Post-Stuxnet industrial security
17 August, 2011 by Torsten Rössel, Director of Business Development, Innominate Security Technologies AG, Germany | Supplied by: Phoenix Contact Pty Ltd
By now, Stuxnet has become well known as the computer malware worm that allegedly infected Iranian organisations in 2010, most notably those plants alleged to be used for uranium enrichment. But regardless of its original purpose, Stuxnet now proves that insufficient IT security opens automation networks to a clear and present threat.
MDT Software AutoSave automation change management software
16 August, 2011 | Supplied by: Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric, the Australian distributor of MDT Software, has released the latest version of AutoSave, designed to protect, save, restore, discover and track changes in industrial programmable devices and documents.
GE Energy 4Sight calibration and maintenance software
08 August, 2011 | Supplied by: GE Energy
The 4Sight calibration and maintenance software from the Sensing business of GE Energy’s Measurement & Control Solutions is a scalable solution for single-user or multisite businesses. It can streamline maintenance workflow by improving data integrity, optimising work schedules, automating calibration and maintenance, and correcting instrument deviations. Using web-based technology, the software will help to achieve regulatory compliance and safety, and can provide 25 to 40% reductions in maintenance costs in the industrial, petrochemical, chemical, process, oil and gas, and pharmaceutical sectors.
National Instruments CompactRIO cRIO-908x systems and sbRIO-9605/06 boards
03 August, 2011 | Supplied by: National Instruments Aust Pty Ltd
The NI cRIO-908x systems feature an Intel Core i7 1.33 GHz dual-core processor for increased processing power, Xilinx Spartan-6 field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and the option of a Windows Embedded Standard 7 (WES7) OS configuration for monitoring and control applications that require high performance and the ruggedness of CompactRIO.
Matrikon OPC Tunneller
01 August, 2011 | Supplied by: Matrikon Asia-Pacific
OPC Tunneller from MatrikonOPC now supports encryption and data compression to provide an easy, reliable and secure way to communicate between networked computers. It does away with the difficulties typically associated with DCOM configuration. Different protocols, security settings or locations are no longer a factor when sharing data between computers. This is achieved by installing OPC Tunneller on the OPC client and OPC server nodes and then telling the Tunneller client where the Tunneller server exists.
A life cycle approach to energy management in the process industries
31 July, 2011 | Supplied by: Honeywell Process Solutions
In most process industries, the management of energy consumption has become a high priority in recent years. But standalone and ad hoc efforts to manage energy will not achieve the results that can be achieved when a comprehensive life cycle approach is used.
Schneider Electric MachineStruxure automation software solution
29 July, 2011 | Supplied by: Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric has launched MachineStruxure, an automation offer designed to give OEMs the ability to engineer an entire machine from one software package - creating time, cost and energy efficiencies. It is based on flexible hardware platforms and a comprehensive single software suite, SoMachine, which simplifies programming and commissioning of the machine by building all the required elements into one software environment.
MathWorks Simulink Design Verifier v2.0
26 July, 2011 | Supplied by: MathWorks Australia
MathWorks has announced that Simulink Design Verifier now includes Polyspace analysis technology for automated error detection in Simulink models. Simulink Design Verifier 2.0 integrates Polyspace error detection with existing property proving and test generation capabilities to help reduce the time required to find and fix the root cause of design errors, decreasing the overall cost of verification and validation.
Effective OPC security for control systems - Part 2
21 July, 2011 by Eric Byres, PEng, ISA Fellow, CTO, Byres Security Inc | Supplied by: Matrikon Asia-Pacific
Recent security incidents such as the Stuxnet worm that attacked Siemens WinCC and PCS7 systems in Iran and the remote sabotage of a Texas power utility are a wake-up call for the industrial automation industry. We continue our article from last month with a more in-depth look at the concept of ‘defence in depth’.
Rockwell Automation FactoryTalk Batch version 11
10 July, 2011 | Supplied by: Rockwell Automation Australia
The application development capabilities of FactoryTalk Batch software have been expanded to help users design and run batch applications more rapidly. Version 11 features intelligent recipe capabilities, secure operator overrides, expanded data collection and reporting and improved material management capabilities.
MathWorks SimDriveline software
09 July, 2011 | Supplied by: MathWorks Australia
The new version of SimDriveline software helps simplify the integration of other physical domains into drivetrain models, including thermal losses in geartrains, electrical solenoids and hydraulically actuated clutches. SimDriveline, based on Mathworks’ Simscape technology, helps engineers model and simulate mechanical systems in Simulink for a variety of automotive, aerospace, defence and industrial applications.
Non-invasive loop design
06 July, 2011 by Arkadiy Turevskiy, Brian McKay, Doug Eastman and Paul Lambrechts, MathWorks | Supplied by: MathWorks Australia
Proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers are ubiquitous. Designing and tuning them may appear simple in theory, but it can be difficult and time consuming in practice. Using model-based design, the development process can be improved by systematically designing, testing and implementing PID controllers on programmable logic controllers (PLCs), programmable automation controllers (PACs) and microprocessors.
Effective OPC security for control systems - Part 1
02 July, 2011 | Supplied by: Matrikon Asia-Pacific
For the past decade, industrial control systems administrators and engineers wanted to believe that ‘air gaps’ truly existed between their systems and the rest of the world. They have also hoped that ‘security by obscurity’ would keep them safe from security threats. Those days are over...
OPC Rescue diagnostic software
15 June, 2011 | Supplied by: http://www.opcti.com
The OPC Training Institute has released OPC Rescue, a diagnostic tool for users that want to diagnose communications issues.
Optimising assets through reliability-centred maintenance
27 May, 2011 | Supplied by: Infor
In technical literature, reliability-centred maintenance (RCM) continues to show up as the prominent future strategic direction in machinery maintenance, and for good reason. RCM is the best method to use when optimising the operational reliability of plant equipment. It is important for reliability professionals to understand RCM and how condition-monitoring tools fit into the RCM picture.
