Remote access to Sentinel Hardlock (licence) key

The loss of a license key can be a expensive experience. A possible solution to this is to forward it through internet via a virtual USB port.

A tip on how to make a Sentinel Hardlock key accessible through internet

Introduction

A lost licence key will bring to serious trouble, as with the key is lost also the licence. Therefore, whoever looses the key, loses also the tied licences and might have to repurchase them all. That can be a traumatic experience.

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Visiting the SPS Fair in Nuremberg

Sharing impressions from my first visit to the Smart Production Solutions (SPS) fair in Nuremberg

The Smart Production Solutions (SPS) fair happens yearly in the month of November. It is a fairly small in comparison with other industrial fairs held in Germany, but it nevertheless quite interesting.

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Reference Designation Systems in Preplanning

What are the reference designation systems and why are they important for the preplanning process?

Reference designation systems (RDS) play a key role in the preplanning process. They give us consistent rules on naming and structuring of the different systems and devices which make part of a plant.

By following this rules we gain a concise naming method that allows us not only to give unique names to different objects (devices) inside a system we want to describe, but also allows us to locate the object according to its different aspects, like the location or the function.

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Internet of things (IoT) and 5G at Hannovermesse 2019

What I learned about IoT (Internet of Things) , 5G and related security at Hannovermesse 2019.

A year has passed, and came another opportunity to take an insight in the industrial future.  This year the buzz words at Hannovermesse 2019 were Internet of Things and  5G in industrial processes.

Of course the main goal of the trip was to visit the stand of ePlan and share some experience… but… as I was already there… I took the opportunity to widen my horizons on other topics as well.

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Inserting parts using the ePlan Parts Manager – Quick tips

When I tried to insert my first parts using the ePlan Parts Manager, I was quite puzzled by the multitude of available options and fields to fill. I needed quite some time before I figured out a good approach to it. To help you overcome the “first encounter” frustrations I decided to compile this list of basic guidelines for beginners.

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ePlan Data portal

In my previous article (about the ePlan parts database) in my series on the database centric approach to CAD, I mentioned the ePlan Data portal.  It is a huge parts database with more than 780.000 parts from more than 210 producers (According to the data portal news), many  of them leaders in their respective sectors. The database also keeps growing so each month you can expect new parts and/or producers. It is available to ePlan users under a separate license and permits the import of the needed parts directly into their projects and own Parts databases. After the import it is possible to modify the imported information to match our own necessities.

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ePlan parts database

ePlan parts database is at the heart of each ePlan project and it is also at the heart of ePlan’s database-centric approach to CAD.

Basic principles

So what are the project parts?

Project parts represent all mechanical, electrical, electromechanical devices, assembly parts, equipment, which compose the output of the project. For example a complete air handling unit, or part of the heating automation system, etc.

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Impressions from Hannovermesse 2017

This year I visited Hannovermesse once again and this time I decided to share my experience with you.

As most of you, my fellow readers, probably know Hannovermesse is The Fair when we talk about industry and industrial automation. So a good place to visit once a while when you find yourself in these waters.

Hannovermesse 2017
View from one of the restaurants on Hannover Fair

The fair is fairly big so it is good to have a plan before coming and possibly scheduled meetings with the most important exhibitors you might like to talk to. It is merely impossible to see it all in (even) few days, so it is good to keep it organised.

My plan was from the very beginning, and of course :-), to visit the ePlan booth. A little bit to chat and share experience with people I already know and mostly because I had a few questions related to challenges which are due to come in the next months. So some new interesting  topics for my blog. Continue reading “Impressions from Hannovermesse 2017”

Database centric architecture in CAD

Database centric architecture is proving itself as an effective approach to automation engineering and electrical design complexity.

From what derives this complexity? Well, the process of automation and electrical engineering planning is a process of accumulation of data. In each subsequent step we accumulate more data which has to be represented in the correct way in the final product/document. In my concrete case it all starts with preplanning. Where the crucial part of the work is not only designing the final P&IDs which describe the process itself, but with it already comes a more detailed description of the automation process, like the I/O lists, definition of the symbolic addresses, operational sequences, etc. In the same step  we also define the field devices lists, like the exact types of sensors, actors and other devices to be used.

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