Control Intelligence

A conversation with control automation's Kind Canuckian

The guest on this episode of Control Intelligence is Jeremy Pollard, who was a 10-year veteran of Allen-Bradley as a technical specialist. Pollard established Allen-Bradley's Toronto District Training Office where PLC-2, PLC-3 and PLC-5 courses were implemented, and more than 1,000 students were personally trained by him.

Pollard has consulted for SoftPLC, Flexis Control, Wonderware and IndX Software and was responsible for product development and direction for PLC support software packages under DOS, OS/2 and six different Windows iterations.

He is the former North American Managing Director of PLCopen, the international association for standardized control system solutions. Pollard has written countless articles for various automation trade publications, and he is our longest-standing monthly columnist on Control Design, where he writes the Embedded Intelligence column.

Pollard holds a diploma in electrical engineering technology from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto. He's worked on projects for companies ranging from Baxter Pharmaceuticals and General Motors to Chevron and Labatt Breweries.

Determinism, jittering and load balancing: strategies for real-time control

For many years, real-time control software, whether running on a dedicated controller or an industrial PC, operated on a single CPU core. The runtime scheduler could precisely calculate scan times, and the engineer’s mental model of “one processor, one control loop” held true.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Joey Stubbs, editor in chief Mike Bacidore shares how to handle determinism, jitter and load balancing in multicore control architectures.

What to expect from the automation supply chain

The combination of technology and market forces is reshaping the automation supply chain for machine builders. Where can you turn for guidance?

In this episode of Control Intelligence, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses automation distribution and Control Design's upcoming webinar on the supply chain.

Transforming industrial operations with vision systems

At its core, an industrial machine vision system comprises high-resolution cameras, specialized illumination, image processors and software algorithms. The system captures images or video of products and processes and then analyzes this visual data to detect defects or anomalies, measure dimensions with high precision, verify the presence or position of parts and guide automated equipment or robots.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Charles Palmer, editor in chief Mike Bacidore shares how vision systems impact industrial productivity.

Human-machine interfaces begin at the electrical cabinet

Industrial enclosures and human-machine interfaces (HMIs) represent a pivotal advancement in automation and control. These integrated systems enable seamless interaction between operators and complex machinery, offering robust protection for sensitive electronics and user-friendly access to real-time data.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Charles Palmer, editor in chief Mike Bacidore talks about the relationship between enclosures and HMIs.

Digital twins usher in a new era for motion-control programming

In factories, motion control systems are more complex than ever. Multi-axis machines, integrated robotics and tight production schedules leave little room for trial and error. For decades, programmers have had to wait until the first machine was assembled to test their code, often discovering issues once it was most costly to fix them.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Joey Stubbs, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses motion control digital twins.

The key to state machines in industrial automation

There are many applications in the industrial automation realm that benefit from state machines. Therefore, it was surprising to hear from an industrial programming specialist who says he does not like state machines and was adamant about their not working.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Tobey Strauch, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses state machines.

Ac vs. dc motors: Which one should you choose?

Control systems use direct current (dc) motors for many applications. Many systems displace dc with alternating current (ac) technology because ac motors are more cost effective and lower maintenance than a dc motor with brushes. But are they?

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Tobey Strauch, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses ac and dc motors.

The dos and don'ts of troubleshooting industrial Ethernet failures

It has become a de facto standard in plants and machines for interconnecting systems and in fact individual devices. So, what happens when it fails? What would make it fail?

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Jeremy Pollard, editor in chief Mike Bacidore network-troubleshoots dos and don’ts.

Echolocation Episode: How have views on RS-232 changed?

In 2023, the Control Intelligence podcast on RS-232 was greeted with immediate popularity, and it remains an often-downloaded podcast episode. Electronic Design, an EndeavorB2B partner brand, republished the podcast episode, initiating some feedback from listeners.

Hear their stories, and revisit the original podcast, in this refreshed Echolocation Episode.