HEADLINES ARCHIVE
In Praise of Small Data
“Big Data” has taken the business world by storm. The digital age and the spread of social networks have enticed companies into making huge investments in computer power, servers and networking technology to acquire enormously complex data sets.
Is Hyperspectral Imaging Ready to Take Off?
After the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, the U.S. space agency, NASA, deployed its Earth Resources-2 aircraft to detect the presence, extent and concentration of the spill.
10 Steps to Better Foundation Fieldbus Installations—Part 1
Lessons learned from fieldbus users can help improve your systems, performance and personnel. Part one: How wiring mistakes interfere with communication.
BYOD Advances with Cautious Steps
Companies continue to wrestle with how best to manage technology and productivity, the Internet of Things and related bring-your-own-device (BYOD) issues.
Three Trends Shaping the Human-Machine Interface
As manufacturing and extraction industries worldwide become more complex and increasingly automated, the efficacy of human machine interfaces (HMI), the portals through which operators exchange data with networks, becomes more significant.
Micro-robots Poised for Big Growth
A relatively new type of robot is making its way into the industrial automation and electronics manufacturing sectors. Often referred to as micro-robots, these devices are as small as 1 millimeter across and can build structures and form shapes by working together without human intervention.
PC-based Controls Take on the Reigning Champ
The programmable logic controller (PLC) and its direct descendant, the programmable automation controller (PAC), have ruled the roost for decades in industrial control applications.
Technical Advances Help to Boost Robotics
Although industrial robots have been around since the 1970s, the machines were mainly stationary and used primarily for painting and welding in the automotive sector.
A New Face for Robotics
Instead of massive robots like those traditionally tethered to automotive welding and assembly lines, Rethink Robotics is creating a breed of smaller, more flexible and user-friendly models aimed at a wide range of light-duty applications.
3D Printers Build on Manufacturing Success with New Designs, Materials
3D printing, also called additive manufacturing, is gaining market acceptance and momentum as new additive materials, operational expertise and printer designs overcome 3D printing’s traditional challenges of part size, speed limitations and durability.
Wearable Chemical Sensors for Asthma Sufferers
Imagine a phone app that warns you in advance of potentially dangerous air pollution at your location. That’s one proposed benefit from wearable air monitors under development by a California-based startup, Chemisense. The monitors will track about a dozen pollutants, including carbon
A Look to the Future of Wearable Computers
A decade ago there was little demand for smartphones. Even as technology developed to the point where smartphones and tablets could be mass produced, the market was limited to early adopters and developers. Apple changed that when it introduced the iPhone, an attractive and easy-to-use product that
Flexible Conductors for Commercial Use
Modern materials that are light, flexible and highly conductive have great technological potential, whether as artificial skin or electronic paper. Making such concepts affordable enough for general use remains a challenge. But a new way of working with copper nanowires and a poly vinyl alcohol
Gas Meter Conversion Ramps Up as British Gas Taps Elster
Elster recently said that it had been selected by British Gas as the primary provider of gas metering for its higher energy-consuming business customers. The agreement will see Elster provide up to 100,000 communicating commercial and industrial (C&I) smart meters over the next three years as
Heat Measurement Market to Top $1 billion by 2018
A recent report from the IHS Smart Utilities Infrastructure Research Group forecasts that the heat measurement market will exceed $1 billion in 2018. Key drivers fueling this growth will be increasing demand from Russia, Turkey and China, along with expected legislation derived from the European
IEEE 802.3bj Amendment
IEEE 802.3bj “Standard for Ethernet Amendment 2: Physical Layer Specifications and Management Parameters for 100 Gb/s Operation Over Backplanes and Copper Cables.”
Smart Water Meter Market Growth in Latin America
One of the largest installations of communicating water meters in Latin America to date is now set to occur in Uruguay. The national water utility, Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE), recently awarded a contract to smart water meter supplier ARAD for 45,000 communicating positive displacement water
Innovation Drives Autonomous Vehicle Development
They may not realize it, but drivers of many of the latest passenger cars are experiencing features that, with only some software additions, can provide autonomous driving, at least in select circumstances.
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