Legacy – The Tower
I just finished reading a free e-book from Chris Guillebeau’s website “The Art of Non-Conformity“. Chris is a motivational guy who really has a unique take on life and how we don’t always need to conform to what others think …
Author: Frank
Electrical Engineer and business owner from the Nashville, Tennessee area. I also play music, Chess and Go.
Automation Consulting
Only two weeks left at my current employer. I have learned a lot there, and if I had to work for someone else there is nowhere better in my opinion. At the same time I have really missed having full …
Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs)
From the Primer: A variable-frequency drive (VFD) is a device for controlling the rotational speed of an alternating current (AC) electric motor by controlling the frequency of the electrical power supplied to the motor. Variable frequency drive controllers are solid …
The Automation Fair
This week I had the pleasure of attending the Automation Fair at the McCormick Center. This is about the sixth or seventh time I have gone since the early 1990s but my first time in Chicago. For those who don’t …
Six Sigma and Lean – What have I learned?
This was the final week of my Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing courses through Purdue University. I took my final exam this morning and I’m happy to say that I aced the test, though since it was open book that’s …
Packaging Machinery
The first machines I programmed when I started my old company ACS were primarily packaging machines. As I have mentioned previously I teamed up with NAS early on, becoming their de-facto controls department. In the beginning we built a lot …
HMI and Touchscreen Technology
During the process of specifying HMI hardware for my current project some fairly deep discussions were had concerning touchscreen technology. One part of the specification stated “No SAW or APR touchscreens”. Why would you want to avoid these in an …
Tray Handling
A few weeks ago I covered robots and robotics a bit and it was recently brought to my attention that I hadn’t covered much in the general motion control field. Maybe that’s because most of the applications I have worked …
PLC Software and Templates
As I progressed through my automation career I was exposed to many different PLC platforms. My first job out of college was as an applications and sales engineer for a distributor of Eagle-Signal, Omron, Idec and Fuji PLCs. Back then …
Safety and Safety Analysis
The picture above is a manually operated station where an operator places two metal parts into a fixture. When the second item is placed a sensor activates a press mechanism and the two pieces are pressed together. When evaluating an …