One would think that because the Fieldbus Foundation defines so many other parameters in its standards that the time for the Compel Data message used for the Publish/Subscribe messages on which control in the field is based would also be standardized. Not so. This sometimes makes it difficult for designers to properly estimate the macrocycle requirements, which is unfortunate since in many cases the bandwidth of the Fieldbus system is now the design constraint.

From 'The Great Kanduski: Best Practices in Industrial Networking'

Found the following tidbit in the latest issue of the Industrial Automation Insider. Our U.K. buddy, Nick Denbow, has unearthed the following convoluted history of the Rotameter brand. 

From 'Sound Off! Editors' Blog'

Well, that was quick. The email below from ABB relating to the Emerson offer for Chloride appeared in my inbox this morning.

From 'Sound Off! Editors' Blog'

The boss is supposed to be on vacation, and I'll be driving the blogging machine for a few days, but, on  the other hand, I keep getting emails from him. (Walt. are you listening? Go on vacation already!) so you may be hearing from him as well.

From 'Sound Off! Editors' Blog'

There was a parade of new product announcements from MACTek, Emerson, Pepperl+Fuchs, Phoenix Contact and ProComSol that were released today by the HART Communication Foundation-- that would have been released at Hannover Messe:

WirelessHART Products Rolling Out From Many Vendors

From 'Sound Off! Editors' Blog'

Thanks to the Icelandic volcano with the incredibly difficult to pronounce name (Eyjafjallajokull, pronounced like this), the normal HART Communication Foundation press conference at Hanover Fair has been cancelled.

The HART folks, however, have decided to release all the press releases, case studies, and the statements of the members of the HART Board of Directors anyway.

From 'Sound Off! Editors' Blog'

Control's ControlTalk author Gregory K. McMillan has put together a new book entitled "Essentials of Modern Measurements and Final Elements in the Process Industry." It is published by ISA Press and can be ordered from www.isa.org/books and from Amazon.com.

The ordering information blurb says:

From 'Sound Off! Editors' Blog'

There is new hope for End Users that a uniform interface to the rich information such as diagnostics and related material in smart instruments may soon be available. This is because a number of supplier companies have joined the FDI cooperation project that initially consisted of the major technology trade organizations, FDT Group, Fieldbus Foundation, HART Communication Foundation, OPC Foundation and PROFIBUS Nutzerorganisation.From 'The Great Kanduski: Best Practices in Industrial Networking'

Here is a press release from Liz Patronella at the HART Communication Foundation detailing the outcome of the NAMUR testing at BASF Ludwigshafen:

From 'Sound Off! Editors' Blog'

 

New Emerson Human Centered Design Institute Drives Ease of Use

Innovative product development process reverses the roles of technology and people

From 'Sound Off! Editors' Blog'