and visit or say what they wanted to say in a letter. If they were in a hurry they could always send a telegram. That was in the year 1877. Fast forward to 2010 and there were an estimated 6.1 trillion text messages sent worldwide that year………without the need for wires. That works out to about 200,000 each second….try to wrap your opposable thumbs around that factoid. Obviously we have more to say to one another these days. I find it fascinating that the device invented to hear voices over long distances is now used to communicate by using abbreviated text messages. Maybe the telegraph will make a comeback.

The manufacturing world has undergone a similar transformation. We now live in a highly competitive connected world where the need to communicate is more important than ever. Data from the plant floor to the corporate office is required at each stage of manufacturing. That means that the devices we use to make and inspect products also need to have flexible ways to communicate.
That’s where the Banner iVu+ product line comes into play. It can support 3 different communication protocols simultaneously. For example, maybe you’re exporting the inspection image via Ethernet TCP/IP to a PC, getting pass/fail count data over Modbus TCP to your HMI and barcode serial communication to a PLC simultaneously. Communicate using Industrial Ethernet protocols (Ethernet/IP or Modbus TCP) or use the powerful Command Channel protocol from Banner.

Any way you want to communicate is quick and easy to integrate with virtually any PLC, HMI or PC. Contact your local Banner representative for a demonstration.

Any way you slice it you have to dip before you can hop

larry.stacks — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:37:50 +0000

Recently Banner has added the SureCross Performance DX80 series to the growing wireless product family. With this addition we can offer a 1 watt, license free radio system for applications where the standard SureCross DX80 150 mw radio range is insufficient. Typically this is due to the distance between Nodes or existing obstacles between the Gateway and the Node(s).

Even though the multiple I/O offerings of the new Performance Gateways and Nodes can solve over 90 percent of the field applications there are some special models of the 150 mw radios that will not be incorporated in the new Performance family. Examples of the Nodes that will be only offered in the 150 mw family are the DX99 (Class 1 Div. 1) Nodes, Serial Temperature/Humidity Node, etc.

A question I get asked all the time is “will the Performance 1 watt radios work with the 150 mw radios?” The answer is yes but you do have to change a dip switch setting. You have to change the power of the radio (via dip switch) from 1 watt to ¼ watt then it will work fine. The reason for this is that Banner’s 150 mw radios divide the 902-928 MHZ into 27 frequency slices for the hop table and the 1 watt radios divide it into 50 frequency slices. When you set dip switch 1 on the Performance radio to the ¼ watt position then the radio’s hop table is set to the 27 slice mode. Now it is compatible with the 150 mw radio.

Ozzy is Crazy but Using ASi is Not

joe.waszgis — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 00:07:46 +0000

ASi or Actuator Sensor Interface is one of the simplest IO network to use for machine and process control applications. Designed originally to handle discrete signals fast over two wires this bus can handle your traffic. And it’s not the old man’s Buick either, ASi can handle analog as well as do safety IO over the same pair of wires. The rules to implement are simple, 100 meters of cable laid out any way you want. No terminators to worry about and where to place them. Just simple to use all around. ASi can be used on many different brands of PLC’s with all kinds of combinations for ASi Gateways. Don’t be a afraid, ask you local ADC Rep for more info. And soon you will be able to “Bark at the Moon!”

Joseph Waszgis – Controls Specialist (BSEE, MSMS)

No Magic To It

Doug Egner — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:51:46 +0000

Today I was introduced by my associate as “The Vision Guy”. It garnered an often heard response…

“Vision, eh…….that stuff is half science and half magic.” I have often heard machine vision referred to as black magic, voodoo, and sometimes even elevated to an art form over the past few years.

I guess it comes by the reputation honestly. Vision systems of the past were often conjured up in the garage of some computer wizards using off-the shelf components and custom software. If they worked at all they were difficult or impossible to maintain.

Thankfully, technology marches on. Today If you want to make sure there’s a date code on that box of those little powdered-sugar donuts (as if they ever expire) all you need is a Banner iVu……no computer, no software, no magic.
You do need a wand; however. We prefer to call it a stylus.

Today is the Day!

ADC — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 03:33:32 +0000

The Long Anticipated Launch of the New ADC Website… Great information on the BEST Industrial Automation Products in the world… Have a question on an application? We have an answer… Take a look and see for yourself… Share your thoughts…