Archive for April 2007

A convergence of Star Trek news hit my desk[top] recently.  “What If the Starship Extraprize Had a DCS?”  asks a chapter in the eBook A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Control Room by Gregory K. McMillan.  [I like it even though I don’t think Trek and Wars blend well.] Scotty goes to…

Peter Welander of Control Engineering has joined the blogosphere.  His first post is up at http://www.controleng.com/blog/490000249.html.  He started with cartoon references – always a good start in my book.  Which reminds me of a couple cartoons I have that when combined go something like this: Husband to wife: What do you mean we don’t communicate?…

Safety systems – should they be separated from or integrated with the control system?  Surprisingly, vendors who offer only separate systems say you should use separate systems and vendors who offer only integrated systems say you should use integrated systems.  Meanwhile, I think users are saying they should use hardwired relays. The users are missing…

Standard Unmodified Ethernet (SUE) – meaningless phrase for the day.  Gary Mintchell baited me on his blog and I rose to the bait.  Read his entry and my comment at http://radio.weblogs.com/0133292/2007/04/24.html#a1025.

I got so caught up in Hanover I didn’t get a chance to blog about our first webinar.  It was well-attended and the technical content was excellent.  (I can say that since I didn’t do the technical part; I just moderated.)  Hunter Harrington from the PROFI Interface Center created and presented the technical portion.  We…

The fair used to run through Saturday, but ends mercifully on Friday these days.  Fortunately for my feet, Day 4 (Thursday) is my last day on the fair.  I think I stayed through Saturday only once.  Saturday was family day and student day – lots of baby buggies, spouses, and kids (who were looking for…

Today was the busiest day so far.  I heard one booth’s denizen remark that Monday was the worst Monday ever.  He blamed the weather; it was a beautiful sunny day.  Someone else said that Germans hate to travel on Mondays and Fridays.  (I’m hoping they’re right about the Friday part since I have to take…

The show does not seem to have a major theme, focus, or breakthrough according to the fairgoers I’ve spoken with.  But I think today’s word is “coopetition.”  This results when competitors cooperate.  I think the ECT is a prime example.  The ECT is the EDDL Cooperation Team made up of Fieldbus Foundation, HART Communication Foundation,…

Day one was a good start for the Hanover Fair.  A little slow as the first day usually is.  The PI booth was big and busy though.  You’ll find a few photos at http://www.profinews.us/Hanover2007-1.htm.

I don’t usually read Design News.  But there are a couple articles of interest there lately.  On the plus side, Peter Welander’s excellent article on KA appeared in Design News: “Las Vegas Show KÀ Built on Stage Automation, Motion Control Hardware”.  Pete also added some additional details in his blog. I found a few points…