Life…
I has now been about 14 months since I started this blog and I’ve covered a lot of different subjects. I try to make the content as automation-related as possible but it is getting more and more difficult to cover …
Author: Frank
Electrical Engineer and business owner from the Nashville, Tennessee area. I also play music, Chess and Go.
Packaging & Nalle Automation
This week I made my first sales trip for my new consulting company. I returned to Knoxville where I had my old company ACS for 10 years and paid a visit to several old customers and friends. If you have …
Batching
Batching refers to a number of different techniques related to the automation world including the creation of an object stage by stage over a series of workstations or the execution of a series of jobs or programs on a computer …
Hall Effect Sensors vs. Proxes
While doing some of the minor website maintenance tasks that you sometimes have to do when blogging, I came across a site called Alexa. I always wondered about search engine optimization (SEO) and how it works… this gave me a …
Rubber Tracks vs. Steel Tracks
On the introductory page of this blog I invite companies or individuals to submit articles that may be educational or interesting. This article was submitted by HXRT, an Australian manufacturer of rubber track. (www.hxrt.com.au) Though not strictly related to automation, …
Robot Programming
From the Primer: The setup or programming of motions and sequences for an industrial robot is typically taught by linking the robot controller to a laptop, desktop computer or (internal or Internet) network. A robot and a collection of machines …
The Automation Community
As I begin establishing my new automation business I have been using the old tried and true technique of networking to reach out to potential customers. When I started my previous business in 1996 the internet was not nearly as …
Intrinsic Safety
When using control devices in hazardous areas such as explosive or flammable atmospheres special care must be taken to reduce or eliminate the possibility of heat or an electrical arc or spark causing damage to personnel or equipment. Because of …
Timers and Counters
After spending a month in Central America I am glad to be back, energized and ready to start my new automation ventures. I will be working on the completion and publishing of the Primer as well as building my new …
Lessons in Automation Part IV
Since I am out of the country for a few weeks I am featuring some writing from Doug Alward, Applications Engineer from Wright Industries. I have prepared these excerpts from the introduction to Doug’s book ahead of time; as you …