Surfing
By Staff -- Plant Engineering, 12/1/1999
A new program launched by Total Control Products (www.total-control.com) aims to certify that Windows CE-based software packages will operate on the FactoryClient 2000 shop floor terminal. The program targets any company offering Windows CE industrial control and automation products. Verified programs will display a "FactoryClient Verified" logo. The verification program is intended to give users the same assurance of compatibility that they expect from PCs. Nine companies, including Iconics, Indusoft, and Think & Do Software, are already participating in the program.Profibus Trade Organization (www. profibus.com) brings enterprise networking to the plant floor with a strategy to vertically integrate Profibus and higher level networks, notably Ethernet TCP/IP and the internet. The goal is two-fold: Increase communications options in manufacturing plants at both field and controller levels using a vendor-independent solution; and provide open and transparent coupling of Ethernet and Profibus to allow remote access to field level devices via enterprise LANs, the internet, and the web.
Fieldbus Foundation (www.fieldbus. org) is planning field demonstrations for its High Speed Ethernet (HSE) technology. The pilot plants will duplicate the working environment of personnel involved in the technical aspects of daily plant design, construction, operation, and maintenance.
Sun Microsystems, Inc., (www.sun. com) and its allies have introduced Java technologies designed to help manufacturing enterprises participate more successfully in the new net economy by bringing the internet down to the plant floor. Demonstrations include showing how Java can be used to transport and display plant production performance information on a wireless, remote 3Com PalmPilot. Next-generation Java-based systems can be expected to let plants move data as Java objects from measurement devices to controllers to decision support applications, literally from the sensor to the boardroom.
ISA, the international society for measurement and control (www.isa.org), announced three new publications. They are Fundamentals of Process Control Theory by Paul Murrill, and Advances in Industrial Computing Technology and Applying S88: Batch Control from a User's Perspective by Jim Parshall and Larry Lamb. Book details and ordering information are available on the ISA web site.
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