AI and Machine Learning Category - Page 4 of 5

The Winding History of Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation is one of the biggest industrial automation companies in the world. But a little over a century ago it began as a small company devoted to one product started on a $1,000 investment.

The infographic below will give you many of the highlights, but the company has continually grown through other beneficial acquisitions,mergers, and divestitures as well. This includes

Allen-Bradley’s acquisition of Robotronics S.A. from Matra S.A. in 1985. Robotronics S.A. was active in robot vision. ⁽¹⁾
Allen-Bradley’s acquisition of the Electronics Corporation of America in 1986 for $99 million. The Electronics Corporation of America was based in Waltham, Mass. and manufactured electronic combustion sensors and photoelectric controls. ⁽²⁾
Allen-Bradley’s acquisition of Creonics in 1990. Creonics created motion control products ⁽³⁾
Allen-Bradley’s acquisition and partnership with Metal Leve Controles Eletronicos in 1992 The company specialized in electromechanical industrial control products. ⁽⁴⁾
Rockwell’s acquisition of Reliance Electric for 1.6 billion dollars in 1994. The company focused on motors, drives, and mechanical drive components. Rockwell also buys ICOM and Controlware around this time. ^(5,6,7)
Rockwell International acquisition of California’s Intecolor Corp in 1997. The privately held company, which built high-performance computer monitors and industrial workstations, was purchased for an undisclosed amount. ⁽⁸⁾
Rockwell’s acquisitions of Dynapro and EJA Engineering in 1999. Dynapro designed HMI interface software, while EJA specialized in industrial Automation safety components. ^(9,10)
Rockwell’s acquisition of several software companies, including Datasweep in 2005, GEPA in 2006, Incuity in 2008, and ACP in 2016. ^{(11,12,13,14)}
Rockwell merges Allen-Bradley with Electro-Craft, moving all motion control products under the Allen-Bradley name. ⁽¹⁵⁾
Rockwell divested itself of Reliance Electric, selling the power systems business to Baldor Electric in 2006 for $1.75 billion in cash and $50 million in stock. ⁽⁵⁾
Rockwell’s expansion of its MES (manufacturing execution systems) offerings with the acquisition of Interwave in 2003 and MESTECH Services in 2019. ^(16,17)
Rockwell’s move into advanced technologies with the acquisition of vMonitor in 2013, Jacobs Automation in 2014, Odos Imaging Limited in 2017, Emulate3D in 2019, and AvNet in 2020. ⁽¹⁸⁾

Rockwell-Automation Download

For more information on our extensive on-hand Reliance Electric inventory, contact our team or take a look at our website.

AX Control Scholarship Winners Announced

Close up of glasses on an open book. The AX Control Scholarship rewards hard work. — Thank you to everyone who applied for the AX Control Scholarship.

AX Control, Inc is pleased to announce that Zaven Hamazaspyan is the winner of the 2020 AX Control Inc Academic Scholarship. This year’s scholarship is in the amount of $1,000. We chose the winner based upon the strength of a short essay. This focused on a personal account of an ambition he/she had to establish their own business, or of a small business that had impacted their life.

Due to the quality of the essays received, an additional $500 was awarded to a second student. The recipient of this award is Evan Rene MacLaughlin.

Thank you to all the students that participated in this year’s scholarship process. We received essays from around the country, including from students from Ivy League schools like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Applicants also pulled from other competitive schools like NYU, Stanford, Duke, and Johns Hopkins.

Please check back soon for information on our 2021 Scholarship application.

RTDs vs Thermocouples

Working Principles and When to Use Each

This article will focus on the qualities of RTDs vs Thermocouples and their typical applications and principles.

Measuring temperatures in industrial engineering is a key part of monitoring the operation of the various mechanical, electrical, and electronic systems, determining their performance, and evaluating their health.

Likewise, in chemical processes, temperature and heat control may be crucial in achieving the desired end product. Additionally, the same applies to welding, heat treatment processes, industrial ovens used for plastic shrinking, and a wide range of other possible applications. That said, measuring temperatures is neuralgic in a wide range of engineering operations, and doing so with accuracy and precision is equally important.

While there are many types of thermometers that can be used for measuring temperatures including the familiar “mercury” thermometers, the bimetallic, and the vapor pressure thermometers, those that are most commonly and widely used in the industrial environment are the resistance temperature detectors (RTD) and the thermocouple devices. Both of these thermometer types have their respective advantages and drawbacks, and they are both suitable and valuable for a distinctively different set of applications.

Working Principle of Resistance Thermometers (RTD)

The RTD temperature sensor is based on the temperature dependence of the electric resistance of metals. As the temperature increases for metal, so does its electrical resistance. Of course, there’s an intrinsic coefficient of resistance for all materials, and a positive value for this coefficient makes specific materials better than others for the measurement element role. With nickel and platinum, for example, there is near-perfect linearity that is introduced by their respective coefficients, resulting in high accuracy and precision across repeated measurements. Moreover, nickel and platinum are generally chemically stable and extremely resistant to corrosion.

Drawing of a Coil in Tube RTD. Read the article for a breakdown of RTDs vs Thermocouples. — Coil-element Platinum Coil In Tube RTD. Source: Burns Engineering. Licensed Under CC-BY-SA-3.0