PROFIblog

loading… 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. …

loading… 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…

loading… 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…

loading… 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…

loading… 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.

loading… 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…

loading… Today we released a press release that announced the PROFIBUS growth story.  It shows an installed base of 18,800,000 PROFIBUS nodes spanning discrete, process, and safety applications.  We had previously predicted we would hit 20,000,000 by the end of next year; it looks like we’ll get there much sooner.  Process nodes installed to date…

loading… As I get caught up on my reading, I’ve uncovered an article with many PTO members quoted: “Safe-motion choices” in the March issue of Control Engineering.  PROFIsafe brings the most experience to the “safety on the regular fieldbus” game.  As with a regular fieldbus, safety-on-the-fieldbus brings the installation advantage of easier wiring and, more…

loading… Future FISCO Star Trek IT is four topics, not one: Future.   Jim Pinto writing in “Automation that Will Make a Difference in 2007”: “I’m willing to bet that advanced and innovative wireless products, if introduced rapidly at a breakthrough price, would sweep industrial automation markets; end-users would gobble them up. It could spark a…

loading… We debuted our new PROFINET one-day training class curriculum earlier today in Kansas City.  After a minimal introduction we dove into PROFINET, relating the topics to a fictional factory with real-life issues to confront.  Unlike past years we just brought in the underlying Ethernet basics as we encountered the need to explain them.  This…