Abstract
Building Control BACnet Facts Are Highlighted in Paris
After 7 years of the first French BACnet Forum, 130 building automation experts once again discussed the latest facts about BACnet. The BACnet standard is mainly used for smart buildings in smart grids, and at February’s BACnet Forum Paris, CEN/TC247 chairman Roland Ullmann announced an EN ISO 16484 upgrade – with expanded building automation functions for smart buildings.
Jean Daniel Napar, the president of the French BACnet association, highlighted the sustainability of investments in the BACnet standard. Because of increasing demand, the worldwide number of vendor-IDs has practically doubled since the Forum in 2007. Twice as many BACnet devices were certified last year alone, compared to the previous year. Assisted by a program for information, communication and training, also the BACnet France Group gained strength. In all, 13 top-class members have joined in total. They inform the French market via the BACnet France Journal, at exhibitions and in the AGILiCOM training seminars about the practical uses of BACnet.
Volker Röhl, president of the BACnet Interest Group Europe (BIG-EU – http://www.big-eu.org), reminded all about the origins of BACnet as ISO Standard 16484-5, which was launched 10 years ago. Nobody could have foreseen that BACnet would spread so fast in building control technology, and now it is a recognised cornerstone for reliable building control operations.
There is an increasing demand for BACnet-compliant components in tenders. The BACnet France members showed in lectures and during the accompanying exhibition just how BACnet architectures pave the way ahead for dynamic optimisation.
Calling for More Women Engineers
Nominations for 2015’s £1 m Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering have opened with a fresh call for parents to reappraise engineering as a career for their daughters. Foundation chairman, Lord Browne of Madingley, called on parents to take a fresh look at engineering, and to encourage their sons and daughters into the profession.
He said, From large-scale infrastructure to medical technology, engineers’ achievements transform every aspect of our daily lives. Our research shows that parents are reluctant for their daughters to enter the field of engineering, believing that other subjects offer them better opportunities.
A QEPrize survey has found that parents of girls aged between 5 and 18 years tend to encourage their daughters to study subjects other than engineering and science, with 73% of parents believing other subjects offer better career opportunities for girls.
The survey also shows that last year, around 4000 girls applied to read engineering at university, compared with about 28,000 boys. This, the QEPrize survey believes, might be the result of parents’ attitudes. Parents still believe that their daughters are most interested in humanities, with nearly 60% claiming that they are more interested in literature, and 70% saying that they are most interested in art. By comparison, just 18% said their daughters are interested in engineering.
‘Best of Sensors Expo Awards’ This Month
The 2014 Best of Sensors Expo Awards will home in on applications and innovations in sensors, as well as excellence among engineers. These awards will be presented at the Sensors Expo & Conference in Rosemount, Illinois, United States, on 26 June.
Submissions have been accepted in these categories: Innovation Award (seeking to recognise advances in sensor and sensor-related technologies), Application Award (for commercial or experimental sensor applications), Engineers of the Year Award (recognising engineering teams working within the sensor industry) and finally, the Rising Star Award: (intended to recognise a young engineer who is active within the sensors industry and who has already contributed to advancing sensor technology or sensor applications).
For more information, go to http://www.sensorsmag.com/sensors-expo.
Configure PLCs and Machines Remotely Using a Gateway
A technology that provides an instant, secure communication tunnel to remote equipment, such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and machines, is Netbiter Remote Access. This allows users to employ their usual PLC configuration software – such as Rockwell RSlogix or Siemens TIA Portal – just as if they were connected to the machine on site.
Users first connect a Netbiter EasyConnect 300-series gateway from HMS Industrial Networks to their remote device or machine. By running the Netbiter QuickConnect software on a computer, a secure tunnel is created to the Netbiter gateway and the device/machine to which it is connected.
PLC programmers or machine owners can simply open their regular configuration software (such as RSLogix or TIA Portal) and configure or debug just as if they were on site. The secure connection is established via the cloud-based Netbiter Argos data centre, so there is no need for opening inbound ports in firewalls or setting up Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections on site. The result is a secure connection that can be set up in minutes. For more information, go to http://www.netbiter.com.
Robot Is a Rubik Cube Record Breaker
A Rubik Cube, the three-dimensional (3D) combination puzzle that drove many people mad in the 1970s because of its apparent difficulty, has just been solved by a robot in a record-breaking 3.253 s.
The robot is an ARM-Powered Cubestormer 3 device, and it set the record at the recent Big Bang Fair in Birmingham, which is reported on elsewhere in the news section of this issue. It also uses an ARM-powered Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone to analyse the cube and instruct four robotic hands to carry out the manipulations.
ARM9 processors also power the eight Lego Mindstorms EV3 intelligent bricks that carry out the motor sequencing and control. These programmable, intelligent bricks normally serve as the heart and brain of LEGO Mindstorms Education EV3 robots. It features an illuminated six-button interface that changes colour to indicate the brick’s active state, a high-resolution black and white display, built-in speaker, USB port, a mini SD card reader, four input ports and four output ports. The Cubestormer 3 was designed, built and programmed by Mike Dobson and David Gilday.
Record Sales and New Team Members for LCM
Load measurement solutions specialist, LCM Systems, reports a 33% increase in sales during 2013. This growth, says the company, has come from both national and international markets and has been achieved primarily through maintaining close relationships with key customers. However, also having the ability to supply innovative solutions to complex and challenging load measurement problems has helped.
In line with this increase in turnover, the number of employees has also risen by over 50% in just the last 6 months, and in the last 18 months, the company’s office and factory space has been upped by a substantial 150%. This investment in both personnel and infrastructure will enable LCM Systems to cope with the increase in demand for our products and also meet projected future growth demands.
Additional staff have been recruited in all areas of the business, from strain gauge technicians to sales staff. A new management structure has been established to take the company forward; this includes the employment of a production manager with over 35 years experience in the load cell industry, 20 of which were spent managing production departments, and a sales and marketing manager having had 10 years’ experience of marketing load cell products to many different industries worldwide.
Another recent appointment to the engineering department has been a load cell engineer, who has 7-year design experience in the marine and renewables industry and expertise in the latest 3D design/modelling/finite element analysis (FEA) software. This has enabled the company to produce smarter designs with more detail so that the designs can now be easily incorporated into customers’ larger system designs and specified at the early stages of projects.
Rockwell Automation Fair Destined for Anaheim this November
Rockwell Automation
Features are likely to include many exhibits from Rockwell Automation, its PartnerNetwork members, universities and industry media. There should also be ‘hands-on’ laboratories, and visitors will also be able to participate in a number of demonstration workshops and many technical sessions. Leading edge customer cloud-computing applications, plus a range of industry-specific hardware and software are also likely to be displayed.
This event is aimed, claims the company, at offering learning and networking opportunities for attendees to hear about the latest in discrete and process control technologies for effective and energy-efficient global automation solutions.
For more information on last year’s event, go to http://www.automationfair.com.
ABB Painting Robot System Uses Hollow Wrist for Reliability
The IRB 580 from ABB Robotics (http://www.abb.com/robotics) is a paint robot system that uses a high-precision hollow wrist that is claimed to eliminate wear and tear on the paint- and air-supply hoses, so increasing the overall reliability.
This wrist is able to rotate 140° in any direction and features an Integrated Process System (IPS) with closed-loop control and very fast adjustment of paint and airflow. The paint process equipment is part of the robot arm, which improves process response times and also reduces paint and solvent waste. In addition, synchronising the paint flow triggering with the robot arm’s motion increases transfer efficiency and keeps overspray to a minimum.
According to ABB, the IPS automatically compensates for changes in environment or the equipment, so the required flow rates are always maintained within strict tolerances. This ensures a uniform paint film with specified thickness. The IPS system also monitors robot equipment wear over time and warns the operator when there is any incipient problem.
Bluetooth Dual-Mode System-on-Module for Industrial Control
From ConnectBlue comes the new System-on-Module OBP421, which is a Bluetooth Dual-mode (Bluetooth Smart Ready) module. The System-on-Module OBP421 is a compact and fully customisable module that is ideally suited to industrial, medical and ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) applications, where Bluetooth dual-mode capability, quick time-to-market and cost efficiency are of key importance.
Using this device, it is possible to have full control of all system resources in one compact solution. Since the OBP421 is Bluetooth Smart Ready, it will become possible to create, compile and link real C code embedded applications with the ability to access any connected Bluetooth Smart sensor using the Generic Attribute Profile (GATT).
Examples of customer-specific embedded application software written in C include protocol conversion, data logging, scaling and filtering of digital and analogue input/output (I/O) signals, human–machine interface (HMI) functionality, CAN-bus connectivity and intelligent (I2C/SPI) sensor connectivity. The OBP421 is based on the standard Bluetooth serial port module OBS421, which has already been proven in use in demanding applications.
ConnectBlue’s new System-on-Module OBP421, which is a Bluetooth Dual-mode (Bluetooth Smart Ready) module
Endress+Hauser Publishes White Paper on Tank Protection Instrumentation
Leaking or overfilled tanks containing chemicals, fuel oil, sewage or hazardous materials can cause environmental problems, contaminate drinking water and can potentially cost a company millions of pounds. Proper instrumentation, monitoring and control can prevent these problems and a new white paper by Endress+Hauser, entitled ‘Protecting our Water – Keep Chemicals in the Tank’ explains how.
For example, in one recent incident, 4-methylcyclohexane methanol leaked at Freedom Industries in Charleston, West Virginia, United States. This resulted in 31 lawsuits and the company filing for bankruptcy. Endress+Hauser says that with a few precautions and a relatively minor investment, this event could have been identified early on. Action could have been taken to mitigate the leak and its destructive after-effects.
There is instrumentation widely available that will monitor the contents of a tank or vessel and provide an alarm if a leak or overfill occurs. This non-commercial white paper describes the instrumentation and controls that companies need to install on their tanks and vessels. To view the paper, please use the QR Code on your smartphone or table.
Learn more using this QR Code
Bluetooth-Enabled RFID Reader for Wearable Control
Technology Solutions UK (TSL) has introduced its 1153 Bluetooth Wearable ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader. This has been designed to be worn on a user’s hand so that he or she can remain mobile.
This device, which supports the EPC Gen 2 and ISO 8000-6C standards, can communicate via Bluetooth wireless technology with a variety of host devices, including enterprise handhelds, consumer phones, touchscreen MP3 players, tablets and personal computers (PCs). It could, therefore, potentially be used to activate measuring devices and control industrial plant equipment.
Measuring 10.1 cm long, 5.5 cm wide and 5.6 cm high, the reader has a trigger-shaped grip that fits over a user’s fingers. It also includes a two-dimensional (2D) bar-code scanner and incorporates TSL’s ASCII 2 protocol, which provides a set of commands and supporting RFID software development kits (SDKs) that, according to TSL, carry out multiple actions locally within the reader. This allows numerous tag operations to be executed using simple preconfigured ASCII commands.
Innovation in Packaging Using Motion Control Technology
The three principal application areas for servo-drives in industrial automation are robotics, computer numerical control (CNC) and general motion control (GMC). Mitsubishi Electric manufactures its own technologies in all these fields and can, if required, seamlessly integrate them on to a single controller platform – the MELSEC iQ.
This combines a PLC central processing unit (CPU) with a robot CPU and a motion CPU, along with an MES IT module to provide direct connection to higher level business systems, such as SAP. This is an integrated solution that is unique throughout the industry, says Mitsubishi. What were once simply individual control components become fully integrated systems with synchronised scanning cycles.
Recently introduced products include the new MR-J4 series of servo-drives and matched servomotors, having features such as a 22-bit absolute encoder, a frequency response of 2.5 kHz and the inclusion of a double vibration suppression filter. These features, says the company, help machinery manufacturers to develop machines with reduced positioning times and reduced cycle times, meeting the production requirements of customers.
Another requirement is greater production flexibility, which translates into a greater number of axes to be controlled. To meet this need, Mitsubishi Electric uses a full duplex 150 Mbps fibre optic bus, which simplifies connection and commissioning and permits multi-axis co-ordination in synchronous machines, allowing the control of up to 96 axes with the Q173DS controllers. Mitsubishi Electric contributes to innovation in packaging solutions.
Using such systems, for example, packaging machine manufacturer Packaging Del Sur S.L. (PKS – http://www.pksur.com), develops end-of-line solutions that meet the latest market requirements. The company offers a wide range of turnkey packaging systems.
Antonio Corpas, general manager at PKS, commented, One of the keys our success is the integration of advanced drive control systems from Mitsubishi Electric, which enable our machines to provide reliability, flexibility and speed.
When considering reliability, PKS places special emphasis on extending the useful machine life, and this can be easily appreciated in the choice of the components. For example, in one machine, roller chains are used for robust anchorage of power elements, and a Mitsubishi Electric servomotor is provided for each axis, with grease-free stainless steel planetary gearboxes and pressure couplings. The mechanical components are simplified, and the use of pneumatics is confined to secondary or safety functions.
Mitsubishi Electric’s MELSERVO MR-J4 used in the PKS packaging machines
Packaging machine manufacturer PKS develops end-of-line solutions that meet the latest market requirements
Programming of the drives is carried out from the central Mitsubishi Electric Q-Motion controller, enabling the operator to replace one damaged servo-drive with a new one, just by setting a switch in the front panel display. This makes for simple maintenance, with all the components being standard and easy to source market.
Moreover, the backward compatibility of Mitsubishi’s products and their worldwide presence support the key demands of PKS. An example is provided by the new MR-J4 series servos that can be configured in exactly the same way as the current MR-J3 series.
Other benefits include flexibility at every level, being able to address a wide range of packaging formats and a high production speed combined with a minimum changeover time from one product to another.
Fiftieth and Fifty-First Members for OMS Group
Meter manufacturers B Meters from Italy and VIPA from the Czech Republic will now bring their expertise to the OMS Group (http://www.oms-group.org) and its standards. This was developed from the European M-Bus EN 13757-x standard and guarantees media and vendor-independent meter data communication.
B Meters, with an annual production of more than 1.3 million meters, is one of the largest manufacturers in Italy and Europe. The focus of the company, founded in 1991, is on water meters.
VIPA CZ s.r.o. is a leading manufacturer of water and heating meters, as well as being an expert in the billing of domestic heating and heat costs. The OMS Group has grown strongly in recent years and now comprises 51 members, mainly meter manufacturers and energy service providers. In all, 12 of them are from neighbouring European countries. In view of the increasing European orientation, the OMS Group is planning an international joint booth at the Utility Week in Amsterdam in November 2014 for the first time.
The Open Metering System Specification has developed an open, cross-manufacturer, interoperable standard for the communication of consumption meters for electricity, gas, water and heat, inclusive of sub-metering. OMS is based on the EN 13757-x and is compatible with the worldwide standard for home and building control KNX (ISO/IEC 14543-3; EN50090), so that in conjunction with the metered billing, the building automation system, for example, for energy management, can also be directly interconnected.
In this way, the requirements for future services, such as tariff or load management, can be met in a cost-effective manner. Intelligent OMS meters are a prerequisite for energy saving through smart grids and smart homes, or the optimal involvement of renewable energies, such as wind power or solar energy.
Water Industry’s Energy Optimisation Drive Sustains European Smart Pumps Market
A new study by Frost & Sullivan (http://www.industrialautomation.frost.com) shows that an enhanced focus on optimising energy consumption and minimising pump lifecycle costs in the water and wastewater industry is boosting the adoption of smart pumps across Europe. There will be positive effects too on supervisory control and data acquisition systems.
This analysis also finds that moving into the water-quality monitoring equipment will help pump manufacturers expand their customer base and combat the intense pressure on profit margins realised by manufacturing and selling only commodities such as pumps and valves.
The smart water grid market will gradually become more populated as the focus on integrating pumps with various control systems, such as supervisory control and data acquisition, increases. Market participants should ensure that their product portfolio contains equipment such as smart water meters, transmitters, valves, data loggers and associated communication infrastructure. They must also invest in research and development (R&D) and marketing initiatives to stay ahead of competitors in the European smart pumps market for the water and wastewater industry.
This new analysis, which covers positive displacement and centrifugal smart pumps, and which is called ‘European Smart Pumps Market for the Water and Wastewater Industry’, finds that the market earned revenues of £116 million in 2013 and estimates this to reach £161.5 million in 2018.
Although smart pumps have a higher initial cost than standard pumps, they enable a reduction in the total cost of ownership by lowering maintenance and operation costs. Such cost benefits arising from greater process automation coupled with the increase in efficiency and quality are expected to be important pump selection factors in the European water and wastewater industry.
A key setback, however, is the reluctance of maintenance personnel in water and wastewater treatment facilities, particularly in the municipal sector, to install smart pumps. This stems from worries over complexity of installation, operation and maintenance. Even end users, who are aware of the benefits provided by smart pumps in terms of energy efficiency and lifecycle costs, demand stringent tests for quality and reliability before installation.
To alleviate these fears, Frost & Sullivan believes, pump manufacturers should communicate the advantages of smart pumps by visiting their clients, conducting presentations and symposiums and publishing articles. They must also employ highly skilled technicians and focus on the water-quality monitoring equipment segment to extend their market reach.
CiA 402 Motion Control and Drives Profile Expanded for Safety
It has been announced that the CiA 402 motion control and drives profile (IEC 61800-7-201/301) is to be extended for functional safety. The internationally standardised CiA 402 motion control and drives profile was originally developed for CANopen systems. It is one of the most popular network profiles for electric motors, and it also specifies adaptions for CC-Link IE, Ethernet of plant automation (EPA), EtherCAT and Powerlink.
Moreover, two further industrial Ethernet communication systems – Safetynet and Varan – use CANopen-similar application layers, so that CiA 402 can be easily used. For functional safety, the mapping of the bus-independent functional safety for motion control developed by the EtherCAT Technology Group has been specified.
The specification also includes Safety Related Data Object (SRDO) mapping, in which the drive controller receives in the control word in an SRDO, which commands a dedicated safety function. The host controller receives the corresponding status-word, which has been safely transmitted in an SRDO. Specified safety functions include safe acceleration range, safe maximum speed, safe torque-off, safe stop and safely limited increments.
CiA 402 now features a type-specific mapping for frequency inverters and servo and stepper motors. In addition, CiA 402-5 specifies additional process data object (PDO) mapping for control units and drives to manage both asynchronous and synchronous motors. This is because today’s powerful micro-controllers, plus the ever-growing need for higher functionality and dynamics, have meant the development of frequency inverters having very similar characteristics to servo amplifiers.
New Roadmap for UHF RFID in Europe Created
RFID Journal reports that RF spectrum policy makers have reached a big milestone in the goal of expanding UHF RFID to the 915- to 921-MHz band, with the creation of a new roadmap that paves the way for a major upgrade.
The high demand for wireless broadband spectrum continues to expand, supported by the European Union (EU)’s spectrum policy programme that calls for the 1200-MHz band to be made available, but more moderate spectrum users are also growing.
A wide range of highly valuable spectrum uses are squeezed into a few relatively narrow bands operating as typically unlicensed short-range devices (SRDs). These are devices that are typically very important in our everyday lives. Current and new applications include home automation and sub-metering, automotive SRD, smart meters and smart grids.
Now, the magazine says, the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT), which comprises policy makers and regulators from 48 nations across Europe, is working to improve the efficiency of these bands. It also aims to widen the possibilities for accessing them.
Right now, the range of 863–870 MHz is used extensively for SRDs, but these ranges are filling up fast, and many of new applications are forecast. These include, as well as those mentioned above, rising spectrum demands for generic SRD, UHF RFID, metropolitan mesh machine network (M3N) applications, alarm and social alarm systems, and assistive-listening devices. It is not just lack of capacity that needs addressing either, as bandwidth is important too.
In addressing these issues, the CEPT has now reached a milestone in the development and management of frequencies in the favoured range just below 1 GHz for RFID and a wide variety of SRD applications. This has been achieved with a new roadmap that should lead to the much-needed major upgrade of 19 MHz of spectrum.
News in Brief
NMO website to move
The National Measurement Office (NMO) website has closed and has moved to a new landing page at http://www.gov.uk/nmo. This is part of a much larger plan to move all of government’s digital content onto one domain. One of the aims is to help anyone to find the information they need from government without having to understand how government works to get the information they require.
For more information, email:
Resolution update to fibre optic position sensor
Micronor’s MR330 fibre optic position sensor resolution has been increased from 13 to 14 bits. This provides a higher performance and backwards compatibility for the same harsh and hazardous environmental applications. This enhanced sensor system, says the company, outperforms resolvers and electronic-based encoders in harsh environments, and is immune to electromagnetic interference (EMI), radio-frequency interference (RFI), lightning and ground loops. It also provides interference-free sensor transmission exceeding 300 m, and it is EX-rated ‘Inherently Safe’ for use in mines, gaseous and dust environments. The controller offers the following built-in interfaces: synchronous serial interface (SSI), USB, Serial, Modbus, analogue and digital set points. For more information, go to http://www.micronor.com.
Gigabit ethernet switch launched
The IGS-150B from ORing Industrial Networking (http://www.oring-networking.com) is a mini type unmanaged full gigabit Ethernet switch with 5 × 10/100/1000Base-T(X) ports. It supports redundant power input and rigid mini size IP 30 housing. The wide operating temperature range is from −40 °C to +70 °C.
Radar level transmitters for volume or level
Endress+Hauser’s new Micropilot FMR5X series of free space radar level transmitters has software with multi-echo tracking algorithms and functions to suppress interference echoes. The transmitters therefore provide accuracy up to ±2 mm for level measurements of liquids and bulk solids products. The FMR5X can be used to measure level or volume with a built-in 32-point strapping table. The liquids can be measured in a wide range of types and sizes of metal or plastic tanks, including very high ones with the enhanced dynamics option. The instrument can also detect minimum or maximum levels to prevent overfilling or empty tanks in addition to continuous level monitoring. Communication options include HART, Profibus PA and Foundation Fieldbus. For more information go to http://www.us.endress.com/micropilot-radar-level.
Find leaks and record compressed air consumption
Phoenix Contact’s compact new volume flow sensors are based on calorimetric measurement and can detect consumption quantities as low as 0.06 N m3/h. The sensors will also measure operational consumption because of the large measuring range (up to 700 N m3/h). In addition to the IO-Link communication system, the compressed air counters can also output analogue values and digital impulses, as well as measuring switching thresholds via two digital outputs. These versatile options for outputting flow and temperature measurement data facilitate a wide range of connections to process and control systems. The compressed air counters measure the current volume flow, the total volume consumed and the temperature of the compressed air in the monitored process.
Rackmount computer for industrial automation
From Moxa comes a new X86 2U 19 inch rackmount computer with Intel i7 CPU, 6 Gigabit Ethernet ports, 2 peripheral component interconnect (PCI) expansion slots, fanless design. With their robust design, DA-682A computers have been designed for industrial automation applications in power substations; manufacturing, transportation and shipping and oil and gas production and supply. The computers are x86 platforms with VGA, 6 Gigabit Ethernet ports, CompactFlash, USB and two PCI ports for DA Series expansion modules. The DA-682A comes in a standard 19 inch 2U rack-mountable case. The DA-682A runs either Linux or Windows Embedded Standard 7, providing a friendly environment for developing sophisticated application software.
ARM-based sensor hub has embedded accelerometer
Kionix has launched a new integrated sensor hub device, the KX23H. This combines high-performance, a very low-power three-axis accelerometer with a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 microcontroller in a single 3 × 3× 0.9 mm3 package. Included is a library of advanced motion processing software, providing the user with pedometer and caloric counting algorithms, plus activity monitoring and the ability to detect differences between states such as Stop/Walk/Run/Car/Train. The KX23H also includes embedded algorithms for Tap/Double-Tap, screen rotation, tilt and other common applications. The microcontroller is a full-featured, low-power ARM Cortex-M0, running at 32 MHz. With the ability to accept additional inputs such as gyroscopes, magnetometers and pressure sensors, and being able to run sensor fusion software, the KX23H can reduce demand on the system CPU or application processor, reduce power consumption and simplify system architecture.