Control Intelligence Podcast

Podcasts

March 2025 industry news: facilities, VFD integration and Hannover Messe

This month, Control Design covered vender news from Festo, Schneider Electric and more
Podcasts

How industrial safety sensors have your back

Different sensors work together to ensure comprehensive safety for workers and the production process
Podcasts

Securely implementing remote monitoring and diagnostics

How to provide protections for monitoring, control and diagnostics
Podcasts

PLCs v. PACs: similarities and differences

Exploring the functions of different controllers within industrial automation
Podcasts

IPCs, IT departments and software updates: how they work together

A Control Intelligence podcast with editor in chief Mike Bacidore, written by contributing editor Joey Stubbs

Top Stories

This diagram shows how data flows from the production line into digital twin clients. Data from production floor devices is collected through standard industrial protocols, such as OPC UA and then structured and contextualized by the unified namespace (UNS). A message queuing telemetry transport (MQTT) broker distributes live data from the UNS to the Unity-based digital twin clients on compatible devices for accurate visualization of the production line. Time-series and SQL databases store historical data that Unity can access as needed. The supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system obtains the same data as the UNS in parallel and operates on it before supplying its data to the UNS, offering additional process visibility and control. Cloud-based services like Amazon Web Services or Azure can be used to host the UNS, databases and other backend components so that Unity clients can access the digital twin securely over the internet.
Data Acquisition & Monitoring

Unity gaming engine powers digital twin technology

April 1, 2025
E Tech Group helps large global manufacturer use real-time data flows from the production equipment

Be Sure To Read

Are You Ready For Tomorrow - businessman working with virtual reality at office.
Robotics

Future-proofing your skills: A preview of Automate 2025 and the CSIA Conference 2025

Level up your automation game with these must-attend conferences for robotics, AI and digital transformation
TSN acronym. Time-Sensitive Networking establishes standards for deterministic and reliable networking in data communication.
Time-Sensitive Networking

Defining and understanding time-sensitive networking

What is time-sensitive networking? Find out with this quiz
Hands of robot and human connect artificial intelligence AI circuit board to virtual smart chatbot with a command for automation generate, learning technology artificial intelligence machine, AI.
Control

Artificial intelligence tools will give engineers more time to tackle higher level projects

While AI-generated code should be used responsibly, it could change the future face of the engineering workforce
NexCobot in collaboration with German partner Sysgo and BotFellows has developed a high-safety-level robotic dynamic safety collaboration space.
Functional Safety

How to expand the fieldbus and enable functional safety of a robot

NexCobot uses two levels of control to create a dynamic functional safety environment
Person's hand throws a computer hard disk into the trash bin
Development Platforms

Protocol and standard adaptability makes SDA impervious to obsolescence

Abstracted from hardware, software-defined platforms eliminate the need for single-source automation and can run on any compute device
Businessman hand touching virtual panel of virtual panel of computer network topology
Data Acquisition & Monitoring

Which topology should you choose for your application?

Can you correctly choose between bus, ring, star and mesh topologies?
Computer engineer is typing console script code by hand
Control

How can generative AI simplify complex PLC programming?

Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) tools help large language models improve code program organization units
Man is holding teach panel to control a robotic arm, which is integrated on smart factory production line
Sensors

Industrial safety sensors protect workers, equipment and processes

Proximity, pressure, temperature, gas and chemical, smoke and fire, vibration, motion, safety light, optical, radar, lidar, relay, wearable, load, force, vision and environmental...
Programmer people working laptops or smartphones with AI, artificial intelligence software engineer coding on laptop computers with technology icons and binary code, big data, AI bot digital machine
Control

Artificial intelligence assistants help programmers ease the coding load

Generative AI supports engineers by automating coding tasks and giving them time for higher-level programming

Products

I/O

Siemens I/O system

March 21, 2025
Siemens offers the scalable Simatic ET 200SP I/O, which is a highly flexible, modular system. It can exchange I/O data from the connected I/O modules with a higher-level programmable...
Time-Sensitive Networking

Phoenix Contact Wi-Fi modules

March 20, 2025
The WLAN 1121 and WLAN 1021 from Phoenix Contact offer the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology (IEEE 802.11ax) for high performance, security and reliability. With its modern industrial...
Connectors

Mencom receptacle

March 19, 2025
Mencom offers a range connectors for sensors and actuators in industries such as automation, manufacturing, military, aerospace and transportation. The receptacles are engineered...

BROWSE THESE LEADING SUPPLIERS

Mr. IIoT SHARC IoT sensor adapter
Sensors

Mr. IIoT sensor adapter

Mr. IIoT offers the SHARC IoT sensor adapter, which streams data from industrial sensors via the message queuing telemetry transport (MQTT) protocol. The A-coded five-pin M12 ...