New Uses for Old Batteries

ABB and GM test Chevrolet electric vehicle batteries for storage and back-up power uses as well as selling power back to the grid.

David GreenfieldDirector of Content, Automation World

Sep 1st, 2011

Lithium batter development is moving fast, like the Chevy Volt on the road.

Lithium batter development is moving fast, like the Chevy Volt on the road.

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Getting supply chain management and planning right is one of the most effective shock absorbers any food and beverage processor can have, shielding them from fluctuations in availability and demand.

How to Tame an Unpredictable Supply Chain

Supplies are being disrupted both coming and going for food and beverage manufacturers. Shifting philosophies, combined with a range of digital technologies, could help make operations more predictable and resilient.

Digital Twin image. Source: Siemens Digital Industries Software

Digital Twin Application Considerations

From the reach of the digital twin technology you choose to costs and data preparation issues, there are a number of factors to consider when looking to put a digital twin into practice.

Ladder Diagram example. Source: automationprimer.com

PLC Programming Language Decisions

When it comes to evaluating PLC programming languages, it’s important to realize you’ll likely use more than one. That’s why it’s key to pick the right programming tools for the job.

Enabling Human-Centric Manufacturing through Digital Operations

While discussion about AI and smart manufacturing abound, they are less common in practice. TilliT’s James Balzary shares some tips on how companies can begin applying digital technology to their operations.

How SaaS and MaaS Impact Industry

From lowering barriers to entry to changing capex and opex strategies, software and machines as-a-service are changing the business of technology and manufacturing.

4 Hardware Trends Driving the Evolution in Warehouse Automation

4 Hardware Trends Driving the Evolution in Warehouse Automation

As the market for warehouse automation grows, hardware will play an important role in the next generation of technological advancements. Take a closer look at four hardware trends worth watching.

Iveco Reduces Worker Injuries with Wearable Exoskeletons

Vehicle manufacturer Iveco has been successfully outfitting assembly workers with Comau’s Mate exoskeleton since 2018.

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Delphon Puts Robots-as-a-Service to Work

Delphon hires the Rapid Machine Operator from Rapid Robotics to improve production in its TouchMark and Gel-Pak operations.

Implementation of a Data Pump with Ignition

A “data pump” approach to historicizing data can be advantageous in batch operations that require highly detailed records be kept.

Private 5G for Industrial Environments

Following major deployments by TCL Manufacturing, Volkswagen, and British Sugar, 5G is continuing to gain steam.

一台机器的风险评估是什么?

学习机器的细节的风险评估,世界卫生大会t types of equipment require them, who's responsible for them, when to begin the process, and how to comply with machine risk assessment regulations in this episode featuring Schmersal USA's Devin Murray.

4 Hardware Trends Driving the Evolution in Warehouse Automation

4 Hardware Trends Driving the Evolution in Warehouse Automation

As the market for warehouse automation grows, hardware will play an important role in the next generation of technological advancements. Take a closer look at four hardware trends worth watching.

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TSN Plugfest Focuses on Interoperability

Participants in Avnu Alliance’s Time-Sensitive Networking plugfest test their deployments in a collaborative environment.

Matt Rendall, CEO and co-founder of Otto Motors, speaking at the Robotics Summit & Expo in Boston.

Moving Robots Into the Matrix

Otto Motors uses simulation to mitigate risk when deploying a fleet of autonomous mobile robots.

Fieldbus organizations like the EtherCAT Technology Group acknowledge the value of OPC UA and see it as a complementary standard in industrial control networking. Courtesy: EtherCAT Technology Group

How OPC UA Creates Interoperability and Gives Data Context

This second installment in a four-part series on key industrial network technologies explains why OPC UA continues to be recognized as the global interoperability method of choice for industrial automation technologies.

Proficy Historian For Cloud 3200x1404

The First Cloud-Native Data Historian

GE Digital stakes a claim to the world’s first cloud-native operational data historian with the release of its Proficy Historian for the Cloud on the AWS Marketplace.

Retrofit or Upgrade: What’s Best for Your Facility?

When undertaking a controls project, beginning with an installed base evaluation can help determine if a retrofit or complete upgrade will be more advantageous in the long run.

Security Alert for Industrial Control Systems

U.S. Government issues warning about new cyberthreats that impact control systems and SCADA devices across industries.

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Managing Network Security on Your Plant Floor

A safe and secure network is paramount to ensuring a company’s ability to thrive in today’s digital age. Simply making the change from an unmanaged switch to a lean managed industrial switch could be the key to saving you from a cyber-attack.

Advantages of a Smart MQTT Broker

Understanding how a smart MQTT broker provides ways to aggregate data streams, keep them consistent, and distribute them securely across a complex network to ensure the success of Internet of Things projects of any size or complexity.

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Answering the Top 7 Questions About Profinet

We get a lot of questions here at PI North America from end users, distributors, system integrators, and device vendors. Here are our answers to the questions we get asked most.

Connecting Cloud-Based Quality Control to the Edge

Intrinsics Imaging’s AI-powered vision system uses edge I/O to integrate cloud analytics into process controls.

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Effective Instrument Commissioning for Seamless Project Startups

Finishing a major automation project on time and on budget depends on putting the best digital tools in the hands of highly skilled people.

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IT-OT Convergence Has Always Been The Path Forward

Long before Industry 4.0 and cloud-connected architectures became possible, innovators championed PC-based technologies for industrial automation.

MESA Foundry Twin: An abstracted framework for a digital twin in a foundry. For more info, visit: awgo.to/1410

Is Continuous Optimization of an Asset Possible?

Learn why detection of sub-optimality is required not only to avoid unexpected failures, but also to achieve superior performance, and how continuous asset optimization can be achieved.

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Eliminating Data Siloes for Better Cybersecurity

ServiceNow is augmenting its Now platform with asset inventory and vulnerability data from Tenable’s Tenable.ot to enable mitigation of operations level cybersecurity threats as part of user workflows.

Why High-Mix, Low-Volume Manufacturers are Adopting Flexible Automation

Growing demands for customization, increasing numbers of SKUs, and ongoing labor issues are leading HMLV manufacturers to adopt more easily configurable automation hardware and software.

Siemens Synth Ai

Synthetic Data and Artificial Intelligence Combine to Improve Machine Vision

By creating synthetic data from 3D CAD data, Siemens’ SynthAI helps machine vision systems be more rapidly deployed for applications ranging from quality control to robotic picking and assembly operations.

Technology makes manufacturing more efficient, but also creates vulnerabilities.

Hackers Shift Focus to Packaging and Processing

Pervasive new technology increases entry points for cyber attacks. Discover cybersecurity solutions at PACK EXPO International (Oct. 23-26; McCormick Place, Chicago).

Penn Waste recycling sorting operations. Source: wastetodaymagazine.com

Minimizing Machine Downtime with Bluetooth Gateways and Smart Sensors

Using a combination of Bluetooth gateways from Cassia Networks and smart sensors from Dodge Industrial, Penn Waste provides its maintenance engineers with needed visibility into equipment operations.

What is Defense-in-Depth?

As more IIoT-connected equipment makes its way onto the plant floor, defense-in-depth cybersecurity strategies are supplanting perimeter-based approaches.

Honeywell Expands Its Forge Software Capabilities

Through a targeted focus on software-as-a-service, Honeywell Connected Enterprise is expanding its Honeywell Forge technology with the release of Connected Warehouse and updates to its Asset Performance Management software.