EC: Loop-Pro Tuner (Allen-Bradley Edition)
Software – Diagnostics: Loop-Pro Tuner from Control Station is PID tuning software that accurately models oscillatory and noisy process data, and supports Logix-based programmable automation controllers (PAC) and MicroLogix controller algorithms from Rockwell Automation. This is a Control Engineering 2012 Engineers’ Choice finalist.
Loop-Pro Tuner (Allen-Bradley Edition) from Control Station integrates seamlessly with Rockwell Automation's RSLinx and FactoryTalk services, and it supports all Rockwell Automation Logix-based programmable automation controllers (PAC) and MicroLogix controller algorithms. Tuner can be launched directly from the end user’s HMI or it can be used from a computer workstation and automatically scan for existing controllers, including PID, PIDE, and AOI configurations. It simplifies the tuning of PID controllers with access to real-time process data and the associated controller's configuration. Tuner also accepts data from plant historians for offline analysis and can accurately model open- and closed-loop data.
Like other Loop-Pro products, the AB Version of Tuner applies a unique approach to the analysis of multivariable process data and eliminates the need for steady-state operation during testing. In contrast with other time-domain modeling technologies, the NSS Modeling Innovation does not utilize a specific data point or average data point as a "known" and is therefore not constrained by it. Rather, it centers the model across the entire range of data under consideration and can account for oscillatory and disturbance-driven behavior typically witnessed in production processes. The latest release, version 1.6.0, supports the Rockwell Automation Internal Model Control (IMC) block structure and includes advanced statistics for more comprehensive performance analysis. Multiple controllers can be tuned simultaneously using one license of Loop-Pro. That feature is crucial especially when tuning cascaded or other interacting PID loops.
www.controlstation.com/page/53-pid-controller-tuning
Control Station Inc.
Return to the list of the 2012 Engineers' Choice finalists.
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2012 Salary Survey
In a year when manufacturing continued to lead the economic rebound, it makes sense that plant manager bonuses rebounded. Plant Engineering’s annual Salary Survey shows both wages and bonuses rose in 2012 after a retreat the year before.
Average salary across all job titles for plant floor management rose 3.5% to $95,446, and bonus compensation jumped to $15,162, a 4.2% increase from the 2010 level and double the 2011 total, which showed a sharp drop in bonus.