Top 5 Plant Engineering articles, July 16-22

Plant Engineering‘s top 5 most read articles from July 16-22 covered ladder logic, robots exploring disaster zones, MES, VFD cabinets, and artificial intelligence and machine learning in robots.

1. Comparing ladder logic and object-oriented programming

Cover story: Many young automation professionals are comfortable with object-oriented programming (OOP), but ladder logic remains the standard for industrial automation applications. See advantages and disadvantages of OOP and ladder logic.

2. Robot designed for exploring hazardous, disaster zones

MIT researchers have improved the design of their Cheetah robot to be used for exploring disaster zones and other dangerous or inaccessible environments.

3. MES: Eating the elephant

Corporate manufacturing leaders know they have some amount of error, waste, and inefficiency in their operations. Manufacturing execution systems (MES) can eradicate these productivity barriers.

4. Cooling high-power VFD cabinets in harsh environments

Variable frequency drives (VFDs) have many benefits, which makes it critical to explore strategies to achieve maximum efficiency.

5. Applying artificial intelligence and machine learning in robotics

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning have only been applied in limited ways so far, but are already making an impact with robotic automation and will continue to do so over the next few decades.

This list was developed using CFE Media’s web analytics for stories viewed on www.plantengineering.com, July 16-22, for articles published within the last two months.

Susie Bak, Production Coordinator, CFE Media, sbak@cfemedia.com.

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