IN THIS ISSUE:
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This Month
Ray looks at two trends that will have a major and immediate impact on industrial automation and the way day-to-day business is conducted.
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Top News
A selection of developments impacting industrial sensing.
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Product Picks
Choice new sensors for industrial applications.
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In Depth
Moving SOA onto the Plant Floor
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Contact Us

Industrial Automation—A 2007 Perspective
Trying to understand the evolution of industrial automation is a chicken-or-egg conundrum. Do needs and demands shape the technology, or does technology shape the demands? Whatever the answer, change is undeniable—and fascinating. The breadth and complexity of this dynamism is too great to capture in this one short essay, but I would like to look at two things that are going to have a significant and immediate impact. Then I’ll turn to some major events in the world of thermal technology. continued

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Government and Industry Work Together to Increase Cyber Security
The National Cyber Security Division and industrial automation, control system, and SCADA vendors have established a forum to facilitate collaboration between government and vendors and to enable open discussion of common issues that affect control-system security. continued

PowerDsine and ProSoft Join United NetworX
The industrial alliance provides a forum for technology firms to collaborate, innovate, and generate communications solutions for automation, from the networking of individual machines, through complex installations, up to whole production facilities. continued

Organic Electronics Market to Reach $19.7 Billion by 2012
Industry analyst NanoMarkets reports that sales of products such as OLEDs, organic thin-film transistors, and other electronic products made from organic materials will hit $1.4 billion in 2007. continued

USDC to Develop Flexible, Printed, and Organic Electronics Market
The initiative aims to accelerate the growth of this sector of the electronics industry by creating an infrastructure that will enable the production of active, ubiquitous FPO-based products. continued

Machine Vision Market Grew Substantially in 2006
According to Vision Systems International's report, the North American machine vision market grew 14.4% in 2006 but will most likely be flat in 2007. continued

CyberOptics and JUKI to Develop Next-Generation Optical Sensor
The LaserAlign sensor will allow pick-and-place machines to quickly and accurately align components on the fly. continued

SMSC Introduces Advanced Temperature Sensors
The new line of devices targets designs of </= 90 nm and incorporates auto beta compensation, resistance-error correction, and anti-parallel diodes. continued

Microchip Introduces 18-Bit Delta-Sigma ADC in SOT-23 Package
The low-power ADC provides the "highest resolution available" in an SOT-23 and features an onboard programmable gain amplifier and voltage reference for smaller designs. continued

Gigabit Ethernet Camera from Audio Video Supply
The CS6910G from Audio Video Supply Inc., San Diego, CA, is a Gigabit Ethernet industrial color camera that conforms to AIA GigE Vision protocol. continued

PDA-Based Vibration Analyzers from Datastick
Datastick Systems Inc., Campbell, CA, offers the VSA-1214 and VSA-1215 vibration spectrum analyzers that combine an analyzer module attached to a Palm T|X handheld computer. continued

Long-Range Color Sensor from Balluff
The BFS 30M from Balluff Inc., Florence, KY, is for long-range color verification of targets, with a detection range of 30–100 mm and a recommended operating range of 50 mm. continued

PXI Products for Hybrid Test Systems from Keithley
Keithley Instruments Inc., Cleveland, OH, offers the KPXI line of simultaneous DA boards, multifunction analog I/O boards, digitizer, digital I/O, chassis, embedded controllers, MXI bridges, and GPIB interface cards for hybrid test systems. continued

Interface Devices from Weidmuller
Weidmuller, Richmond, VA, offers JACKPAC IP67-rated interface devices that allow you to integrate an interface device into your sensor actuator cabling without the need for an enclosure or control panel. continued

EXCLUSIVE:
Moving SOA onto the Plant Floor
Until recently, SOA's ability to reach its potential in the manufacturing environment was blocked by its inability to efficiently access sensor data. New products on the market may change that. continued