Latest News

Book Review of Small Unmanned Aircraft: Theory and Practice By Randal W Beard & Timothy W McLain

Unmanned aircraft have an ever increasing role within both military and civilian applications. They can provide a unique method of monitoring equipment or activities in harsh and unforgiving territory and in poor weather conditions. However, the key to successful operation lies in the quality of the control system. This text is a very comprehensive treatment of the subject ranging from mathematical modelling to applications examples.

It is probably true to say that the text concentrates more on the application issues than on the advanced control design aspects. It is very nicely written with a presentation style that engineers in industry will appreciate. Most of the mathematics involved is very straight forward and the results are presented in a very clear manner. This is a text that should be very useful to those working on unmanned aerial vehicles and may even be of interest to those working on unmanned land or marine vehicles.

Published by Princeton University Press, Price: £69.95

Reviewer Guy

Video: Understanding the User Case for CIF

A new study has been completed by ISC that examines how Foundation Fieldbus CIF operates and where it is likely to offer the greatest advantages over traditional host-based process control. In the video. Dr. Andy Clegg explains the parameters of the study, and the basic findings.

His report discusses how ISC carried out the independent evaluation, and the circumstances under which the high determinism of CIF can outperform conventional loops driven by a PLC or DCS.

Powering Remote Villages with Revolutionary Airborne Wind Technology Using NI CompactRIO

The Challenge:

Providing portable renewable energy to remote villages and other areas that do not have access to the power grid. Remote villages without access to the power grid must rely on diesel or petroleum generators for electricity, which means they have power only when they can get fuel.

The Solution:

Developing a portable 12 kW airborne wind energy system that uses a tethered, flexible airfoil to replace the blades and tower found on traditional wind turbines. Because the system has no tower, it does not require a heavy reinforced concrete foundation, so it can be mounted to a trailer and can provide portable renewable energy in remote off-grid areas.

Read the Full Case Study here