Instruments and Controls – 2004-11-10

FOUNDATION fieldbus outlines EDDL enhancements

At the ISA EXPO 2004 Exhibition & Conference, Houston, TX, the Fieldbus Foundation ( fieldbus.org ) outlined enhancements to the IEC 61804-2 Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) standard, which includes the device description language (DDL) used as an underlying technology in FOUNDATION fieldbus. A cooperation project to extend EDDL was undertaken by the Fieldbus Foundation, HART Communication Foundation (HCF), and PROFIBUS Nutzerorganisation e.V. (PNO).

EDDL is a text-based language for describing the digital communication characteristics of intelligent devices and equipment parameters in an operating system (OS) and human-machine interface (HMI) neutral environment. The technology enables a host system manufacturer to create a single engineering environment that can support any device, from any supplier, using any communications protocol, without the need for custom software drivers for each device type.

The EDDL cooperation project extended the concept of interoperability to the HMI and diagnostic data level with improved visualization and graphical features. Specific enhancements focused on device data organization, graphical visualization consistency, and support for persistent data storage.

Shock and vibration measurement recommendations

The Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST) published a new design, test, and evaluation recommendation practice for selecting transducers to measure shock and vibration in laboratory and field-testing environments. The 44-pp document, IEST-RP-DTE011.1: Mechanical Shock and Vibration Transducer Selection , focuses primarily on mass-spring transducers, but also covers basic theories and applications of dynamic force transducers. The document makes recommendations in terms of performance characteristics and discusses various sensing technologies to help users understand design tradeoffs. Transducer types covered include piezoelectric (PE), integral electronics piezoelectric (IEPE), piezoresistive (PR), variable capacitance (VC), and servo feedback (closed loop). Also included are sections on environmental characteristics, transducer installation, transducer recalibration, and transducer selection by application. The document is available exclusively from IEST.

Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology iest.org Write 317 on PE card

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