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Ch oo M se od a er n re i tro ze fit yo / re ur pl m ac a em nu en fac t p tu at rin h g th w at ith m o at ut ch s es ac yo rifi ur cin pr g od pr uc od tio uc n tiv an it d y bu dg et

t ge ity ud tiv b uc nd od n a pr io g ct in u ic od rif pr ac ur t s yo ou es ith ch w at g tm rin ha tu t ac ath uf t p an n m me ur ce yo pla ze re ni it / er rof od et M ar se oo Ch

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SEPTEMBER 2017 Vol. 64 Number 9

16

Features 16 Creating a gender balance in the oil and gas sector

WOMEN IN ENGINEERING COVER: Images courtesy: The Big Partnership, in cooperation with Opito, the oil and gas industry’s safety, standards, and workforce development organization.

Cover Story: While the oil and gas sector is still male-dominated, engineering-minded associations are working to motivate more women to work in the field.

22 2017 Engineering Leaders Under 40 Cover Story: Control Engineering and Plant Engineering are honored to have discovered and to serve the 35 engineering professionals named as this year’s Engineering Leaders Under 40. Preview the Class of 2017 and find details at www.controleng.com/EngineeringLeaders.

29

24 Putting wireless sensor networks to work As wireless sensor networks become more reliable, their applications continue to grow.

26 An integrated network for Industrie 4.0 System integration via the cloud makes networking at the production level easy and secure by vertically integrating management and systems as well as providing a security function for Industrie 4.0.

29 How cloud computing works for industrial processes Cloud computing can process, filter, and analyze data using an HMI and turn it into actionable information for industrial facilities.

31 Four virtualization technology myths that hold organizations back Virtualization technology beliefs are debunked, which is very beneficial for critical, industrial applications and optimizing operations.

More articles online The future of cloud computing Future cloud computing benefits include optimized resource utilization, better responsiveness, faster innovation cycles, and a better platform for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

Industrie 4.0 reduces automotive downtime Data platforms are designed to reduce downtime in an industry where seconds matter.

Enabling IIoT’s benefits with Ethernet Industrial Ethernet is designed to withstand harsh environments found in industrial facilities.

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CONTROL ENGINEERING

31 CONTROL ENGINEERING (ISSN 0010-8049, Vol. 64, No. 9, GST #123397457) is published 12x per year, Monthly by CFE Media, LLC, 3010 Highland Parkway, Suite #325 Downers Grove, IL 60515. Jim Langhenry, Group Publisher/Co-Founder; Steve Rourke CEO/COO/ Co-Founder. CONTROL ENGINEERING copyright 2017 by CFE Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

CONTROL ENGINEERING is a registered trademark of CFE Media, LLC used under license. Periodicals postage paid at Downers Grove, IL 60515 and additional mailing offices. Circulation records are maintained at 3010 Highland Parkway, Suite #325 Downers Grove, IL 60515. Telephone: 630/571-4070. E-mail: customerservice@cfemedia.com. Postmaster: send address changes to CONTROL ENGINEERING, 3010 Highland Parkway, Suite #325 Downers Grove, IL 60515. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40685520. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: 3010 Highland Parkway, Suite #325 Downers Grove, IL 60515. Email: customerservice@cfemedia.com. Rates for nonqualified subscriptions, including all issues: USA, $150/yr; Canada/Mexico, $180/yr (includes 7% GST, GST#123397457); International air delivery $325/yr. Except for special issues where price changes are indicated, single copies are available for $30.00 US and $35.00 foreign. Please address all subscription mail to CONTROL ENGINEERING, 3010 Highland Parkway, Suite #325 Downers Grove, IL 60515. Printed in the USA. CFE Media, LLC does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in the material contained herein, regardless of whether such errors result from negligence, accident or any other cause whatsoever.

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How Smart Factories Are Getting Connected

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SEPTEMBER 2017 Vol. 64 Number 9

P1

Inside Process Appears after page 34; Also, see the Digital Edition: www.controleng.com/DigitalEdition

P1 To PID or not to PID The venerable proportional-integral-derivative (PID) algorithm can solve a variety of feedback control problems, but not all.

P6

P6 Safety compliance and changing industry practices To minimize worker injuries and incidents, look at existing workflows to assess the degree of risk and identify areas of concern. Then form specific and targeted interventions that can address these gaps.

Departments 8 Think Again Hot topics for Control Engineering, July through June

10 Research Using, integrating Ethernet technologies

12 Technology Update Time-sensitive networking’s benefits for the IIoT and manufacturing

Products 45

Industrial 8-port Gigabit

switches; Modular power series; Brushless dc motor; ABOVE: Medium-voltage ac drives; RIGHT: Four-level motor terminal blocks

48 Back to Basics Ladder Logic: Auto cycles and safety routines

46

Dual-port EtherCAT card;

BELOW, RIGHT: Non-contact position sensing system; BELOW, LEFT: Portable barcode verifier

News 14

Technical center for CNCs, machine learning expanded; Internet, manufacturing groups sign memorandum of understanding

15

Records set in robotics, machine vision, motion control; Online headlines

www.controleng.com

CONTROL ENGINEERING

SEPTEMBER 2017

| 5

More resources posted daily at:

SEPTEMBER

New Products

Control Systems

Process Manufacturing Discrete Manufacturing

System Integration

Vision software development steered by speed, simplicity There’s a lot more to read online. Go to www.controleng.com/news to read Control Engineering’s exclusive web content.

Eight steps to get ready for ERP The future of cloud computing Protection machine vision systems in rugged, harsh environments Robotics can automate, improve construction industry.

Control Engineering provides unique automation research: See more on the motor drives survey in this issue. Read other research summaries and sign up to download the full reports at www.controleng.com/ce-research.

NEWSLETTER: ENERGY AUTOMATION

Research team developing Tesla coil designs Keep up with the latest industry news by subscribing to Control Engineering’s 16 newsletters at www.controleng.com/newsletters: Thermal management requirements for edge computing Transfer switches: Which configuration is right for your system?

Seven enterprise resource planning selection challenges.

Festo All-Pneumatic Collaborative Robot Festo Bionic Learning Network’s all-pneumatic collaborative robot uses the Festo Motion Terminal, as demonstrated at SAP offices near Paris in July. See the article “Control Engineering career assistance” online at www.controleng.com. www.youtube.com/user/controlengineeringtv.

Info Management

Education & Training

On-demand webcasts: Couldn’t catch a recent webcast? See it ondemand at www.controleng.com/webcasts.

Webcasts

Aug. 24: IIoT Webcast Three: IIoT transforms predictive maintenance Aug. 22: Choosing sensors for the applications July 27: ERP with mobility energizes field services and plant-floor execution June 13: Leave My Things Alone – Getting Ready for IIoT

IIoT for Engineers IIoT for Engineers, September issue, provides information on getting from standards to applications, discussion of an Ethernet protocol, unleashing data that’s held captive, and optimized evaporative cooling.

Also, straight talk on industrial integration suggest that a hybrid environment of proprietary and open-source standards will persist.

See more IIoT at www.controleng.com and www.controleng.com/IIoT

Digital Edition See page 21 for details

et ity dg tiv bu uc d od n an pr g uctio cin od ifi cr ur pr t sa yo ou es ith ch w at g m rin at tu th ac th uf t pa an en m ur em yo plac ze re ni fit / er od tro M a re se oo Ch

Point, click, watch

Networking & Security

The tablet and digital editions of this publication have unique content for our digital subscribers.

See Digital Reports on human-machine interfaces and on motion control.

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www.controleng.com/digitaledition

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www.controleng.com

Ch oo M se od a er ni ret ro ze fit yo / rep ur lac man em uf en ac t pa tu rin th g th wi at th ma ou tch t sa es cri yo fic ur in pr g od pr uc od tio uc n tiv an ity d bu dg et

IIoT

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THINK AGAIN did you read these?

3010 Highland Parkway Suite 325, Downers Grove, IL 60515. 630-571-4070, Fax 630-214-4504

Hot topics for Control Engineering Hot topics in Control Engineering, from July 2016 through June 2017 include PID topics, System Integrator Giants, motor power, and programming help, among other topics.

T

The January release of the Con-

trol Engineering hot topic list makes it difficult for articles posted in the last few months to make the list. To remedy that calendar tyranny, below is a list of popular topics posted from July 2016 through June 2017. Article topics include proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control; System Integrator Giants; motor power considerations; and programming assistance.

Also on the list, the salary and career survey and advice (a perennial hot topic), highlighted the need to involve more women and young experts in the profession, which are the topics of September cover stories.

1. Understanding PID control and loop tuning fundamentals—July 26, 2016: PID loop tuning may not be a hard science, but it’s not magic. These tuning tips work.

2. The velocity of PID—Sept. 6, 2016: Inside Process: PID theory is best introduced as the familiar second order differential equation via the velocity form instead of the more traditional positional form.

3. 2016 System Integrator Giants—Dec. 15, 2016: This lists the top 100 system integrators among companies listed in the CFE Media Global System Integrator Database, ranked on total system integration revenue.

4. The PID learning process—March 6, 2017: While there are many excellent loop tuning methods available, many practitioners prefer tweaking PID tuning constants or using rules-of-thumb rather than doing the required step test and data analysis. Knowledge about how the individual PID components interact can go a long way to learning proper tuning theory and methods.

MORE

ADVICE GO ONLINE Search on the headline at www.controleng.com to link to other hot topics, posted with this September Control Engineering Think Again, online. If reading the digital edition, click on the headline for instant access.

8

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SEPTEMBER 2017

CONTROL ENGINEERING

5. How to properly operate a three-phase motor using single-phase power—Oct. 10, 2016: There are several methods to operating a three-phase motor using single-phase power to make what would be an otherwise expensive and arduous process a little easier.

6. Control Engineering Salary and Career Survey, 2017—May 16, 2017: Research shows that life-long learning remains critically important. To get youth interested in engineering, more investments in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and high-profile projects need to be made, respondents said.

7. PLC object-oriented programming benefits—Oct. 7, 2016: Object-oriented programming (OOP) is about organizing and simplifying program elements in an optimal way by using objects, methods, and properties.

8. Small-scale automation projects— Aug. 5, 2016: Inside Machines: How to get past time, money, and resource issues when executing small projects and specifying automation equipment and components.

9. Ladder logic 106: One shots—July 25, 2016: Different programmable logic controller (PLC) manufacturers use one shots to develop a scan that is exactly one scan in duration and can be generated from the rising or falling edge of the signal.

10. Tablet-based augmented reality helps predictive maintenance for pumps —Aug. 9, 2016: IIoT Video: sensors on critical pumps can feed a system to help technicians or operators identify when failures are pending and improve energy efficiency.

A major U.S. refinery will host a pilot pump diagnostic project, similar to an NIWeek 2016 stage demonstration held on Aug. 2.

The Industrial Internet of Things demo highlighted collaboration among multiple vendors. ce Mark T. Hoske, Content Manager MHoske@CFEMedia.com

Content Specialists/Editorial

Mark T. Hoske, Content Manager 847-830-3215, MHoske@CFEMedia.com Jack Smith, Content Manager 630-907-1622, JSmith@CFEMedia.com Kevin Parker, Senior Contributing Editor, IIoT, OGE 630-890-9682, KParker@CFEMedia.com Emily Guenther, Associate Content Manager eguenther@cfemedia.com Amanda Pelliccione, Director of Research 978-302-3463, APelliccione@CFEMedia.com Joy Chang, Digital Project Manager JChang@CFEMedia.com Chris Vavra, Production Editor CVavra@CFEMedia.com

Contributing Content Specialists Frank J. Bartos, P.E., braunbart@sbcglobal.net Peter Welander, Vance VanDoren,PWelander@CFEMedia.com Ph.D., P.E., controleng@msn.com Vance VanDoren, Ph.D., P.E., controleng@msn.com Suzanne Gill, Control Engineering Europe suzanne.gill@imlgroup.co.uk Suzanne Gill, Control Engineering Europe suzanne.gill@imlgroup.co.uk Ekaterina Kosareva, Control Engineering Russia ekaterina.kosareva@fsmedia.ru Ekaterina Kosareva, Control Engineering Russia ekaterina.kosareva@fsmedia.ru Wojciech Stasiak, Control Engineering Poland wojciech.stasiak@trademedia.us Wojciech Stasiak, Control Engineering Poland wojciech.stasiak@trademedia.us Lukáš Smelík, Control Engineering Czech Republic lukas.smelik@trademedia.us Lukáš Smelík, Control Engineering Czech Republic lukas.smelik@trademedia.us Aileen Jin, Control Engineering China aileenjin@cechina.cn Aileen Jin, Control Engineering China aileenjin@cechina.cn

Publication Services Publication Services Jim Langhenry, Co-Founder/Publisher, CFE Media JLanghenry@CFEMedia.com Jim Langhenry, Co-Founder/Publisher, CFE Media JLanghenry@CFEMedia.com Steve Rourke, Co-Founder, CFE Media

SRourke@CFEMedia.com Steve Rourke, Co-Founder, CFE Media SRourke@CFEMedia.com Trudy Kelly, Executive Assistant, 630-571-4070, x2205, TKelly@CFEMedia.com Trudy Kelly, Executive Assistant, 630-571-4070, x2205, TKelly@CFEMedia.com Elena Moeller-Younger, Marketing Manager 773-815-3795, EMYounger@CFEMedia.com Elena Moeller-Younger, Marketing Manager 773-815-3795, Kristen Nimmo,EMYounger@CFEMedia.com Marketing Manager

KNimmo@CFEMedia.com Kristen Nimmo, Marketing Manager KNimmo@CFEMedia.com Brian Gross, Marketing Consultant, Global SI Database 630-571-4070, x2217, BGross@CFEMedia.com Brian Gross, Marketing Consultant, Global SI Database 630-571-4070, BGross@CFEMedia.com Michael Smith,x2217, Creative Director 630-779-8910, Michael Smith,MSmith@CFEMedia.com Creative Director 630-779-8910, MSmith@CFEMedia.com Paul Brouch, Director of Operations

PBrouch@CFEMedia.com Paul Brouch, Director of Operations PBrouch@CFEMedia.com Michael Rotz, Print Production Manager

717-766-0211 Fax: 717-506-7238 Michael Rotz, x4207, Print Production Manager mike.rotz@frycomm.com 717-766-0211 x4207, Fax: 717-506-7238 mike.rotz@frycomm.com Maria Bartell, Account Director, Infogroup Targeting Solutions 847-378-2275, maria.bartell@infogroup.com Maria Bartell, Account Director, Infogroup Targeting Solutions 847-378-2275, maria.bartell@infogroup.com Rick Ellis, Audience Management Director

303-246-1250, REllis@CFEMedia.com Rick Ellis, Audience Management Director 303-246-1250, REllis@CFEMedia.com Letters to the editor : Please e-mail us your opinions to

MHoske@CFEMedia.com or fax 630-214-4504.

Letters Letters to the editor: Please e-mail us your opinions to should include name, company, and address, and may be edited.

MHoske@CFEMedia.com or fax 630-214-4504.

Letters should include name,For company, address, and may be edited.

Information: a Mediaand Kit or Editorial Calendar, email Trudy Kelly TKelly@CFEMedia.com.

Information: For aatMedia Kit or Editorial Calendar, email Trudyconsultants: Kelly at TKelly@CFEMedia.com.

Marketing See ad index.

Marketing consultants: See ad index.

Custom reprints, electronic: Brett Petillo Wright’s 281-419-5725, bpetillo@wrightsmedia.com Custom Media, reprints, electronic: Brett Petillo Wright’s Media, 281-419-5725, bpetillo@wrightsmedia.com

Editorial Advisory Board www.controleng.com/EAB Editorial Advisory Board www.controleng.com/EAB Doug Bell, president, InterConnecting Automation, www.interconnectingautomation.com Doug Bell, president, InterConnecting Automation, www.interconnectingautomation.com David Bishop, president and a founder Matrix Bishop, Technologies, www.matrixti.com David president and a founder Diversified Technical Services Inc. Daniel Technologies, E. Capano, president, Matrix www.matrixti.com of Stamford, CT, www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-capano-7b886bb0 Daniel E. Capano, president, Diversified Technical Services Inc. Frank Lamb, and owner of Stamford, CT,founder www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-capano-7b886bb0 Automation LLC, www.automationllc.com Frank Lamb,Consulting founder and owner Automation LLC, www.automationllc.com Joe Martin, Consulting president and founder Martin Control Systems, www.martincsi.com Joe Martin, president and founder MartinPierro, Control Systems,and www.martincsi.com Rick president co-founder Superior Controls, www.superiorcontrols.com Rick Pierro, president and co-founder Superior Controls, partner, www.superiorcontrols.com Mark Voigtmann, automation practice lead Faegre Baker Daniels, www.FaegreBD.com Mark Voigtmann, partner, automation practice lead Faegre Baker Daniels, www.FaegreBD.com

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input #5 at www.controleng.com/information

Connected Plant

Average annual salary Less than $50,000

5%

$50,000 to $69,999

$100,000 or more

15% 41%

research

25%

2016 MOBILITY, ETHERNET & WIRELESS STUDY

14%

Using, integrating Ethernet technologies

R

Respondents to the Control Engineering 2016 Mobility, Ethernet, & Wireless study identified five key findings about integration, use, and spending for Ethernet technologies and how they help users of automation, controls, and instrumentation increase productivity: 1. Technologies: More than half of respondents use, buy, or specify Ethernet switches (62%), wire or cable (61%), networks (53%), or routers (52%).

2. Usage: The majority of end users interface with industrial Ethernet technologies at work (on the plant floor/ operations); 36% have these technologies reaching into enterprise, and 33% use them at customer locations.

3. Integration: Three-quarters of respondents reported their controls, automation, and instrumentation are somewhat/highly integrated with Ethernet technologies. Over the past 12 months, integrating Ethernet devices has been somewhat challenging for 62%

$90,000 to $99,999

of companies, but they worked out the issues on their own, unlike the 11% who needed to call in a third-party.

4. Security: Rules mandated by IT departments are followed at 54% of companies when implementing security for Ethernet devices; 20% use local department rules, and 8% rely on employees to make security decisions on their own.

5. Expenditures: Fifty-three percent of respondents expect spending for Ethernet products and services to increase over the next year; 38% expect it to remain the same as last year. The majority of the budget allocated to Ethernet technologies is spent on products and software rather than services. ce View more information at www.controleng. com/2016MobilityEthernetWireless.

Amanda Pelliccione is the research director at CFE Media, apelliccione@cfemedia.com.

Industrial Ethernet technology benefits 53%

Data access

35%

Ease of use

32%

Productivity increases

29%

Cost savings Less downtime

20%

More effective maintenance

20%

Better asset management Time savings (speed)

17% 16%

More than half of survey respondents agree that the use of industrial Ethernet technologies provides better data access. Source: Control Engineering

10

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SEPTEMBER 2017

CONTROL ENGINEERING

$70,000 to $89,999

The average automation professional earned $96,000 in 2016.

Source: Control Engineering 2017 Career & Salary Survey

½

of end users report their HMI hardware to contain at least one Ethernet port (10/100/1000 Base-T). Source: Control Engineering 2017 HMI Software & Hardware Study

36%

of end users prefer to purchase motors and related variable speed drives, and ac/dc controller products as separate units. Source: Control Engineering 2017 Motor & Drives Study

44%

of end users expect IIoT and/or Industrie 4.0 to increase information flow and innovation at their facilities.

Source: Control Engineering 2016 Industrial Internet of Things & Industrie 4.0 Study

More research Control Engineering covers several research topics each year. All reports are available at www.controleng.com/ce-research.

www.controleng.com

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Š PHOENIX CONTACT 2017

input #6 at www.controleng.com/information

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE determinism

Time-sensitive networking’s benefits for the IIoT and manufacturing Time-sensitive networking (TSN) is moving from the idea stage to deterministic networking and the result of widespread adoption will lead to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

T

MORE

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS Time-sensitive networking (TSN) is designed to lead to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) revolution.

TSN will become a reality faster with strong collaboration between customers and vendors.

The success of TSN comes down to efficiency.

GO ONLINE Read more about time-sensitive networking (TSN) at www.controleng.com.

CONSIDER THIS What other benefits can TSN provide to manufacturers?

While companies won’t immediately be able to replace existing machines, they must change infrastructures in a way that allows machines to communicate with each other more effectively to take advantaging of time-sensitive networking (TSN) and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Courtesy: Cisco

12

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SEPTEMBER 2017

Time-sensitive networking (TSN) is finally moving from the idea stage to the main stage of deterministic networking. The IEEE TSN working group has completed the core set of standards required to implement TSN, the industry has developed the first products to support the technology, and simulations and demos are taking place. Widespread adoption of these technologies is the full-blown Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) revolution that has been talked about.

Full TSN implementation will take place over several phases, so companies won’t be able to just retrofit the technology into legacy systems. While companies won’t be able to immediately replace the existing machines, they must change infrastructures in a way that allows machines to communicate with each other more effectively. Many manufacturers have seen the benefits of standardized Ethernet within operations, and with TSN disparate networks aren’t needed to support timecritical and best-effort Ethernet traffic.

The promise of TSN is twofold. First, it’s based on standard Ethernet. The traffic found on standard Ethernet, such as video and HTML, can share the physical network with high-priority deterministic Ethernet, such as motion control. This is important because those industrial products that need deterministic services are now part of the network, requiring attention to latency and jitter. With TSN, all devices that are connected to the network can be part of a validated architecture, rather than being siloed.

TSN isn’t bogged down by going at set speeds at all times. Precise scheduling can speed up or slow down and prioritize delivery of whatever packet of information needs to be delivered. It has no jitter, even where it can accommodate more devices. Instead of treating every packet the same, it can receive and interpret all data at once, calculate the maximum amount of time that can be expended before transmission, and disseminate all information where it needs to go, seamlessly.

This technology is essential because as more devices come onto a network, the need for that

CONTROL ENGINEERING

central “hub” to direct all the trains—and ensure they come in on time—becomes more important.

From concept to reality

One of the most important concepts of Industrie 4.0 is the need for standard technologies that all vendors can operate. Instead of more than a dozen fieldbus protocols, which locks companies into doing business with one vendor (or requires translation devices), the principles of Industrie 4.0 stressed uniform standards to allow everyone to enter the digital age. That is what made TSN so valuable as a concept, and that is why it received so much attention as the standard was being developed.

What will make the technology into reality more quickly is strong collaboration. Providers of network infrastructure will have to work closely with customers and automation vendors. If this collaboration takes place the way it should, widespread adoption could occur within two years, and TSN should reach its full potential within five years.

The first step in this line of disruption will be the continued adoption of OPC Unified Architecture (OPC-UA). Once OPC-UA integrates functionality into one framework, it should carry TSN with it.

Why IEEE Standards are important

In many ways, the success of TSN comes down to efficiency. This is what will help guide in the IIoT to its fullest form. Plus, because the technology is based on IEEE standards, all companies can participate. This means a breadth of products will be available to support TSN from vendors. If no such ecosystem existed, there would be no critical mass of companies implementing the technologies. Having interoperability—essentially standards that all vendors must adhere to—will drive the industry to develop products that support the TSN standard.

When the IEEE TSN working group completed the core set of standards required to implement TSN, it became clear that IIoT capabilities soon would be available. As the first TSN products are deployed, we are getting closer to that reality. ce

Albert Mitchell is senior technical marketing engineer, Cisco. Edited by Chris Vavra, production editor, Control Engineering, cvavra@cfemedia.com. www.controleng.com

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INDUSTRY NEWS and events

Technical center for CNCs, machine learning expanded Machine tool dealers, importers, and end-users of computer numerical controls (CNCs) received additional learning opportunities including classroom training, online instructor-led training, and online self-paced training with the Siemens expansion of its Technical Application Center (TAC). Operating since 2009, the TAC provides the ideal setting for enhancing CNC machining knowledge.

The center occupies more than 3,150-sqft at the Elk Grove Village, Ill., facility.

The expanded machine lab also features three milling machines and one turning center for hands-on learning, as well as a robotic center. Two classrooms provide students with instructor-led, hands-on training using software and CNC simulators.

“Manufacturers are continuously looking for ways to train their employees on evolving CNC technologies as they transition to digital factories.

Hands-on training and virtual programs like these are extremely important,” said Sascha Fischer, segment manager, Siemens Motion Control, Machine Tool Business.

Two classrooms provide students with instructor-led, hands-on training using software and computer numerical control (CNC) simulators. Courtesy: Siemens

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Professional-level training courses are offered on topics including: Mixed technology operation and programming Flexible numerical control (NC) programming Multi-channel operation and programming Advanced measuring cycles Post-processor development Programmable logic controller (PLC) commissioning and service 4th-axis integration Part and tool probe installation.

A virtual TAC is available to individuals looking to expand CNC knowledge at no cost online, and virtual one-onone, customized training courses can be requested for larger groups.

- Edited from a Siemens press release by CFE Media.

Internet, manufacturing groups sign memorandum of understanding

R

epresentatives for the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) and the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA) International signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work together to advance shared interests in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

Under the agreement, the IIC and MESA, a not-for-profit organization comprised of manufacturing companies and information technology suppliers, will work to align efforts to maximize interoperability, portability, security, and privacy for the industrial Internet.

Joint activities will include: Identifying and sharing IIoT best practices Realizing interoperability by harmonizing architecture and other elements Collaborating on standardization Collaborating in the areas of industrial analytics and asset performance management (APM).

- Edited from an IIC press release by CFE Media.

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Digital edition? Click on headlines for more details.

See news daily at www.controleng.com/news

Records set in robotics, machine vision, motion control The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) reported that many records were set in the areas of robotics, machine vision, motion control, and motor technology for the first half of 2017.

The North American robotics market had its best opening half ever in 2017, setting new records in order units, order revenue, shipment units, and shipment revenue. In total, 19,331 robots valued at approximately $1.031 billion were sold in North America in first-half 2017, the highest level ever recorded to begin a year.

These figures represent growth of 33% in units and 26% in dollars over 2016.

For first-half 2017, orders for motion control and motor products totaled $1.622 billion, up 14% over first-half 2016. Shipments totaled $1.757 billion, up 10% over first-half 2016. Fastest growing categories of shipments were motion controllers (21% to $97 million), sensors and feedback devices (20% to $76 million), actuators and mechanical systems (17% to $318 million), and ac drives (17% to $199 million).

In 2017, the machine vision market in North America also posted its best first half performance compared to any other year. A total of $1.241 billion was sold in the first six months of the year, an increase of 11% over the same period in 2016.

Machine vision component markets were

up 11% in total to $177 million, and systems increased 10% to $1.058 billion. Some notable growth rates were: lighting (20% to $35 million), smart cameras (16% to $183 million), and optics (16% to $20 million).

- Edited from an A3 press release by CFE Media. A3 is a CFE Media content partner.

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Headlines online Industry events Upcoming industry events include: Process Expo 2017, Chicago, Sept. 19-22 www.myprocessexpo.com Pack Expo and Healthcare Packaging Expo, Las Vegas, Sept. 25-27 www.packexpolasvegas.com Fabtech, Chicago, Nov. 6-9 www.fabtechexpo.com/about A3 Business Forum, Orlando, Jan. 17-19, 2018 https://a3.a3automate.org/a3/businessforum ARC Industry Forum 2018, Orlando, Feb. 12-15, 2018; www.arcweb.com/events/ arc-industry-forum-orlando

Top five Control Engineering articles

Aug. 21-27: Most-visited articles included PCbased controls, augmented reality, IIoT and collaborative robots, assembly robots, and fewer alerts.

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input #9 at www.controleng.com/information

COVER STORY women in engineering

Creating a gender balance in the oil and gas sector Career update: While the oil and gas sector is still male-dominated, engineering-minded associations are working to motivate more women to work in the field.

W

While technology and engineering con-

stantly evolve, the gender balance is an issue that still needs to be addressed by those who work in MORE the sector. Throughout history, the engineering ADVICE industry has traditionally underplayed its female KEY CONCEPTS workforce. For example, how many people could Initiatives to promote women in name the famous male machinist and engineer engineering who industrialized car production in 1920s AmerThe status of women in the oil and ica (Henry Ford), compared to the female engigas sector neer—and movie star—behind a remote-controlled Programs that help promote communications system for the U.S military durgender balance within the oil and gas industry. ing World War II which now serves as a basis for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi network connections (Hedy GO ONLINE For related links about the oil and Lamarr). gas sector, read this article online, Male-dominated sectors such as the oil and with more information on each of the gas industry have been working hard over the four women. In the digital edition, years to address this issue and at the same time click on the headline or search the encourage more females into engineering from headline for www.controleng.com. an early age.

CONSIDER THIS Earlier this year, the oil and gas industry’s safety, What are you doing to promote gender balance in engineering? standards, and workforce development organization, OPITO published its Youth Perception Report.

More than 500 schools and college students from key energy hubs around the U.K. were asked their opinions about the future of the industry.

The report showed that 81% of respondents still are interested in pursuing a career in the oil and gas industry. Among those who were surveyed between the ages 14 and 21, the top three reasons were the opportunity to work around the world (24%), the development and use of cutting edge science and Lauren McIntosh completed her OPTAP technology (20%), and apprenticeship this summer and is now salary (19%). Howevworking full time with her sponsoring er, only approximately company, Maersk Oil. All images cour20% of those surveyed tesy: The Big Partnership and who wanted to

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pursue a career in the energy sector were women.

John McDonald, chief executive at OPITO and a member of the Scottish Government’s Energy Jobs Taskforce, said, “Whilst there is much positivity to take from this report, it is clear that we need to continue to find ways of attracting more women into the sector. Estimates around the proportion of female employees in the oil and gas workforce generally average around 20%.

“The oil and gas sector is incredibly broad in terms of the spectrum of career options it offers.

However, the technical job roles like technicians and engineers still suffer from the stigma of being traditionally seen as male roles.

“Similarly, girls aren’t always actively encouraged to choose science and maths subjects at school or to take part in extra-curricular activities like science fairs and engineering competitions in the same way boys are.

“At the other end of the scale, there’s also the need to attract and recruit experienced engineers. It is critical that employers can tap into as wide a pool of talent as possible, a task made significantly more difficult if the large proportion of females qualified in these disciplines cannot be enticed to enter or stay in the sector.”

Apprenticeships for women

OPITO is involved in several industry initiatives throughout the year to help engage with young people, attract fresh talent, and support the sector’s ongoing growth. The organization also manages events to promote awareness such as the Oil and Gas Technical Apprentice Programme (OGTAP) in partnership with the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board.

The program has seen 70 female apprentices successfully enter the industry through this program. It includes a 21-month period at college to gain nationally-recognized qualifications, followed by two years of on-the-job training with the sponsoring company.

More than a dozen operator and service supply businesses participate and sponsor these programs to support apprentices, including Shell, www.controleng.com

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COVER STORY women in engineering

BP, Chevron Upstream Europe, Repsol Sinopec Resources U.K. Ltd., Aker Solutions, Wood Group, and Maersk Oil North Sea U.K. Ltd. “A prosperous and thriving engineering industry is vital for the U.K.’s economic future.

Research by Engineering U.K. found an additional 1.8 million engineers and technically qualified people will be needed by 2025. So, as well as the requirement to retain a significantly higher proportion of qualified personnel for key careers, the need to attract new talent has never been more important,” said McDonald.

While placements are by merit, more needs to be done Ellie Mair believes the industry to inform young women about appeals to those who have a vocarewarding engineering careers, tion for engineering despite their with global travel available in gender. many industries, including the energy sector.

“The values, interests, experience, and approaches women bring to the sector can differ from those contributed by men, helping to lead our industry and its technology in new directions. We as an industry must change our cultural message to show that females represent a resource base of talent for science, technology, and innovation.”

The next generation of female engineers

In the past, the oil and gas sector has had few female role models for young women to see clearly how their subject choices at school can translate into careers in the oil and gas sector. One of the company’s leading the way in this area is Maersk Oil North Sea U.K. Ltd. Almost half of the firm’s U.K. leadership team are women, 23% of its employees are female and Gretchen Watkins stepped up from chief operating officer to CEO last year.

Lauren McIntosh, 24, from Monifieth in Dundee, Scotland, is a former OGTAP process technician. She completed her apprenticeship with Maersk Oil North Sea U.K. Ltd. this summer and is now a production improver with the company.

“I had previously begun studying neuroscience at university, but I didn’t enjoy it and didn’t like the thought of working in an office or at a desk all day. I liked the idea of working in an environment where every day is different. My typical day now involves operating and monitoring plant equip-

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ment to ensure safe and efficient production of oil and gas.

“When I was at college I’d say approximately 10% of my year were females. At Maersk Oil U.K. Ltd. most of my technical colleagues are men, but we do have a strong representation of women in the business. Almost half of our U.K. leadership team are women in roles like asset director, subsurface director and HSSEQ director. Maersk Oil also has a female CEO, Gretchen Watkins.”

McIntosh said too many women still don’t see engineering as a viable option and “may even feel intimidated by the thought of working in a maledominated industry,” adding that people usually are surprised she works offshore as a technician.

“I think more should be done to encourage girls from a young age that engineering is an option for them. In schools, female engineers could give talks about their experiences and why they have chosen a career and engineering and hopefully encourage others to do the same,” McIntosh said.

Currently in her final year of OGTAP, 20-yearold Ellie Mair is from Buckie in Moray, Scotland.

She works a “three weeks on, three weeks off ” rotation for Chevron North Sea Ltd. on the Alba North fixed platform in the U.K. Central North Sea. “My role as an electrical technician apprentice mainly entails the maintenance of electrical equipment from inspection checks to preventive and corrective maintenance on motors, transformers, lighting, batteries and UPS, explosive atmosphere equipment, etc., as well as fault finding and repairs on breakdowns,” Mair said.

“I also get exposure to the operational side of things, such as isolating high-voltage drives and controlling platform power generation,” she said, explaining that engineering grants her what she wants in life. “I could not envisage myself sitting at a desk, working nine-to-five Monday to Friday with little time to entertain my real passion for travelling the world … a career offshore will allow me the time and the money to do this.”

“Offshore, there are normally around three women on board at any one time to 100-plus men, this includes the catering staff. I’ve been told that the Norwegian offshore sector is almost 50:50 female to male. I’m not sure why Norway has more equality; maybe it’s a cultural thing, and more women want to work in engineering, or maybe they have more opportunities or had more open and encouraging attitudes decades ago.

“Most girls I know aren’t interested in engineering as a subject in general, and a few girls have asked me why I don’t find it intimidating to work surrounded by males, so I believe ‘having it in you’ is a big factor. I think until the ratio www.controleng.com

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COVER STORY women in engineering

changes, attitude toward having to work with men plays a massive role. But I don’t think it will ever change because speaking from an offshore point of view, and not the engineering industry in general, if you don’t see it as a vocation, there’s nothing overtly enticing for women to consider this as a career option.

“I believe the glass ceiling does still exist. Guys I work with speak about retirement and how they’ve done 36 years offshore, and I sit listening and thinking, ‘How can this ever be me if I want to start a family at some point?’ Of course, you can go back to work after Amy Henderson, an instrument babies but it would mean via technician for Shell, was motivatan onshore route and most ed by her brother to start a career likely a slower progression in engineering. compared to a male counterpart who joined the industry at the same time as I did. In a way, the biology and the time away from work can’t be denied, so in my opinion, I’m not sure how much can be done to change this barrier.”

Operating company Shell is one of the major OGTAP sponsors. Amy Henderson, who is 21 and from Kennoway in Fife, Scotland, recently completed her apprenticeship with the firm.

She works as an instrument technician onshore at the Fife Natural Gas Liquids (FNGL) Mossmorran Fractionation Plant near Cowdenbeath in Fife, which Shell operates.

“My older brother completed the OGTAP apprenticeship as an electrical technician. He recommended the program to me but said I might find instrumentation was more suited to me—he was right.

“I hadn’t done anything relating to engineering when at school except sciences, and I had never heard of instrumentation so I thought it (OGTAP) would allow me to learn something new and would be different from an ordinary office job.

I thought it would be a reliable job with a good income.

“My role includes carJennifer Atkinson would strongly rying out planned routine encourage all young girls to conmaintenance and corrective sider working offshore. maintenance on instrumenta-

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tion equipment. I like how everyday can be different, and you are always learning something new.

“I think so many girls do not choose to study or work in engineering because it’s often seen as a ‘man’s job’ and not very appealing to many females. This could be because it’s most likely they will have a majority of male colleagues, but I have not found this an issue as I am treated as an equal.

They may also not like the idea of wearing the PPE [personal protective equipment] and potentially getting a bit dirty. I didn’t particularly like having to wear the PPE at the start, but you get used to it.

It’s like any job that requires a uniform but this one is functional, as it makes you easily identifiable to your colleagues and your clothes cleaner.”

Jennifer Atkinson is an OGTAP instrumentation and control maintenance apprentice. The 23-year-old from Orkney, Scotland, works with her sponsoring company Repsol Sinopec Resources U.K. Ltd. as an instrument technician on the onshore terminal in Flotta. Her role involves the maintenance of the equipment and instruments at the facility.

Currently, Repsol Sinopec Resources U.K. Ltd. sponsors 45 OGTAP apprentices in different stages of the program.

Atkinson said more needs to be done to inspire women to consider a career in instrumentation and controls.

“I think there is still a lack of encouragement for girls to choose engineering subjects and interests from a young age,” Atkinson said. “I was never told about apprenticeships at school and in my experience, just not as encouraged into the field as boys.”

More should be done to stop imposing gender divisions at a young age, she said, adding that the gender associations should stop, such as with blue and pink toys and certain school subjects.

“I would strongly encourage young girls to go for it. There’s still a clear divide in the industry, and it’s still a male-dominated one. The U.K. has surprisingly low numbers of professional female engineers compared to other countries, and they’re crying out for them. Most importantly, engineering is fun; you get to fix things, and you can apply these skills to life outside work too.”

In addition, Atkinson said interest from an early age isn’t necessarily required, explaining that she had travelled as well as worked as a relief social care assistant with the elderly prior to the apprenticeship. ce Pam Duncan is the senior account manager at The Big Partnership. Edited by Emily Guenther, associate content manager, Control Engineering, CFE Media, eguenther@cfemedia.com www.controleng.com

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COVER STORY engineering enthusiasm

2017 Engineering Leaders Under 40 Control Engineering and Plant Engineering are honored to have discovered and to serve the 35 engineering professionals named as this year’s Engineering Leaders Under 40.

Below is a preview of the Class of 2017, with individual profiles and more images online.

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Three building blocks among successful and impactful Engineering Leaders Under 40 are education, workplace contributions, and engineering community participation. These key identifiers, along with a few other unique attributes, are clearly represented by the Class of 2017.

Education

In this well-educated group, each has earned a degree in at least one engineering discipline.

This year’s leaders hold 48 academic degrees: 3 associates, 31 bachelor’s, 13 master’s, and 1 doctoral. The most studied disciplines among the leaders are electrical engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, and computer or software engineering.

Workplace contributions

Engineers agree that details are important, and the Class of 2017 applies an extreme level of attention to each project and push themselves—and their companies—further ahead of the competition. Among other impressive achievements, this year’s leaders are developing solutions to reduce cost and improve product quality, founding holistic cybersecurity platforms, and keeping workers safe on the job.

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Community involvement

The Class of 2017 has been working hard to inspire the next generation of engineers. Through volunteer work and mentoring youth and colleagues, these leaders have been making their marks on the future of engineering outside of work day responsibilities.

Examples of this commitment include developing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs for K-8 children; coaching a high school FIRST robotics team; growing programs to encourage female engineering students; building houses with Habitat for Humanity; and teaching Cub Scouts how to design and build video games. ce

View profiles and photos for each at www.controleng.com/EngineeringLeaders.

The 2017 Engineering Leaders Under 40 will be honored at the 2018 Engineering Awards in Manufacturing dinner hosted by CFE Media in Spring 2017, in downtown Chicago. Learn how to nominate for 2018 at www.controleng.com/EngineeringLeaders.

Sierra Grayson, Amanda Pelliccione, Mark T. Hoske, and Bob Vavra are CFE Media staff involved in this year’s program management, selection, writing, and editing. www.controleng.com

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PROCESS wireless sensor networks

Putting wireless sensor networks to work As wireless sensor networks become more reliable, their applications continue to grow.

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MORE

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS Wireless sensors typically are small, self-contained, low-power units with a modest amount of processing power.

The most significant feature of the new generation of wireless sensors is their size.

Wireless access control and area monitoring are already done extensively by wireless technology.

GO ONLINE Read this story online at www.controleng.com for more information on wireless sensor networks.

Wireless research online from Control Engineering is available at www.controleng.com/ce-research.

CONSIDER THIS What applications could be good candidates for wireless sensor networks?

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ensor networks are built from an infrastructure of local sensors, a communications medium, and a central, common data processing facility. A wireless sensor network builds on this concept by allowing the untethering of the sensors from the bounded medium. This allows a lot of freedom and flexibility in the placement of sensors and the ability to fine tune the monitoring capability of the network. A wireless sensor network (WSN) is the natural outgrowth of the advances made in wireless technology, miniaturization, and batteries.

This technology also is driving the proliferation of consumer grade sensors and devices that are the basis of what is popularly called the Internet of Things (IoT) that is capturing the public’s imagination. This article will focus on the basics of WSNs and how to use them. Readers of Control Engineering have read how wireless local area networks (WLANs) can be used to great advantage by increasing efficiency and reducing lost time; WSNs will expand this concept even further by leveraging existing wireless (and wired) infrastructures to build extensive networks of sensors that will reach into almost every area of life.

Saving power

Wireless sensors typically are small, selfcontained, low power units with a modest amount of processing power. The key concept to this technology is the capability of wireless communication, either with a central portal or as part of a mesh using other devices to extend range. Wireless sensors rely heavily on power saving algorithms to remain operational over the long term. Battery technology is improving; increased battery capacity, coupled with the capability of going dormant for extended periods of time, allow for expected battery life into several years of operation.

Most mobile devices already have this capability—Bluetooth and Zigbee, for example—as power saving algorithms are a required feature in all Wi-Fi certified devices, as well as in devices conforming to the IEEE 802.15.4-2015: IEEE Standard for Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Networks

CONTROL ENGINEERING

(WPANs) wireless standard. The concept is simply that if there is no activity or event to report, the sensor “goes to sleep.” Upon an event or a predetermined time period, the sensor wakes up, assesses the situation, reports status, and then goes back to sleep. This cycle also can be triggered by a polling algorithm that addresses each sensor in turn. Duty cycle also can be adjusted to switch the sensor on and off, effectively cutting power consumption in half. The point is that these sensors are designed from the ground up to operate as low power nodes.

A matter of size: many small sensors

The most significant feature of the new generation of wireless sensors is their size. Sensors are called by names that conjure up distinct images: “smart dust,” “commercial off-the-shelf motes,” or simply “motes.” Their sizes range from nanoscale to macroscopic. The former describes biological or small passive sensors, which may or may not be embedded; the latter refers to larger sensors, such as toll collection tags, access cards, and the like. The idea is to deploy an infrastructure of small, low power, low bit rate distributed sensors with varying degrees of computing power that will form larger, high resolution, almost organic networks.

Data processing will be done by conventional means by fixed central data processing facilities being fed data from the network and performing the bulk of processing. Data processing within the network itself also is being contemplated, creating, in a sense, a “distributed processor.” The eventual realization is a large distributed network communicating with and between a wide variety of sensors that will operate autonomously. This will require a common, open communication and data standard to ensure seamless interoperability.

Applying wireless sensor technologies

The list of applications for which wireless sensors can be used is quite long. A common application is security systems. Wireless access control and area monitoring are already done extensively by wireless technology. Another is the national power grid, or more familiarly, the nationwide www.controleng.com

network of weather stations. The common aspect in these already realized sensor networks is the capability to communicate over existing communication infrastructure. However, many systems are highly specialized and employ proprietary communication schemes, adding greatly to cost and complexity, hence the need for a standardized approach.

It is envisioned that future sensor networks will communicate over a large mesh architecture, with each node having the ability to forward data from other nodes, eventually landing at an aggregator where the disparate data will be processed.

Sensors will be deployed in high density networks and in large quantities. They will be internetworked using short-haul, low-power wireless links between nodes, while the existing communications infrastructure, particularly WLANs and Internet connectivity, will be used for long-haul communication.

WSNs will facilitate the instrumenting and control of homes, factories, treatment plants, ships, airplanes—the list is endless. With ubiquitous sensor networks, every facet of operation can be monitored, allowing a building, for example, to report on a structural weakness, or a treatment

process to spot anomalies that would be missed by fixed traditional sensors. In an industrial process, wireless sensors could be injected into the process stream and continuously monitor thousands of points. Smart sensors that monitor several different parameters also could perform as miniature laboratories, sending data back to a SCADA system for required action. Even the human body can be instrumented using this technology, and will be extensively used to monitor such things as blood chemistry, or the body’s complex electrical activity, communicating this data to the patient’s doctor and warning of potentially harmful events.

The list of applications for WSNs is endless.

Finally, a word of caution: as we have seen with the explosion of mobile devices, it is easy to become dependent on them and lose our ability to think for ourselves. WSNs are not a replacement for critical and analytical thought and action. ce Daniel E. Capano is a senior instrumentation project manager at Gannett Fleming Engineers and Architects in New York. He is a Control Engineering Editorial Advisory Board member.

Edited by Jack Smith, content manager, CFE Media, Control Engineering, jsmith@cfemedia.com.

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WSNs will facilitate the instrumenting and control of homes, factories, treatment plants, ships, airplanes—the

’

list is endless.

CLOUD COMPUTING integration, security

An integrated network for Industrie 4.0 System integration via the cloud makes networking at the production level easy and secure by vertically integrating management and systems as well as providing a security function for Industrie 4.0.

T

he implementation of smart factory technologies and platforms, such as Industrie 4.0, is attracting a great deal of attention and requires integration and optimization of the information technology (IT) systems used at the management, production, and field levels. However, integrating field networks with higher levels using IT can pose problems for the network’s speed and capacity.

Traditionally, the management level has been located at headquarters while the production and field levels are at plants. Because of globalization, however, many production and field levels are dispersed in different areas of the world, which requires systems appropriate to each region to be constructed. To achieve optimized management and IT systems, the management level often is located regionally (Figure 1).

Global integration of manufacturing IT systems that use the cloud has many factors that need to be mitigated, such as exchange rate fluctuations. This means that information must be rapidly available to respond to these changes.

In most cases, a custom-made IT system would be optimized for business operations, but this requires an enormous investment in time and money. On top of that, there is a chance that the system might become obsolete as it goes into operation.

Abandoning custom-made systems and using cloud services to fulfill business operation requirements is designed to improve management efficiency and agility.

System integration via the cloud makes networking at the production level easy and secure by vertically integrating management and systems and providing a security function. The

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ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS Implementation of Industrie 4.0 requires integration and optimization of the information technology (IT) systems.

In the future, cloud applications will be adopted to support Big Data and artificial intelligence (AI).

Integration between networks can help protocols to seamlessly connect different types of field networks.

GO ONLINE Read additional stories from CCLink online at www.controleng.com.

CONSIDER THIS What other benefits can Industrie 4.0 and network integration provide for companies?

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Figure 1: A manufacturing information technology (IT) system and batch management system can communicate through a cloud architecture. All graphics courtesy: CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) CONTROL ENGINEERING

www.controleng.com

attitude towards security also differs at the field level as consistent productivity is required even in the case of an incident. Safety at this level is also vital.

Because the field level often will include a variety of networks, seamless connection is required to straddle different layers of networks.

Field networks need to integrate with production given the real-time operation constraints.

system to field devices without considering the differences.

Ethernet is adopted as the lowerlevel communication layer and a token passing method is its higher-level communication control method. In the token passing method, data transmission rights—tokens—are relayed around

the network between stations following a designated route. Only those stations having data transmission right can transmit data.

Currently, tokens are circulated around a statically determined route, but technically, it also is possible to change this route dynamically at random intervals. In

Future manufacturing IT systems

In the future, cloud applications will be adopted to support Big Data and artificial intelligence (AI). Meanwhile, the manufacturing industry increasingly will use applications such as preventive maintenance to minimize facility downtime. To provide for these new applications, field-level networks will need to be high-speed and have the capacity to handle large quantities of sensor data.

The trend away from production to mass customization is advancing into job production. To achieve low-cost production, technical issues must be overcome, such as reconfiguring a field network to improve optimization.

Security is provided at the production level and field networks are costoptimized with a focus on design for productivity such as processing time.

One of the most important requirements for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is to ensure that the data and information are secure.

Stefan Hoppe, OPC Foundation global VP, said, “In a connected world connectivity and interoperability have no value without security.”

Safe communication can include communication between safety field devices and a safety controller as well as transmission and reception of data between controllers. When one process is stopped by a safety function, other related processes are synchronized to stop to permit a rapid restart following recovery.

Integration

Seamless message protocol (SLMP) is defined as a mechanism for integrating and seamlessly connecting different types of field networks. This protocol enables connection from a higher-level SEPTEMBER 2017

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input #14 at www.controleng.com/information

CLOUD COMPUTING integration, security

‘

It must be possible to easily find the location of trouble

’

on the network.

the future, this will enable route switching depending on the product to be manufactured (Figure 2).

Simultaneous troubleshooting also is important in network configuration. It must be possible to easily find the location of trouble on the network. Management tools for network event history and a network diagnostic tool can help users find the cause quickly. ce Figure 2: This example of dynamic network configuration displays flexibility for future configurations.

Haruyaki Otani is with CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA). This article originally appeared in a June 2017 Control Engineering Europe supplement. Edited by Chris Vavra, production editor, Control Engineering, cvavra@cfemedia.com.

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BIG DATA cloud computing

How cloud computing works for industrial processes Cloud computing can process, filter, and analyze data using an HMI that can then be turned into actionable information for industrial facilities.

C

loud computing is just one of the components for Big Data implementations in industrial process and facilities. While it can be particularly effective for remote monitoring applications, the data must first be collected and pushed to the cloud, then stored and analyzed to create usable information.

This usually involves several steps, starting at the edge device and ending with information delivery to end users. Modern human-machine interfaces (HMIs) play a crucial role, making connections to smart edge devices and controllers, and filtering the data before pushing it to the cloud.

Cloud computing defined

Cloud computing can be defined as the delivery of computing services—such as servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and more over the internet. There are many cloud service providers, and most typically charge for cloud computing services based on usage, like a monthly utility bill.

With little or no information technology (IT) management effort required, cloud computing provides network access to a wide variety of computing resources. Cloud computing is a little more than a decade old and includes common technology for tasks such as hosting websites and blogs, storing data, and streaming audio or video. The software applications can be as simple as email, a calendar, and office tools.

The cloud also can be used to deliver software on-demand, and to provide computing capability to analyze data.

For example, data can be pushed to the cloud, and the resulting patterns can be used to make predictions. With the appropriate data in the cloud, Software as a Service (SaaS) and

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) often are used to provide cloud computing services to store and analyze data. The returned information or analysis results then can be used by the HMI on the plant floor, or by any device with an internet connection, such as a laptop, smartphone, or tablet.

Collecting and filtering data

While analytics, historian, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and other systems may be hosted in the cloud, these applications need plant floor data. This data starts at the edge, supplied by either a sensor, or a smart edge device such as a smart instrument, a power meter, a variablefrequency drive, etc. These components are connected to a controller, to a PC-based HMI, or other HMI. A new trend is embedding HMI functionality in the smart edge device, allowing data to be processed at the source.

Wherever the HMI is based, it can filter data before pushing it to the cloud or other storage area.

It is not necessary to collect all the data every second, or even every minute, for some applications.

The data may need to be saved only when it exceeds certain values or moves outside a defined range. Some modern HMIs can be configured, using faceplates, to filter and consolidate the data before pushing it to the cloud (Figure).

An HMI provides most of the communication with controllers and other edge devices using built-in drivers. Not only can

MORE

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS Cloud computing for industrial processes The benefits of cloud computing How to host an HMI to filter and collect data.

GO ONLINE For related links about cloud computing, read this article online.

In the digital edition, click on the headline or search the headline for www.controleng.com.

CONSIDER THIS What are the best practices for cloud computing for industrial processes?

Figure: Data must be collected, by human-machine interfaces (HMIs) in this illustration, and pushed to the cloud before analysis can be performed and predictions made. Microsoft defines cloud computing as the delivery of computing services over the internet. (Microsoft Azure is among cloud service providers.)

Courtesy: InduSoft www.controleng.com

CONTROL ENGINEERING

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TECHNOLOGY virtualization

Four virtualization technology myths holding organizations back Virtualization technology beliefs are debunked, proving to be very beneficial for critical, industrial applications and optimizing operations.

V

irtualization of computer hardware is here to stay, and it proves its value in industrial applications. The automation and operational hardware and software that industrial organizations depend on are more reliable, cost-effective, and efficient when they’re run in a virtual environment.

However, some organizations have yet to embrace virtualization. Resistance to the opportunities of virtualization often stems from four common myths. Organizations that have ignored these myths have gone on to implement state-of-the-art virtualization applications that have decreased outages and hours spent on system maintenance.

MYTH #1: Complex systems will increase dependence on contractors and automation vendors

In the earliest days of virtualization technology, virtualization systems were complex and difficult to manage. Configuring a new virtual architecture was a specialization requiring engineering and information technology (IT) expertise and significant resources. As a result, many organizations have come to believe that these systems were simply too much for in-house automation engineers to handle and resisted engaging IT. In recent years, however, new virtualization software packages have been built around the control systems that industrial organizations use, with the purpose of making virtualization more userfriendly. These new virtualized infrastructures are designed to naturally extend automation personnel’s expertise.

Virtualized control system applications are designed to mimic the look and feel of the control system software, simplifying the transition from traditional installation to virtual. Best-in-class virtual control system packages include a visualizer that lets technicians see how the virtual networks are laid out, removing the abstraction of how they are configured, simplifying management. www.controleng.com

In addition, to ease the strain of choosing a hardware backbone, suppliers offer a variety of recommended hardware configurations to support virtualized control system software packages. Hardware can include preconfigured virtual machine templates, with the control system installed and configured with the proper operating system settings to support operation. Using these templates, automation personnel can quickly and intuitively deliver best-practice installation and configuration of the control system.

A best practice is also to develop control system packages with comprehensive manuals, videos, training, and other online features to guide users through control system configuration. With available resources for installation, configuration, and troubleshooting of these packages, automation technicians can manage control system deployments.

Implementing a virtual solution for automation software also can simplify support, freeing organizations from relying on costly contractors when problems arise. Because virtualized control systems are available as consumer-off-the-shelf products, the plant’s virtualized control system is no longer a custom deployment with an unlimited number of variables, thus, global technical support often is available for the product. The standard configurations of virtualized packages allow automation teams to rely on standard support around the clock.

Rather than requiring new personnel with new expertise, virtualized automation system software allows current automation personnel to confidently control the backbone of the control system.

MORE

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS The benefits of virtualization technology for industrial applications.

The myths behind virtualized platforms.

How virtualization can optimize operations.

GO ONLINE For related links about virtualization technology, read this article online. In the digital edition, click on the headline or search the headline for www.controleng.com.

CONSIDER THIS What steps should be considered to ensure that virtualization architecture is secure and installed properly?

MYTH #2: Critical applications shouldn’t be virtualized

Virtualization technology has been available for many years, but the perceived complexity and related lack of understanding contribute to the myth that virtualization only is useful for noncritical plant applications. Because industrial environments rely on many critical applications for CONTROL ENGINEERING

SEPTEMBER 2017

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safety, production, and auditing, virtualization products support these applications.

The most critical applications in an environment often are the best candidates for virtualization. Applications running in a virtual environment are more dependable than those running on traditional physical hardware. Relying on virtualization to support these applications in an industrial environment means an increase in production and reliability.

When a control system runs on traditional hardware and that hardware fails, the results can include an emergency for operations or an unplanned process outage. If the organization does not have spare hardware to resolve the failure, the outage can last hours or even days as technicians wait for replacement parts.

In contrast, a control system running on a virtual platform with high-availability features is at an extremely minimal risk of shutdown. Even in the most extreme hardware failures, highavailability features automatically will move and reboot a virtual machine in minutes, resulting in a running replacement long before most operations personnel are aware there is a problem.

Critical applications running in a virtual environment have a much higher uptime. For that reason, the most critical applications in a facility are the ones that should be virtualized first.

MYTH #3: A virtual environment is too costly

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www.ids-imaging.us/usb3.1 input #17 at www.controleng.com/information

Virtualized control systems often are similar in cost to equivalent traditional hardware. For this reason, many making this decision find themselves wondering why they would change.

In the short-term, traditional hardware may be comparable in cost to a virtual platform, however, the total cost of ownership (TCO) of a virtual system is significantly lower than that of traditional hardware infrastructure for many reasons: Easy upgrades: Eventually, even the best control system needs upgrades. With a traditional infrastructure, this usually will mean purchasing new hardware for the upgrade. It also will mean technicians need to manually perform upgrades. A virtual platform removes these hassles. Virtual technology decouples software and hardware, allowing the software upgrades to be completed separately from hardware upgrades.

High availability: When machine hardware fails, someone needs to fix it. With a virtualized platform, high availability features automatically move a machine off of the failed hardware and get it to run on functioning equipment. Replacing or repairing the failed hardware can be completed when it is convenient, taking those tasks off the critical path.

Decreased footprint: A virtual platform uses less hardware.

This means less weight and space used by equipment overall, as well as utility savings as HVAC costs to cool the server room drop. Moreover, these HVAC savings, coupled with the energy savings of less hardware, translate to a reduced carbon footprint.

While savings may not be apparent immediately, the cost benefits over 5 to 7 years of ownership and operation of a virtualized control system can save thousands, if not millions of dollars.

MYTH #4: Virtualization puts too much reliability and risk on one point of failure

Every organization finds value in redundancy for its critical equipment, and the hardware backbone of the control

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Virtualization reduces the hardware footprint of physical systems by enabling them to exist as virtualized systems for development, testing, and training. Courtesy: Emerson Automation Systems

system is no exception. For this reason, many organizations fear that implementing a virtual platform will put all their eggs in one virtual basket, making it possible for a catastrophic event to wipe out all systems.

Virtual control systems are designed to manage disaster recovery. These software packages feature virtual machine (VM) replication and cluster management. When properly implemented, these features ensure that regular machine snapshots are transferred to another cluster in a different location.

In the case of a disaster, these replicas— generally a maximum of no more than five minutes old—can quickly be started, avoiding the need to perform a full restore from backup as is necessary with traditional hardware.

Organizations using best practices in separating VM replicas will experience significantly faster disaster recovery than an operation relying on traditional hardware.

Virtualization can be a lever for operational excellence

New virtualized control system packages make it easy for organizations to create and maintain systems for development, training, and on-line production. With less hardware to buy and increased flexibility, virtualization lowers TCO and increases engineer productivity. With virtualization packages built around control systems, automation teams gain the familiarity needed to take control of automation system SEPTEMBER 2017

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infrastructure, resulting in less reliance on IT staff and faster turnaround for disaster recovery, changes, and expansions.

Modern industrial organizations provide perfect environments for a virtual infrastructure, and virtualization can remove some of the space, hardware, and obsolescence constraints that

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INSIDE PROCESS PID control

To PID

or not to PID

The venerable proportional-integral-derivative (PID) algorithm can solve a variety of feedback control problems, but not all.

P

roportional-integral-derivative (PID) loops are by far the most common feedback control mechanism for industrial processes, as reflected in Control Engineering’s editorial coverage. Its website includes almost 8,900 mentions of “PID” or “proportional-integral-derivative” compared to 7,600 mentions of all other control methods combined.

Why is that? First, PID loops are relatively easy to understand and implement. The effects of the proportional (P), integral (I), and derivative (D) components of the PID algorithm can be predicted intuitively, sometimes reducing the design process to “This should work, let’s try it,” followed by “That wasn’t quite right, we need more (or less) proportional (or integral or derivative),” and eventually ending with, “Good enough.”

When a process is already up and running, this kind of trial-and-error design can be much more convenient than the more academic

alternatives that require taking the process offline for tests. And even when a more advanced control technique theoretically would provide improved performance, the extra effort and expense required may not be worth it.

Furthermore, industrial control engineers have spent more than 70 years examining, refining, and enhancing the PID technique and developing work-arounds for the shortcomings they’ve found (see “Fixing PID,” Control Engineering, November 2012, May 2014, and December 2015).

As a result, PID has become the de facto standard—the one controls topic that nonspecialists are likely to study if they’re going to study feedback controls at all. Even specialists tend to prefer PID for simple applications because it can get the job done with less of the mathematical modeling and analysis associated with more advanced techniques.

The historical popularity of the PID algorithm has in turn motivated automation

MORE

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS The historical popularity of the PID algorithm has motivated automation vendors to offer PID controllers as an off-the-shelf commodity.

Fortunately for the process industries, many if not most processes requiring the control of temperature, pressure, level, and flow tend to be wellbehaved.

There are times when PID would be overkill.

Figure 1: In this example of a “well-behaved” process, the process variable (green) reacts more-orless immediately to a step change in the control effort (red). It then rises at an ever-decreasing rate until it reaches a steady-state value. First-order lag processes such as this one—common in temperature, pressure, and flow control applications—are particularly amenable to PID control. All images courtesy: Control Engineering www.controleng.com

CONTROL ENGINEERING

GO ONLINE Read this story online at www.controleng.com for more information on PID control.

CONSIDER THIS Are the processes in your plant wellbehaved, challenging, or difficult?

SEPTEMBER 2017

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INSIDE PROCESS PID control

‘

Fortunately for the process industries, many if not most processes requiring the control of temperature, pressure, level,

and flow tend to be well-

’

behaved.

Figure 2: This process is less well-behaved in that the process variable (green) does not start to change until the deadtime has elapsed following a change in the control effort (red). This typically occurs in applications where the controller is acting on a material as it moves past the actuator to a sensor located some distance away. A PID controller for such a deadtime-dominant process would have to be endowed with the patience or foresight to wait out the deadtime before expecting any results from its most recent corrective efforts.

vendors to offer PID controllers as an off-theshelf commodity. Other feedback control algorithms are available as commercial products, but none are so widely available as PID. Widely applicable too

PID’s other big advantage is its ability to handle a wide range of control problems across the entire spectrum of process industries, provided: The controlled process is reasonably “well-behaved.”

The controller’s only mission is to force the process variable to match the setpoint “sooner or later.”

The actuator responsible for executing the controller’s corrective efforts has enough sway over the process to make the setpoint achievable.

In academic terms, “well-behaved” generally means the process is first or second order, minimum phase, linear, time-invariant, and either open-loop stable or integrating. In practical terms, that means the process consistently moves in the right direction if the controller continues to push it. And if the controller pushes harder, the process moves faster at a predictable rate (see Figure 1).

Fortunately for the process industries, many if not most processes requiring the control of temperature, pressure, level, and flow tend to be

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well-behaved. Still, there are a number of common feedback control problems where PID faces challenges, some of which can be overcome with suitable extensions to the basic algorithm, others, not so much.

Harder problems for PID

Consider, for example, the process behavior depicted in Figure 2 where the process variable does not respond immediately to the controller’s efforts. It’s not just slow about moving in the direction the controller wants it to go, it doesn’t move at all until long after the controller has started pushing.

If the delay, or deadtime, between the controller’s efforts and the beginning of the process’s response is not all that long, an unmodified PID controller can be used to regulate the process as long as the PID algorithm is configured to act slowly and patiently. But if the deadtime is particularly long or the application requires less waiting, a PID controller would have to be augmented with additional intelligence (see “Overcoming process deadtime with a Smith Predictor,” Control Engineering, February 2015).

The process behavior depicted in Figure 3 is an even tougher case. Here, the process variable responds more dramatically to the controller’s efforts when the process is running near 100% capacity. A much less aggressive control effort is required to take the process variable from 50% to 100% compared to the effort required to take it from 0% to 50%. In other applications, the reverse could be true. www.controleng.com

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INSIDE PROCESS PID control

Figure 3: This nonlinear process pushes the limits of the PID algorithm. Its sensitivity to the control effort (red) increases as the process variable (green) increases, and vice versa. This could cause the controller to overreact at one extreme and underreact at the other.

Process sensitivity that varies unpredictably over time would pose an even greater challenge for PID (or any other control algorithm, for that matter).

‘

There are a number of common feedback control problems where PID faces challenges, some of which can be overcome with suitable extensions to the basic algorithm, others, not so

’

much.

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A basic PID controller would have trouble regulating this process because its efforts would tend to be too aggressive when the process is running close to maximum capacity and too conservative at the other extreme. The classic solution to this problem—known as “gain scheduling”—doesn’t require adding any additional intelligence to the PID algorithm, but it requires more than one controller, each active only when the process variable falls within a certain range.

Specifically, a conservative controller would be configured to take over as the process variable approaches 100%, and an aggressive controller would take over as the process variable approaches 0%. The process variable also could be divided into more than two ranges, each with its own PID controller configured to accommodate the process’s behavior in each range (see “How gain scheduling works,” Control Engineering, January 2011).

On the other hand, if a nonlinear process like this example happens to operate with its process variable constrained to just one narrow range, then a single, traditional PID controller should suffice. The other ranges where the process becomes either more sensitive to the controller’s efforts or less wouldn’t matter because the process would never go there. Fortunately, this is a fairly common situation in industrial applications where the object is to maintain the process variable at a fixed setpoint.

Not suitable for PID

But as simple, popular, and versatile as PID loops may be, some feedback control problems call for alternative solutions. There are times when PID would be overkill. Consider, for example, an on/off heating element regulating the temperature within an oven. A PID loop would be necessary only if high precision were required. Otherwise, a thermostatic controller like the one in most homes

CONTROL ENGINEERING

should be able to maintain a more-or-less constant temperature by simply turning the heater on when the temperature drops too low or off when the temperature rises too high.

At the other extreme are control problems that require more intelligence than PID provides, such as constraint control where the controller must plan ahead to avoid driving either the control effort or the process variable outside of their acceptable ranges. Advanced planning also is required for multi-variable control where the controller must coordinate the efforts of multiple actuators to control multiple process variables simultaneously (see “Exploring the basic concepts of multivariable control,” Control Engineering, February 2017).

PID loops could be force-fit into either of these applications, but more advanced, customdesigned control techniques often are more costeffective, at least initially. But all too often, the specialist who designs and implements them will move on to other projects, leaving non-specialists to maintain both the process and its controller. Thus, if something goes wrong later on there may not be sufficient in-house expertise to fix the problem. This situation often leads to the advanced controller being replaced by PID or disabled altogether in spite of the resulting performance degradation.

And then there are control problems that would be difficult, if not impossible, to solve by any choice of control algorithm. Misplaced sensors, undersized actuators, broken connections, and so on must all be resolved before feedback control of any kind will work. ce Vance VanDoren, PhD, PE is a Control Engineering contributing content specialist.

Reach him at controleng@msn.com. Edited by Jack Smith, content manager, CFE Media, Control Engineering, jsmith@cfemedia.com. www.controleng.com

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Reset design, engineering, and project management to make your project more predictable and reliable. Learn more at www.emerson.com/project-certainty. input #20 at www.controleng.com/information The Emerson logo is a trademark and service mark of Emerson Electric Co. © 2017 Emerson Electric Co.

INSIDE PROCESS safety

Safety compliance and changing industry practices To minimize worker injuries and incidents, look at existing workflows to assess the degree of risk and identify areas of concern. Then form specific and targeted interventions that can address these gaps.

R

egulatory compliance in the process development refined through an iterative proindustry is in flux owing to fragmented cess. In the next phase, chosen designs are proprocesses and growth in business. Pro- totyped and mounted on 3-D replicas of the cess industries worldwide are belea- machinery for testing and further fine-tuning. guered with issues, such as skills gap, Then follows fabrication, assembly, and instalregulatory compliance, and most importantly, an lation of safety guarding systems. Each step is increase in workplace safety costs. The latter is supervised in accordance with safety guidelines. connected directly to the rising rate of accidents A similar process must be followed in the and injuries at the workplace, ineffectual risk case of electrical safety, beginning with thoranalysis, and inefficient forecasting. ough inspection, identification of risk areas, Conventional methods adopted by process and development of detailed plans for managindustries to ensure safety ing or mitigating risk. Relmanagement and identificaevant evaluations include tion of potential hazards, such On the factory floor, load flow studies, short ciras Hazard and Operability cuit studies, relay coordinaa few critical safety Study (HAZOP), have become tion studies, and ground grid tools to achieve compliance. studies, among others. Based concerns relate to Related challenges can be on these findings, it becomes addressed by leveraging the possible to modify settings manual installation, engineering and design experon devices that will help tise that the industry applies operation, or servicing ensure equipment protecin manufacturing. A new tion, minimize arc flash, and model of process safety manreduce system disruption. of machinery, and agement examines constituent Another outcome takes the components of the problem by form of optimized sequencelectrical safety. addressing each. It also is neces of operation for protective essary to leverage the power devices. Certified machinery of digital technology for instilling greater trust in safety experts or electrical safety experts should workers through improved working conditions. be familiar with industry standards and legislation related to machine safety.

‘

MORE

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS Critical safety concerns relate to manual installation, operation, or servicing of machinery, and electrical safety.

The solution is first articulated in virtual form and then refined through an iterative process.

Strategic design thinking enables a holistic approach to the complex and pressing problem of worker safety.

MORE ON SAFETY Plant Engineering 2016 Safety research says more than 70% of facilities hold regular safety meetings, perform safety audits, and have established a safety committee to enforce safety methods. Another 69% have implemented job safety analysis procedures. www.plantengineering.com/research GO ONLINE Read this story online at www.controleng.com for more on safety compliance and a graphic.

CONSIDER THIS Are you ready to enhance safety in your facility?

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’

Holistic safety

On the factory floor, a few critical safety concerns relate to manual installation, operation, or servicing of machinery, and electrical safety. To design workflows and protocols that minimize worker injuries and incidents during such interactions, the first step is to carry out detailed inspection and analysis of existing workflows, assessing the degree of risk, and identifying areas of concern. Insights derived through this process then form the conceptualization of specific and targeted interventions to address the gaps.

The first and most critical phase of machine risk assessment begins with virtual solution

CONTROL ENGINEERING

Data analytics, fewer incidents

According to the International Labour Organization, more than 600 work-related accidents take place per minute, worldwide. Concerned over the rising rate of such incidents, even organizations with physical safety measures are now digitalizing factory floor operations to adapt and ensure safety.

The latest industrial trends are heading toward Industrie 4.0. Supply chains are benefitting from increased intelligence through the connectivity of machinery on the factory floor, which allows for real-time supervision and www.controleng.com

predictive alerts. The same mechanisms also can be actively leveraged to mitigate safety risks and boost productivity.

With insights delivered at each level by advanced data analytics, accidents are being averted through automated alerts, statistical analysis, forecasting, and extrapolation. Such predictive analytics can deliver benefits. One subsidiary of a major manufacturing company reduced the number of safety incidents by more than 75%. Workplace safety and equipment monitoring go handin-hand. Several industries use digital visualization to effectively monitor remote areas that were otherwise difficult to access. In this way, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) also has found its use in the predictive maintenance of equipment to avert accidents and deliver better products and services. This development is particularly valuable for industries where workers routinely are exposed to hazardous working environments. Benefits include improved health

long-term cost-savings and enhanced compliance. Other new technologies, such as augmented reality and virtual reality enable more efficient inspections.

By simulating expected conditions, diagnosing problems, and assigning them to safety maintenance groups, these technologies equip inspectors with valuable visual-based tools. Forecasts indicate that digitized plants are the future of manufacturing, enabling machines to connect and collaborate with one another to work faster and more efficiently. At the same time, digital technology, when integrated with machine safety and electrical safety protocols and related hardware and software, augments process safety management.

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Transform process industries

Strategic design thinking enables a holistic approach to the complex and pressing problems related to worker safety. Streamlining protocols for addressing machine safety and electrical safety can reduce instances of injuries, occupational exposure, Regulatory compliance in the and casualties. Embracing digital technologies allows process industry is in flux owing to manufacturers to transcend bare-bones regulatory comfragmented processes and growth pliance and actively create policies that can enhance in business. the safety and well-being of workers.

Employee insurance and firstand safety, productivity, efficiency, output quality, revenue, and market share, off- aid services also can help. With setting the initial investment necessary smarter technologies, policies, and practo deploy IIoT-based safety management. tices, manufacturers can deepen workforce trust and enhance performance, Disruptive forces enter PPE productivity, and output. Effectively inteWearables have revolutionized the grating smart technologies into manufacconcept of personal protective equip- turing lays the foundation for the process ment (PPE) and are no longer limited to industry to enter the digital future with safety elements or gloves. With the addi- greater confidence in its ability to intetion of sensors to existing manufacturing grate a wider range of emerging technolinfrastructure, information is harvest- ogies to cater to more varied demands to ed, transmitted, and analyzed to pre- add value. ce dict and avert risks. Cloud connectivity increases the speed and efficiency of data-sharing with stakeholders; in this Divya Bhatt is the head-plant engineering sales Eurasia, at L&T Technology case, the workers.

Radio chips in workers’ helmets and Services Ltd., a CFE Media content partsensors on equipment monitor and ner. Edited by Jack Smith, content manhelp prevent health issues and acci- ager, Control Engineering, CFE Media, dents, which can in turn translate into jsmith@cfemedia.com.

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INSIDE PROCESS products See more products at www.controleng.com/NP4E.

Wireless flow totalizer for data measurements SignalFire Wireless Telemetry’s Intrinsically Safe Wireless Flow Totalizer is designed to connect to turbine flow meters to measure, locally display, wirelessly transmit, and archive flow measurements. Data and diagnostics are available locally using the display as well as remotely from a SignalFire Gateway using a Modbus standard protocol. The SignalFire Flow Totalizer is ideal when an operator must check flow rates or totals in addition to tracking data in a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. For example, a local technician offloading a tank can use the Wireless Flow Totalizer to measure before/after totals of pumped fluid. Using an external pushbutton, workers can cycle through a backlit LCD to get appropriate readings for flow and total.

SignalFire Wireless Telemetry,

www.signal-fire.com,

Input #200 at www.controleng.com/information

Single and double bellows seal valves

Digital flowmeter with wireless capability

Clampseal single and double bellows seal valves from Conval allow for zero emissions, in applications where packed valves may not reliably contain light gases or hazardous system fluids due to leakage in the stem/packing seal area or stuffing box wall/packing seal area. Clampseal bellows seal valves meet MSS SP-117 requirements and are available in 1/2-in. through 4-in. sizes, in Y, T, and angle configurations, through ASME/ANSI Class 2500. Standard materials include carbon steel SA105; chrome-moly SA182-F22, F91; stainless steel SA182-F316, F316L, and F347. Options include electric, pneumatic, and hydraulic actuators; open, closed, or both locking devices; single or dual limit switches; position indicator; and leak-off port.

Conval Inc.,

Exair’s digital flowmeters with wireless capability use a Zigbee mesh network protocol to measure and monitor compressed air use, trends, and historical data. Each meter has a range of 100-ft (30 m) and transmits data to an Ethernet connected gateway. Each meter and gateway is configured for security and has 128-bit encryption for the wireless transmissions. Measuring compressed air is the first step toward identifying high compressed air use areas, compressed air leaks, and optimizing air use. Each meter features a wireless to Ethernet gateway, power supplies, and installation tools. Exairlogger software for the digital flowmeters helps monitoring.

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MEDIA SHOWCASE FOR ENGINEERS TMPS Series Miniaturized AC/DC power supply modules 3 to 5 Watt for PCB mount. For highest efficiency in low power operation or standby mode.

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Control Engineering Webcasts help you obtain educational information on specific topics and learn about the latest industry trends.

Check out some of our Webcasts on topics like: • Choosing sensors for the application • lloT series: OT/IT convergence, collaboration • lloT series: Edge, cloud, fog computing • lloT series: Maintenance optimization • System Integration case studies • lloT series: Network integration, cyber security • Motors and drives • Human-machine interface hardware, software

NEW PRODUCTS and software See more products at www.controleng.com/NP4E.

Industrial 8-port gigabit switches Wago’s 852-1112 ECO switch and 852-1102 standard switch are RJ-45 industrial unmanaged 8-port gigabit switches. They are designed to support 10/100/1000Mbps speeds with auto-negotiation and auto-MDI/MDX detection. Housed in compact enclosures of 50 mm, these devices reduce the footprint of the control cabinet. They each have an operating dc voltage of 9 to 57 V and two LEDs per port for flexible and easy-to-use operations. The 852-1112 economical style industrial switch is DIN-rail mounted and powered with 24 V dc.The 852-1102 industrial switch offers dual power feeds for redundant power capabilities as well as operations over a wide voltage range and a monitoring alarm relay.

Wago Corp.,

www.wago.us

Input #203 at www.controleng.com/information

Modular power series for medical, testing applications

Brushless dc motor Nanotec’s DF32 8-pole brushless dc motor has a diameter of 32 mm and a height of 18 mm achieves a rated power of 7.4 W. In addition to the standard winding for 24 V with a rated speed of 2,760 rpm, customerspecific windings are also possible for series applications. The DF32 is suitable for a wide range of applications and has a high power density. For this motor, hall sensors provide the rotor position feedback. Using a flat ribbon cable, the DF32 can be quickly and compactly connected to a control board in series with a suitable ZIF socket strip.

TDK Corp.’s QM5 modular power supplies, rated at 700 to 1200 W, have BF ready isolation and low acoustic noise and are available with up to 12 outputs. They are suitable for use in medical, test and measurement, communications, and broadcast equipment. Accepting a wide range 90 to 264 V ac, 47 to 440 Hz input, the QM5 can deliver 700 W at low line and 1200 W with a 150 to 264 V ac input. With its modular construction, the series can be configured using a simple on-line configurator to provide up to 12 independently regulated outputs and include individual output good signal and remote on/off functions. The QM5 can operate in ambient temperatures from -20 to 70°C, with output power and output current linearly derating above 50°C to 50% at 70°C.

Nanotec,

TDK Corp.,

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Four-level motor terminal blocks Phoenix Contact’s PTI four-level terminal blocks make motor connection easy. They use push-in connection technology (PT) for nominal cross sections up to 10 AWG, 28 A, and 600 V UL. Every level features a function shaft for easy potential distribution to help reduce wiring costs. A large-surface marking option identifies every motor connection and each terminal point can be marked and is equipped with an easily accessible test opening.

An orange-colored button indicates the actuating element and prevents the terminal from being activated accidentally. The terminals can connect stranded conductors from 24 AWG without ferrules. Each terminal block point also is equipped with an easily accessible test opening and each terminal point has an additional test contact for test plugs with 2.3 mm diameter. The PTI installation terminal blocks also allow space-saving wiring of singlephase motors on a width of 5.2 or 6.2 mm. The bridging option for simple phase bridging on each level reduces the wiring time.

Phoenix Contact,

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Input #206 at www.controleng.com/information

Medium-voltage ac drives for variable, constant torque applications Rockwell Automation’s Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 6000 medium-voltage ac drives are designed for variable and constant torque applications. They provide 100% starting torque to leverage sensorless vector control and they also come with EtherNet/IP connectivity. With optional, automatic cell bypass up to 680 A, users can keep their operations running in case of a power cell failure and reduce unplanned downtime. In addition, an uninterruptible power supply helps increase system reliability, minimize downtime, and mitigate potential machine damage. Internally powered cooling fans reduce customersupplied control power requirements, and equipment and installation costs. A tertiary winding on the isolation transformer provides internal power for the fans.

Rockwell Automation, www.controleng.com

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Input #207 at www.controleng.com/information

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NEW PRODUCTS and software See more products at www.controleng.com/NP4E.

Non-contact position sensing system Kaman Precision Products’ OEM-2306 non-contact linear displacement measuring instrument uses eddy current technology. It is designed for applications such as machine tools, packaging machines, and semiconductor manufacturing. It is factory-configured for each application, and its board level configuration makes it ideal for integration into original equipment manufacturer (OEM) equipment. It is RoHS-compliant and supports Kaman sensors. The OEM-2306 delivers high-resolution, high-frequency response and is designed to be a cost-effective replacement for linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs), air gauges, dial indicators, and micrometers. The physical configuration and calibration of the instrument can be specified and customized to the needs of each high-volume OEM application.

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Input #208 at www.controleng.com/information

Portable barcode verifier for machine vision inspection systems

Dual-port EtherCAT card for high-axis, I/O applications

Microscan’s LVS-9585 handheld portable barcode verifier is designed for verification of printed labels and direct part marks (DPMs). Both 1-D and 2-D DPMs are created using methods such as laser etching, chemical etching, and dot peen marking on a surfaces including metals, plastics, ceramics, and composite materials. They provide a rugged and permanent mark that enables product identification in applications such as medical devices, electronic components, automotive, aerospace, and military hardware. It is critical that the initially applied mark meets minimum readability requirements to ensure readability over the part’s lifecycle.

Advantech’s PCI-1203 high-end, 32-axis EtherCAT motion and input/ output (I/O) master card is a PC-based, two-port EtherCAT PCI card with quick cycle times for high-axis and I/O applications. For the EtherCAT motion port, It’s a fast 500 µs for the EtherCAT motion port for up to 32 servo axes. The PCI-1203 delivers guaranteed performance with no packet loss, independent of computing platform. Users can take advantage of the common motion API architecture, a unified user programming interface and graphical utility focused on motion control.

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We welcome content submissions for all interested parties in engineering. We will use those materials online, on our website, in print and in newsletters to keep engineers informed about the products, solutions and industry trends. www.controleng.com/contribute explains how to submit press releases, products, images and graphics, bylined feature articles, case studies, white papers, and other media. * Content should focus on helping engineers solve problems. Articles that are commercial in nature or that are critical of other products or organizations will be rejected.

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BACK TO BASICS ladder logic

Auto cycles and safety routines The auto cycle command in ladder logic allows the auto cycle to start in auto mode if no faults are present and for the cycle to stop only when the auto sequence has not been started.

MORE

ADVICE

M

KEY CONCEPTS The auto cycle command allows the auto cycle to start in auto mode if no faults are present.

There are safety parameters in place to warn others before a machine is supposed to start.

Auto cycle bit or status is designed to allow auto sequences to start or proceed.

CONSIDER THIS What other benefits can auto cycles provide for ladder logic?

Machine operators are prevented from changing modes if the system is faulted or entering manual mode if the machine is auto cycling (see Figure). The machine also is placed in manual mode upon a home request. The auto cycle command allows the auto cycle to start in auto mode if no faults are present and for the cycle to stop only when the auto sequence has not been started.

If a fault were to occur, this would ensure that the machine would hold its present state. Other things visible might include a setting that only allows a cycle start when the machine is at home or origin position. There also might be a three second hold-down requirement for the cycle start pushbutton (during which a horn might sound), or special requirements as defined by a customer.

Other common items include an immediate stop button (Stopping the machine even if in auto cycle) or a memory bit for cycle stop (allowing the cycle to complete without pressing the button again).

A note on the format of the last rung: the first two rungs use latch or “set” bits for auto and manual mode. The last auto cycle rung also is latched by means of a “hold-in” contact, the parallel auto cycle bit with the same address as the coil. This is a common technique used in programmable logic controller (PLC) ladder programming and is really just a matter of preference.

It also is important not to start machinery instantly. Rather, users should warn personnel around the machine that it is about to move. This is required for most machinery, with the exception of simpler machines such as test stations.

The logic also shows how a horn can pulse to warn people that the system is starting. It requires the person starting the machine to hold the button to create the cycle start request signal. The next step is to start the system. (See more logic diagrams with this article online; digital edition readers can click on the headline for direct access.)

This is by no means the only way to do this, but it gets across the general idea. There are four things users should note: 1. The operator must hold down the cycle start button for the entire time for the system to start. Letting go starts the timer again.

2. The system won’t start unless in auto mode with no faults.

3. The system will not stop if in the middle of an auto sequence; this should be modified to taste. It should allow sequences to come to rest in a natural position; a specific sequence step or position can replace the sequence active bit.

4. A fault stops the auto cycle immediately.

Again, this may not apply in every case.

The auto cycle bit or status is not really a mode in itself; it is more of a state within auto mode.

Generally, it is used to allow auto sequences to start or proceed, but not to disable output energization. ce

Machine operators are prevented from changing modes if the system is faulted or entering manual mode if the machine is auto cycling. Courtesy: Frank Lamb, Automation Primer

48

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SEPTEMBER 2017

CONTROL ENGINEERING

Frank Lamb is the founder of Automation Consulting LLC, and is a member of the Control Engineering Editorial Advisory Board. This article originally appeared on Automation Primer’s blog in two parts.

Automation Primer is a CFE Media content partner.

Edited by Chris Vavra, production editor, Control Engineering, cvavra@cfemedia.com. www.controleng.com

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