Random Thoughts Video
I recorded this video while driving from my home in Lebanon, Tennessee to visit a customer in Knoxville. It is the day before the one-year anniversary of the tornado, and I just kind of discussed the stuff that I have …
Author: Frank
Electrical Engineer and business owner from the Nashville, Tennessee area. I also play music, Chess and Go.
A Tale of Three Students
As I approach the one year anniversary of the tornado and the onset of Covid-19, I can’t help but think of how my training approach has changed. Automation Training classes have been few and much smaller, and of course they …
Proposals and Quoting
Our guest at Friday’s Mastering the Machine event at the Automation Academy was Doug Alward, Senior Applications Engineer (retired) at Wright Industries. Doug has a wealth of experience in the applications field and shared all kinds of insights on what …
Ladder Logic 309: Allen-Bradley DDE/OPC Link to Excel
It’s been a while since I’ve added to the Ladder Logic series, so this post serves several purposes. It serves as the 7th video in the ControlLogix Odyssey series, it will be posted on YouTube as an ad, and it …
Ladder Logic 309: Allen-Bradley DDE/OPC Link to Excel Read more »
Covid-19’s Impact on the Machine Tool Industry
Today’s post is a guest post from Allied Analytics, LLP. Overview: The infectious coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) or also known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has infected approximately 62.8 million people globally with 1.46 million fatalities since December …
Mastering the Machine
In 2013, I created a document called Mastering the Machine, a 26 page e-book about planning and building a machine or production line with an emphasis on documentation. I had just started my business again after spending 6 years working …
The Case for Ladder Logic
Lately I have seen a lot of posts promoting Structured Text on forums and Linked In. Structured Text is one of the 5 (or 6) standard PLC languages described in IEC 61131-3. While I have used ST in the past …
What Is System Integration?
If someone asks me what I do and I answer “System Integration”, sometimes I get a blank stare. System Integration is defined in Engineering as bringing together the component subsystems into one system and ensuring that the subsystems function together …
More on Starting an Automation Business
Last week someone commented on a 2015 post on starting an automation related business, and I realized I hadn’t written much on the topic since then. I think I hit most of the highlights of what I wanted to say …
Career Steps and Action Plans
It’s interesting how careers evolve over the years. I am a big fan of Ken Coleman (www.kencoleman.com), who has a radio show and podcast I often listen to when I’m on the road. On his show, people call and ask …