Process Control

Industrial Automation and Process Control.

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Source for process measurement and control. Everything from thermocouples to chart recorders. Temperature, flow and level, data acquisition.

Established in 1962, Omega started as a manufacturer of thermocouples. Now it is a Technical Supported Marketplace for Industrial and Engineering; components and equipment. It is also a Engineering Service with custom product and system solutions for your Automation or Laboratory needs.

Omega Engineering

Omega Engineering – Industrial System Materials

Omega’s Technical Reference Section. Find technical articles and reference material about their products and technologies. Omega’s Temperature Handbook Technical Reference Section.

Omega Engineering – Technical Reference Section

Whether you are an Industrial Control Engineer, Equipment Manufacturer or doing Research in a Laboratory; these Catalogs and Books are a Valuable Reference, from one of the Oldest and Reliable Source of Technical Information and Products. – delabs

8/16-Channel Thermocouple/Voltage Input USB Data Acquisition Module

The OM-DAQ-USB-2401 is a portable USB 2.0 full speed thermocouple/voltage input data acquisition module that can be used with either desktop or laptop PCs.

OMEGA Engineering, Inc.
One Omega Drive P.O. Box 4047 Stamford, Connecticut 06907-0047, USA

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I will give a simple example for the purpose of understanding and assimilation of the concept. Consider the Toaster a Vital Home Appliance, Build a Embedded Internet Interface into the toaster. Then make it Wireless Networking capable. The gadget can also get connected thru Mains Carrier Communication. Digital Timer Page.

Now you build a Webware service, create API’s, Ready Gadgets and Wizards. So he can create-use the API from any Computer or PDA. He can Sub-Lease his custom API Service with Internet capable Gadgets.

When the Javascript of this is linked to the API of the Control Webapp that you created, This gadget can monitor and control the Quality of the Toast from anywhere in the world ;-).

Digital Timer for Internet – Live Widget

But Then, the service should be easy for just anyone to use, the coding is never done by the user of the service. He creates an account, hires the API, creates his own Gadgets and Apps with wizards. Then he gets to download the firmware for the Embedded Internet ASIC you Provide and the Product he manufactures goes with that circuit. See a Screenshot below

programmable-digital-timer

The end customer buys an Internet capable Toaster with a CD demo on how to access his free webservice. With this service, he can get all the web gadgets and tools to control his Home Appliance Arsenal.

Idea – 19:36 25-Feb-08, Nature – Open Source, – Ideas of delabs

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This is a Digital Panel Meter based on ICL7107. This was the workhorse Digital Readout chip before Low power uC designs were developed. Even now it is the easiest way an analog parameter can be displayed in an instrument.

Instrumentation and Measurement Circuits

3-1/2 Display is just enough resolution for recording process data or troubleshooting equipment. With 4-1/2 you notice the problems of thermoelectric EMF of probes and connectors. That is one reason gold plating is used another being low contact resistance. In 4 1/2 the reading can change due to contact resistance too, if the input impedance of the analog signal conditioning is low or the protection diodes, RC filter caps are leaky.

ICL7107 DPM Digital Panel Meter

When you measure an analog parameter from a sensor; you attenuate or amplify it, to scale to the A/D converter range. You also need to protect or isolate the analog front end from high energy mis-connections, which will happen during field use. The operator should not get injured from any high energy leakage while measuring.

Resolution is the finest detail you can enumerate in a parameter or object. You can say the crowd was 3000 or 4000 people. Here 1000 is the resolution, finer data does not matter here. You would also hear things like, there were 80 to 90 boys in that classroom. 10 is the resolution there.

Accuracy is how precise a statement or number is. If there was 85 boys in that class, the above statement is accurate. If there was 65 boys, the measuring method or process needs calibration or examination.

In this circuit, the plastic caps should be of very low leakage. Multilayer plastic caps are good for instrumentation.

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Below is a Electrical Control Panel, It has a Strip Chart Recorder which is electro-mechanical, It has a PLC Inside. A handheld PLC Programming unit. The computer is showing the Ladder Logic Program. PLC is based on a embedded uC. The DIN Controllers are Analog + Digital circuits. So you see it is a Electrical Control Panel with Electronics and the PLC Ladder Logic means, Software too.

Process Control Application Notes

This is a PID Controller based Control Panel using a PLC from GE Fanuc Automation. The Computer is a 386 40MHz with 40MB HDD.

PID Controller PLC

Electrical Control Panel Wiring

Control panes have many DIN Instruments like Indicators, Controllers and Recorders. They also have in the back end contacters, drives and circuit breakers with orderly wiring and cable management.