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Tutorial: Driving Mecademic Robots with Siemens PLCs

Tutorial: Driving Mecademic Robots with Siemens PLCs

Learn how to create programs that directly drive a Meca500 robot arm using a Siemens S7 PLC, including adding the hardware and using pre-built function blocks for STEP7 TIA Portal.


Data Centers, AI, and the New Control Playbook: Weidmüller’s Perspective

Data Centers, AI, and the New Control Playbook: Weidmüller’s Perspective

Control.com chats with Weidmüller to get some insights about data center automation, learning about security, environmental impacts, regulations, and more.


A Legacy of Factory and Motion Control: Mitsubishi Electric Automation

A Legacy of Factory and Motion Control: Mitsubishi Electric Automation

Showcase, manufacturing, repair, and research: Join Control.com for a recap of our team’s recent visit to the US HQ of Mitsubishi Electric Automation, and see where the magic happens.


MQTT vs. OPC UA: Protocols From an OEM Perspective

MQTT vs. OPC UA: Protocols From an OEM Perspective

MQTT and OPC UA are very different, but they accomplish essentially the same thing: push data from one device to another. Which method to use relies on understanding how each process is accomplished.


Electrical Cabinet Best Practices: A Field Guide for New Integrators

Electrical Cabinet Best Practices: A Field Guide for New Integrators

A practical, experience-driven guide to designing and wiring electrical cabinets for machine-tending robotic cells.


Introduction to Common Network Protocols in Industrial Automation

Introduction to Common Network Protocols in Industrial Automation

This article provides an overview of the OSI models, IT/OT industrial protocols, and key applications behind the networking capabilities that drive modern industrial and process automation systems.


Tutorial: Design a Temperature Controller Using Node-RED

Tutorial: Design a Temperature Controller Using Node-RED

Not every control system requires an expensive PLC. This tutorial will introduce Node-RED, a popular programming environment that can be installed on a low-cost single-board controller.


Node-RED and a Low-Code Approach to Automation

Node-RED and a Low-Code Approach to Automation

Looking for a way to create IIoT applications for your factory without hiring expensive developers or spending months on the computer? Take a look at Node-RED’s approach to low-code applications.


Industry Insights: The Challenges of Automating Data Centers

Industry Insights: The Challenges of Automating Data Centers

Data centers have been a focus of industrial automation in recent days. Control.com spoke with experts at Weidmuller to learn more about how control technology can solve data center challenges.


The Process of Evolution: How Automation Systems Enable Agile Operations

The Process of Evolution: How Automation Systems Enable Agile Operations

Automation is evolving. Today, this is marked by a shift towards more efficient, sustainable operations, enhanced by closer collaboration between humans and machines, enhancing safety and profitability.


Managing and Configuring Switches for Secure SCADA Networks | Part 2

Managing and Configuring Switches for Secure SCADA Networks | Part 2

Learn about OT resilience strategies, including SSH, authentication, port blocking, and MAC address binding, methods that can be employed to protect network switches.


Advantages of Remote I/O Devices With Networking Technologies

Advantages of Remote I/O Devices With Networking Technologies

Networked remote I/O allows machine centers to operate while physically separated from the rest of the system, and often, the solution can drop right into place.


Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) In Motor Control

Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) In Motor Control

What is the purpose of a variable frequency drive? How do they work? And why would we prefer using VFDs over basic motor starters for heavy loads?


Managing and Configuring Switches for Secure SCADA Networks

Managing and Configuring Switches for Secure SCADA Networks

Network switches are the key components in the production network for secure communication and real-time data sharing between RTUs, PLC frontend servers, workstations, and HMIs.


Questions for the Experts: Industrial Firewalls

Questions for the Experts: Industrial Firewalls

I had some questions about firewalls for industrial networks, topics like selecting, configuring, and updating the software, so I turned to some experts for a little advice.


Safe and Connected | An Intro to IO-Link Safety

Safe and Connected | An Intro to IO-Link Safety

IO-Link technology keeps improving, and with the recent introduction of Safe IO-Link, the automation world is going to get a whole lot more modular.


Using FANUC’s EGD Protocol for Robot-to-Robot Communication

Using FANUC’s EGD Protocol for Robot-to-Robot Communication

Handshaking between robots can be handled in many ways, one of them being GE-FANUC’s protocol called “Ethernet Global Data,” or EGD. Learn how to set up EGD on a pair of FANUC robots.


Understanding the Industrial Network Protocol CC-Link

Understanding the Industrial Network Protocol CC-Link

This article will explore CC-Link and how it is used in industrial automation. Learn its history, uses, and how to implement it in control systems.


Applications for Single Pair Ethernet: Perspectives for Device Manufacturers

Applications for Single Pair Ethernet: Perspectives for Device Manufacturers

Learn how SPE and Power over Data Line are enabling advanced developments in industrial and building automation, robotics, processing, infrastructure, and energy.


Remote Industry and the Growing Popularity of Cellular Systems

Remote Industry and the Growing Popularity of Cellular Systems

Previously reserved for personal and commercial deployments, learn how cellular IoT connectivity technologies are influencing industrial trends, organizations, and integrators.