Thursday, April 16, 2009

New product week This is new product week around the old Mintchell Manor. I'll have more details up on the Automation Gear blog later. (Since we moved that blog from Word Press to automationworld.com, it's harder to post. Now I know why columnist John Dvorak publicly solicited feedback for a better blog editor than Joomla--it is extremely unfriendly to work with. If you are considering a Web posting application, look for something better than Joomla for sure.) I had received a heads up from Opto 22 about its new product, then when the announcement came at first I thought it was "old news." But yesterday it publicly unveiled the latest addition to its Snap family of programmable automation controllers and I/O. WiFi (wireless connectivity) has been added to wired Ethernet as standard features. The idea is to make wireless for I/O as simple as with your laptop. Use commercially accepted standards so that you just connect. Leveraging commercially adopted networking technologies has been an Opto strategy for a long time, now. A contingent from Siemens Energy & Automation stopped by the Automation World offices in downtown Chicago yesterday to give us a private showing of a Hannover Fair release of a new controller platform. The S7-1200 with Step7 Basic software is a new breed of micro/nano controller (PLC). The hardware incorporates the latest advances in microprocessors, memory and firmware to bring advanced computational ability to a small, inexpensive ($145-190 list for base model) package with innovative terminal block design that allows using standard 14 ga. wiring even in the 16 point and 32 point I/O modules. The significant advancement, though, is in the engineering software. Said to be the first for this size of control platform, the software has a single integrated database for both PLC and HMI. It has the Visual Studio-type look and feel, so any programmer should intuitively be able to grasp what's going on in the screen. It's all Ethernet based, so users using Profinet and Profinet-enabled devices can look at the network, find devices and program or configure each. Once a tag is defined, it can be stored and then dragged over to the control program or to the HMI development screen. This is a powerful little package. Tuesday I had a demo and discussion with GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms about its latest addition--a Web Client for its iFix product line called WebSpace. They say that this is the only "full featured" Web Client meaning that users can access the full features of iFix 5.0 over the Web using a browser. It features real-time data updates, multiple sessions, secure containment, e-signature support, animations, operable control elements, alarms and warnings (just like a thick client) and can launch third-party applications triggered within iFix. Busy week--and it's not over. 8:26:04 AM    comment []

Waste of paper I've often wondered about the circulation statements of "USA Today" when thousands of hotels leave hundreds of copies each at the doors of guests. How many are read? I used to, but for the last five years or so I get almost all of my news from Internet sources. Some may be newspaper content, but I don't get the physical paper. I do scan the two local papers when I'm home, but I lost attraction for USA Today years ago. Hmm, the thought just occurred that all the USA Today boxes around my little town are gone. Anyway, Marriott has decided to not distribute newspapers to each room only to see them in the trash unused. Guests can still get the papers, just have to pick them up at the lobby. Bill Marriott noted the decision in his blog. Interesting are the comments. About 50/50 the last I looked on the decision. I agree. It's not that I'm down on print. I don't have a Kindle preferring physical books. I subscribe to and read many magazines. Some say that there is a serendipity to scanning through a newspaper. I get that serendipity through subscribing to a variety of RSS feeds. Too much newspaper stuff is just regurgitated press releases. I want the sources. And, it's old. By the time I read most news in a paper, I've already read it online hours or days before. Perhaps if there were more original reporting or insight articles, then I'd be more interested. 7:54:11 AM    comment []

Quit being a jerk Wish I'd have seen this post earlier in my life. Maybe I'd be a nicer person ;-} Five tiny steps to quit being such a jerk. Summary-think of others. Good for work, home, sporting events. 6:56:33 AM    comment []