Latest Building Technical Articles

Predictive Maintenance Challenges and Mitigation Techniques

Learn about obstacles businesses face implementing predictive maintenance and how to overcome them.

January 12, 2022 by Antonio Armenta

Introduction to Smart Sensors

Smart sensors differ from traditional sensors in that they offer benefits such as self-diagnostics, simplified wiring and communication, and more efficient remote monitoring.

January 06, 2022 by Muhammad Asim Niazi

Graphical User Interface (GUI) vs. Human-machine Interface (HMI)

Learn the similarities and differences between GUIs and HMIs in the industrial sector. Can they be used together?

January 05, 2022 by Antonio Armenta

Industrial Energy Systems (IES): Rising Technologies in Manufacturing

Power plays a vital role in manufacturing. But, what are industrial energy systems (IES) and recent trends impacting the industry?

December 30, 2021 by Gunner Scott

Protecting Control Systems with Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS)

Safety is of utmost importance in the day-to-day operations of any system, especially a system where humans and machines work together. Learn all about Safety Instrumented Systems and what it takes to keep workers safe, and the system running smoothly!

December 28, 2021 by David Peterson

Introduction to Photoelectric Sensors

This article covers the principles of operations and different types of photoelectric sensors used in industrial automation.

December 21, 2021 by Antonio Armenta

How to Implement the Data Science Lifecycle: Computer Vision

This article reviews how to implement the data science lifecycle CRISP-DM model phases into industrial computer vision.

December 17, 2021 by Antonio Armenta

Deep Dive Into the Data Science Lifecycle

Learn the definition and basic steps of the data science life cycle, particularly the popular CRISP-DM model.

December 15, 2021 by Antonio Armenta

Understanding Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Learn about computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and how it is used in various sectors across the manufacturing industry.

December 13, 2021 by Sara McCaslin

Data Lake vs. Big Data for Industrial Applications

This article teaches the definitions of big data and data lake, how to use them together, and industrial applications.

December 09, 2021 by Antonio Armenta

A Software Approach to Calculating Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) and Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF)

MTTR and MTBF are metrics utilized to determine equipment downtime. How do you calculate these metrics, and how can a control engineer use them for machine reliability?

December 07, 2021 by Shawn Dietrich

Power Requirements for Building Automation Systems

Building automation systems run commercial offices and factories. These systems have subsystems, broken into even smaller parts. All of these parts need power. This article will review the parts of a building automation system and its power needs.

December 04, 2021 by Vin Natham, Aimtec

How Remote Access is Advancing in the Process Industries

Due to the robust nature of process industries, there is a vast amount of data to read. Remote access can help parse data and has many additional benefits in these industries.

December 03, 2021 by Seth Price

The Differences Between PLCs and RTUs

Despite the many overlaps, PLCs and RTUs are two different devices, each with specific suitable applications.

November 30, 2021 by Antonio Armenta

How to Use Data to Drive Digital Transformation

As the tangible world can be costly and consumes natural resources, digital transformation is reducing cost and providing more options to consumers. How is data driving digital transformation, and what is to come next in a digital world?

November 29, 2021 by Jeff Kerns

Deep Learning vs. Machine Learning

Deep learning is a subset of machine learning, which is a subset of artificial intelligence. So, what makes deep learning different from machine learning?

November 26, 2021 by Anish Devasia

The Relationship Between Predictive Maintenance and Digital Transformation

This article discusses some trends in digital transformation, specifically matching real-world data with resources and gaining control in an ever-changing world.

November 22, 2021 by Jeff Kerns