Evolution of integrated control and safety systems in industrial automation

Control Design: An integrated control and safety (ICS) system is a centralized architecture that combines basic process control and safety control measures into one system. Some may argue that safety has always been integrated, since controls engineers used to wire safety relays directly into the feed that provided a machine with control power. What is the No. 1 thing needed to turn a machine on? Control power.

How digital twins and synchronized data affect motion control

Control Design: Advancements in inverter technology, such as field oriented control and PID feedback loops, allow induction motors to achieve the high precision and efficiency traditionally reserved for servo motors.

How to evaluate position feedback on proximity switch designs

Control Design: In the world of automation, it is commonplace to find some sort of position feedback on pretty much every design. Often, the feedback is static in the form of a limit or proximity switch, and this suits many applications. However, sometimes we want to know about the places in between the goal posts.

The many layers of performance and specifications in motion control

www.motioncontroltips.com: In high-precision motion control, system performance is often judged simply by the specifications of the mechanics alone. The actuators are typically sorted by a standard set of specifications such as repeatability, accuracy, and load capability. For many applications, this is all that’s required. Others will need an understanding of those specifications to make sure the basic assumptions for them are met during installation. Achieving true precision, however, requires a deeper understanding of the full motion control system from the mechanics to the motors, drives, and controls.

Creative Conners Resources: Rental Program, Spikemark, and More!

Wenger | J.R. Clancy: The new school year has officially begun, and with it comes the exciting challenge of building the perfect production for your school. For any academic institution, the goal is to create a show where students are able to safely learn, grow, and create art. This can be both in the wings and on the stage. Planning for the fall and spring musicals has never been easier, especially now that Wenger has officially joined forces with Creative Conners.

Creating history: Motion control, industrial communications challenge

Control Engineering: A team from Chicago Flyhouse designed a system to suspend a live hanging garden, called Nature Clouds, to showcase plants living from the prehistoric era. Four “clouds” range in weight from 5,000 to 19,000 pounds, each suspended above the museum floor. The clouds’ needs are supported via an energy chain flexible cable tray that includes cables that provide water, power and fiber optics to the living sculptures suspended by high capacity hoists.

Modern hoists give lift to prehistoric plants

Crane and Hoist Canada: The team at Chicago Flyhouse is accustomed to handling unusual and difficult projects. The 2019 NCAA Final Four basketball tournament in Minnesota required the fabrication of a flame-retardant synthetic velour to stretch across the perimeter of the 1.75 million square foot venue at U.S. Bank Stadium.

How a Deal to Bring Autonomous Vehicles to Walt Disney World Blew Up

jalopnik.com: Walt Disney once mused that it’s “kind of fun to do the impossible,” so it’s likely the animation mogul would’ve been impressed by last year’s reports that fully-autonomous vehicles could soon be shuttling passengers around the amusement park in Florida that bears his name. Driverless cars are, after all, one of the most challenging—impossible, perhaps—technological tasks of our time.

Demo shows workings of Mesmer animatronics in action

newatlas.com: A system combining robotics and animation software to create lifelike humanoid characters has been demonstrated in a new video by Engineered Arts. Dubbed Mesmer, the technology promises the entertainment industry cheaper results by pulling disparate technologies into a single package designed to work seamlessly together.

Animatronic Puppet Takes Cues From Animation Software

Hackaday: Lip syncing for computer animated characters has long been simplified. You draw a set of lip shapes for vowels and other sounds your character makes and let the computer interpolate how to go from one shape to the next. But with physical, real world puppets, all those movements have to be done manually, frame-by-frame. Or do they?

Meet Our Interns: Part 3

creativeconners.com: Every component of our system requires a litany of skills to develop and build. Our staff has a mix of engineers, programmers, theater technicians, and machinists. We bring in interns with diverse backgrounds and training as well. Our last 2017 intern is a perfect example of solid mechanical know-how, theater experience, and engineering training.

Emily Takes Over TAIT & Shares What it is like to be an Intern at TAIT

www.taittowers.com: Hi I’m Emily Talbott and this is my TAIT Take Over.

Currently, I am an electrical engineer at the Colorado School of the Minds in Golden, CO but for the summer of 2017, I am an R+D intern for TAIT Towers.

Coming to work at TAIT really made sense for me. Growing up, I took art classes, music lessons and musical theater. At the same time, I was heavily involved in math and science and the world of STEM. So it really made sense for me to further my education and become an engineer.

Rose Brand Inc. introduces the Wahlberg DMX Winches

ChurchProduction.com: Working with Wahlberg Motion Design, Rose Brand Inc. looks to cut the cost and time involved with automating the movement of lightweight scenic pieces. The new products are designed to operate using the light board for control enabling a more practical workflow.

5 Articles to Help Explain the Industrial Internet of Things

www.controldesign.com: Buzz words, such as Big Data, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Industry 4.0, intelligent devices, and more get thrown around a lot these days. But beneath the buzz, there's a lot to take in on how changing technology will affect the industrial industry and how these new advances should be broached in organizations and companies.

Meet the Team Behind Katy Perry's Projection-Mapped Halftime Show

The Creators Project: Katy Perry's Super Bowl XLIX halftime show was a large scale spectacle, perhaps the largest halftime show featuring entertainment in history thanks to the 118.5 million viewers who tuned in on Sunday. Projection mapping as an art form excels in these kinds of stadium-sized settings, from ferris wheels to entire islands, but design studio Lightborne still took on a huge challenge when they agreed to animate the University of Phoenix stadium for Perry's massive performance.

#SuperBowl: Isn't That What You Do?

World News Videos | ABC World News Projection Mapping Central: Checking your inbox today, you will probably got at least one “Hey did you see the super bowl last night? Isn’t that what you do?”

It’s official guys, projection mapping has made it to the most mainstream event in the world. What started off as the stuff of art installations is now eye candy for the mass public. As it is impossible to get high quality video of the Super Bowl you’ll have to deal with this ABC News segment.

Hydraulic mechanisms tilt singers at Moncler AW14 presentation

www.dezeen.com: An Alpine choir pivoted on hydraulic platforms as part of French fashion house Moncler's Autumn Winter 2014 presentation at New York Fashion Week, which concludes today