We know what a circuit breaker is meant to do: stop the flow of electricity in case of a fault or failure. But just like fuses, breakers and overloads respond differently depending on the load.
March 06, 2024 by David Peterson
Servo motors are common in all kinds of motion control applications for various industries, but what are these devices, and what makes them different from standard AC or DC motors?
February 27, 2024 by David Peterson
Using a Raspberry Pi and the OpenPLC software platform, create a simple PLC that can be programmed in ladder diagrams with remote access and I/O monitoring dashboards.
February 21, 2024 by Dr. Don Wilcher
What is pressure? Everybody knows about this important quantity, but how do you define it? How do you measure it? Where does it come from? In this article, we’ll learn about the basics of pressure.
February 20, 2024 by Harry Trietley
Many sensors, like prox, optical, and ultrasonic, are familiar to control engineers. More and more modern devices are incorporating advanced motion profiles requiring motion sensing in many axes.
February 19, 2024 by David Peterson
This article investigates the basic components and wiring conventions for common three-phase motor starter configurations, including direct online, reversing, and star-delta.
February 13, 2024 by Damond Goodwin
Complete wiring guide for 3-phase motor starters with and without overload (OL) relays.
February 06, 2024 by David Peterson
This article investigates the basic qualities that make up a safety PLC, what distinguishes a safety PLC from a standard model, and the reasons for which a safety PLC may be critical.
January 31, 2024 by Damond Goodwin
Electrical and mechanical measurements are often labeled with "RMS" and "True RMS." Aside from the simple math definitions we learned in electronics class, why is this distinction actually important?
January 29, 2024 by Gunner Scott
Have you ever heard of a relay? Of course you have. There are many different kinds, plus hundreds of different trade lingo names. What are some of the most common, and how do we use them?
January 25, 2024 by David Peterson
Knowing what kind of control system to use: that’s a question that must be answered before setting up the factory floor. Why would someone choose pneumatic over electrical controls?
January 23, 2024 by Austin Futrell
Within motors, two very different types of resistance are evident. The resistance of the windings is measured with a normal multimeter. But what is insulation resistance, and how is it measured?
January 16, 2024 by Gunner Scott
In order to trace control system problems to the core, the ability to read and interpret various resources, from facility-level diagrams to machine-level wiring layouts, is critical.
January 15, 2024 by David Peterson
Controlling the startup of a motor not only reduces the wear on the motor, but eases the burden on the electrical supply, reducing infrastructure demands and the running cost of industrial loads.
January 09, 2024 by Seth Price
We conclude the data flow project with the step of developing a business intelligence dashboard to present machine data, at a reliable schedule, to a leadership or maintenance team.
January 03, 2024 by Michael Levanduski
Digital controls like VFDs and soft starts have advantages by elongating start time, but simple strategies for starting motors with a reduced current draw, like star-delta (or wye-delta) are common.
January 02, 2024 by David Peterson
We depend on circuit breakers all the time, even when you have a day off or work from home. These overcurrent protection devices keep machines running safely, reducing the risk of fires and arcing.
December 27, 2023 by Seth Price
For large process systems, learn how the location of data indication and flag processing can increase or decrease the burden on computers at the device, RTU, or main computer level.
December 20, 2023 by Munir Ahmad
Rockwell Automation’s Allen-Bradley control hardware catalog has long included many series that start with 17xx, but what are these lineups, and what function do they serve?
December 14, 2023 by David Peterson
When we need to change the speed of an industrial motor, whether to control a process or save energy costs, we turn to the variable frequency drive, better known simply as a VFD.
December 13, 2023 by David Peterson
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