I just read that the new FDI Corporation is already showing benefits with prototypes of the first FDI components –proof that the concepts being proposed will work have been demonstrated on an ABB system. The prototypes include communications with HART, FF and Profibus protocol devices. The article on Control Engineering Europe’s web site http://www.controlengeurope.com/article/46341/First-working-prototype-of... also includes expected delivery dates for the remainder of the project indicating all the parts should be ready by the end of 2012.

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.

I “just” got in from the above event here in Santiago and despite its size it truly was an automation event with a mixture of both process and factory automation – indicative of the type of industry driving the Chilean economy which is predominantly mining. The event is organised by “Electro Industria” http://www.electroindustria.cl/ Chile’s print automation voice.

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.

Here's the link to Walt's pix from ABB World. More to come.

Mark Taft:  http://www.facebook.com/waltboyes?ref=ts#!/photo.php?pid=30886329&id=1116441202

Joe Hogan: http://www.facebook.com/waltboyes?ref=ts#!/photo.php?pid=30886390&id=1116441202

9:41 a.m. #APW10 Santacana announces intent to build new $90 m high voltage cable factory in USA. Site select by Q3 and online by 2012.

Walt Boyes is down in Houston attending ABB World. He's a great social media guy, but hasn't yet figured out how to blog and Twitter at the same time. (Come on, Walt. Time to work on your multi-tasking skills!) So we're reproducing here Walt's tweets from the opening day. I'll be updating this throughout the day for those of you wise enough not to fall into the time sink of Twitter.

Starting with the earliest first:

8:08 a.m. #APW10 sitting waiting for Joe Hogan's keynote speech at Automation & Power World. I will report often.

If you've been paying attention today, you already know that big news here in the Midwest, besides the snow, is the shooting at the ABB plant in St. Louis. The story is still developing, as we say in the press, and it's dangerous to draw any kind of hard-and-fast conclusions about what has happened or why. Instead, what I've been thinking about in the hours since the story broke is the fact that there's another whole kind of plant security that we have to think about. 

Another update as details emerge. This just gets worse. http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20100107/US.Business.Shooting.St.Louis/

Here is the latest update on the shooting at the ABB transformer plant in St Louis. This comes from the Chicago Tribune about 20 minutes ago.  We'll keep following this as the situation develops.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-ap-us-business-shooting-st-louis,0,1511307.story