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February 20th, 2012
Good web tension control systems ensure that no matter how demanding the production process is, the correct web tension is maintained for any type of material, at any point of the machine and at any speed. Colin Keating, an experienced design engineer at Optima Control Solutions Ltd., talks about two popular types of closed-loop tension controllers - dancer mechanisms and electrical load cell transducers.
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January 9th, 2012
This report is based on Mark Lane’s research for the University of Huddersfield and concerns motor condition monitoring, preventative maintenance and their commercial implications.
There is significant interest from industry in motor and
mechanical sub-system condition monitoring– as shown
in the work commissioned for David Brown[see report].
The customers of Optima Control Solutions Ltd. have
regular vibration analysis checks carried out on key plant
equipment. Often, this has shown to be valuable in
detecting early failures.
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November 11th, 2011
This report aims to familiarize the reader with basic but important information about two specific types of controllers – DC drives and AC drives. The first part provides descriptions of the general working principles of variable speed drive (VSD) technology. It discusses their main advantages and disadvantages between AC and DC drive solutions. The second part explains some problems that could possibly be encountered when employing AC or DC drive systems and offers practical recommendations about how to approach these problems. Dr Adrian West, Optima’s technical director, has spent more than 30 years working with, programming and troubleshooting drive systems. This report is based on his extensive practical knowledge and experience. It is, therefore, a very accurate and independent source of information.
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October 3rd, 2011
Automated control systems are the backbone of modern production. It is hard to imagine engineering a manufacturing process without the help of a specialized computing system. This is where Programmable Logic Controllers (or PLCs) are significant. The choice of a PLC brand, therefore, is not a simple decision to make because that can affect the productivity of a whole process line.
The first part of this report describes the basic principles and architecture of a programmable logic controller. The second part provides short comparisons of 3 PLC brands. The final part is a debate between Optima’s senior engineers about the various benefits of each PLC brand (focusing particularly on Siemens and Allen Bradley). Ian Brady and Nick Maclean offer two different views on the pros and cons of the products of the two main PLC manufacturers.
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