Automation Parts

Xilinx Virtex-5Q FPGAs, developed for the aerospace and defence markets, are available from Nu Horizons. Based on Xilinx's Virtex-5 FPGAs, the Virtex-5Q range offers greater operational temperature ranges off the shelf and ruggedised packaging for protection against tin whiskering and harsh manufacturing processes. Mask-set control and long-term product availability are also standard. Virtex-5Q FPGAs suit a range of applications, including imaging, secure applications, electronic warfare and packet processing. Using the second-generation ASMBL (Advanced Silicon Modular Block) column-based architecture, the Virtex-5Q family contains four sub-families: the LX high-performance logic FPGA, the LXT high-performance FPGA with added connectivity, the digital-signal-processing optimised SXT and the embedded-processing-optimised FXT. In addition to advanced, high-performance logic fabric with up to 330,000 logic cells, Virtex-5Q FPGAs contain hard-IP system-level blocks, including 36kb...

Contrinex, the Swiss sensor manufacturer, has introduced a range of safety light curtains. Known as Safetinex, the modular design allows fully tested systems to be delivered on a very short time scale. Contrinex safety light curtains correspond to safety Category 4 (EN/ISO 13849-1) and Type 4 (EN/IEC 61496 -1 and -2) and are designed to be used wherever risks cannot be eliminated through machine design. A person or any part of the body entering a danger zone is detected by the light curtain, resulting in immediate machine stoppage. Safetinex light curtains consist of a sender and a receiver unit that demarcate the protection zone around the machine. The range comprises models with resolutions of 14mm for finger protection and 30mm for hand protection, with a maximum protective field width of 3.5m and 12m respectively. The maximum protective height is either 1685mm (14mm resolution) or 1822mm (30mm resolution). The signal processing method used in the Contrinex system ensures fas...

HVAC Market Benefits From Building Boom Rising competition is squeezing electric drive manufacturers' profit margins, especially with the rising demand for smaller and low-cost HVAC drives. The boom in the construction business has rippled into the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) industry in Europe, which, in turn, has buoyed the electric drives market This is because HVAC accounts for nearly 10% of its total market revenue. New analysis from Frost and Sullivan Electric Drives Market in the European HVAC Industry, finds that the market earned revenues of US $292.5 million in 2007 and estimates this to reach US $456.5 million in 2014. The HVAC industry's status as one of the major consumers of electrical energy among industries in Europe and the recent hike in energy costs have compelled electric drive manufacturers to develop energy-efficient systems. The passing of standards and directives stressing energy conservation bolstered this development. However, the ...