by Gary Mintchell | Jun 16, 2025 | Networking
Digi International had been one of two primary sources of serial-to-Ethernet converters. Then they went dark for years. They’ve returned to the public lately with a number of press releases. This one continues industry trends of enabling remote workers and security.
Digi International announced the launch of a full-suite solution for industrial infrastructure management, combining the new Digi Axess mobile app with the Digi Axess VPN Service for 24/7 secure industrial infrastructure access.
Designed specifically for field teams in industries such as oil and gas, water, wastewater, and irrigation, the Digi Axess mobile app enables instant oversight and rapid response, all from a mobile device.
- Instant configuration: Adjust sensors in seconds
- Instant alerts: Respond fast
- Mobile troubleshooting: Fix issues on the go
- Enterprise-grade security: Stay protected
- Always-on access: No more desktop dependence
The Digi Axess VPN service offers secure, scalable connectivity without reliance on public static IPs. Optimized support for the Digi Z45 Industrial Controller — minimizing risk and maximizing uptime.
- No public static IPs: Reduced cybersecurity exposure
- VPN tunnel failover: Stay connected
- Scalable + cost-effective: Deploy remotely with ease
by Gary Mintchell | Jun 11, 2025 | Process Control
Just as I was wondering about anything new in process control, this release about Yokogawa releasing its next-generation CENTUM VP Integrated Production Control System came my way.
They say that this celebrates the 50th anniversary of the announcement of the world’s first distributed control system and 10 generations of the current iteration.
Yokogawa Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6841) announces the unveiling of the next-generation Release 7 concept and the launch of Release 7.01 of the CENTUM VP integrated production control system, a core product in the OpreX Control and Safety System lineup. This is the 10th generation of the CENTUM series, and its release coincides with the 50th anniversary of the announcement of CENTUM as the world’s first*1 distributed control system (DCS), on June 19, 1975.
Yokogawa has based its development of CENTUM VP Release 7 on the concept of enabling autonomous operations. With CENTUM, Yokogawa is helping its customers attain sustainability by improving energy efficiency, accelerating decarbonization, and providing a safe and secure working environment. While maintaining the reliability, stability, continuity, robust security, and comprehensive engineering and service network that have been hallmarks of the CENTUM series since its inception, Yokogawa adds the following three areas:
1. Expanded scope of control and monitoring—By securely aggregating a wide range of data scattered throughout the plant, the status of the entire plant can be monitored, and the scope of automated operation can be expanded, enabling safer and more secure operations.
2. Predictive monitoring through process condition monitoring—By extracting and identifying process-specific events related to operations and predicting deviations from expected values, operators can anticipate changes and take action, helping to achieve more stable operations and improve energy efficiency.
3. Reduction of operator workload—By presenting future scenarios that leverage operator knowledge and know-how, it supports the operator in making accurate decisions. In addition, autonomous control AI*3 can take over from operators to achieve long-term stable operation. This reduces operator workload and mental stress.
Main Features of Release 7.01
1. Enhanced security—This release adopts industry security benchmarks to strengthen the cybersecurity of the components that make up control systems and enhance the overall security level of the system.
2. Expansion of control and monitoring scope with CENTUM—By integrating OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) connectivity, the range of plant equipment and devices that can be controlled and monitored by CENTUM is expanded. In this update, OPC UA client functionality has been added to CENTUM.
3. Enhanced engineering capabilities for large-scale projects—To promote operational optimization by integrating various systems within the plant, a feature has been added that allows the merging and testing of multiple engineering databases related to CENTUM. This enhancement will enable high-quality and efficient engineering, contributing to the rapid startup of new plants and restart of upgraded plants.
by Gary Mintchell | Jun 6, 2025 | Automation
I am no longer a favored person by Emerson. But, then, I really don’t care to travel as much as I once did. Plus, the technology evolution and applications have slowed. If you haven’t seen any reports from the latest Emerson Exchange users group, I recommend this from my old friend Jim Montague at Control magazine.
by Gary Mintchell | May 19, 2025 | Robots
Perhaps the final news coming my way from Automate 2025 and again robotic-oriented, this news concerns release of an off-the-shelf palletizing solution, said to be the first in North America. Doig Corp. Developed Pallet EZ with OnRobot and its D:PLOY platform.
Unlike traditional automation systems that require weeks of integration and specialized expertise, Pallet EZ is ready to install and deploy the same day. It allows manufacturers to be up and running within hours, and adjust to changing production needs in minutes, without programming knowledge or external support.
The solution eliminates traditional integration hurdles. Applications can be deployed and re-deployed in minutes, empowering users to handle new workpieces, adjust pallet layouts, and evolve with changing production demands, all in-house, without coding.
by Gary Mintchell | May 16, 2025 | Robots
More news from Automate. Most of the news has been robotics. This piece reports on Universal Robots introduction of its fastest Cobot, the UR15. Looks like there is still room for improvement in this technology area. They say shipping is to begin in June 2025.
The release states the maximum TCP speed of 5 m/s.
For pick-and-place applications, the UR15 delivers up to 30% cycle time improvements compared to other UR models. All the while retaining the unique UR trademarks of lightweight design and small footprint.
Combined with OptiMove, UR’s new motion control technology, those gains go even further, enhancing trajectory smoothness and ensuring consistently accurate movements – even in high-speed and high-payload applications.
UR15 runs with both PolyScope 5 and PolyScope X, UR’s software platform, and is AI ready. The UR15 can be used with the UR AI Accelerator, UR’s toolkit for developing AI-powered applications. The UR AI Accelerator is developed in collaboration with NVIDIA using NVIDIA Isaac’s CUDA-accelerated libraries and models and running on the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin system-on-module.
The UR15 has a payload of 15 kg (33 lbs) which can be increased to 17.5 kg (38.58 lbs) for applications with wrist-down orientation, such as palletizing. UR15 is a versatile cobot designed to empower multiple applications and industries – each with their own unique challenges where flexibility, efficiency and reliability are critical.
by Gary Mintchell | May 14, 2025 | Manufacturing IT, Sensors, Technology
Most of the interesting developments for the past several years have been in software. But not in the MES area that I began my software career working with. The companions to software have been security and artificial intelligence (AI). The AI component assumes many forms. In today’s news, we have AI assisting visual inspection (in a way a quite old application updated with new developments) integrating with MES. The companies involved are Cybord and Siemens.
Cybord, a leading provider of advanced visual-AI electronic component analytics, and Siemens Digital Industries Software have signed a new OEM agreement to integrate Cybord’s cutting-edge AI technology with Siemens’ Opcenter software for Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES). The collaboration expands a previous OEM agreement and enables Siemens to offer Cybord’s powerful AI solutions to Opcenter customers and Siemens’ factories globally.
The integration of Cybord’s visual AI platform with Siemens’ Opcenter empowers manufacturers to enhance quality control of their Surface Mount Technology (SMT) processes. The solution will provide real-time detection of defective components, help build component repositories, and integrate visually verified traceability across the supply chain. Customers will be able to streamline their operations without the need for additional dashboards as the solution is fully integrated into Opcenter MES. This integration also allows customers to take immediate action on product integrity issues, improving their ability to address problems on the fly and helping to ensure consistent product quality.
