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Fluke, a global technology leader in the manufacturer of compact, professional electronic test and measurement tools and software, today shares the top three trends that are enhancing operational efficiency in today’s industrial environments.

Challenges posed to industrial operations managers by the pandemic have now been superseded by the rising cost of energy, and the need to deliver on net zero ambitions. As the price of energy continues to increase, the need to reduce costs and deliver on shared sustainability goals intensifies for small-to-medium sized enterprises through to large corporations.

Paul Feenstra, Vice President Fluke EMEA, at Fluke said: “We are working together with our customers to help drive new initiatives to improve operations, increase efficiencies, and take reliability to a new level in the 21^st century.”

• Reducing energy costs with upgraded technology and cloud-based data monitoring

Approximately 90% of all companies use compressed air in some aspect of their operation, such that it is often referred to as the fourth utility. Recent developments in industrial acoustic imaging technology have enabled the fast identification of leaks in compressed air systems used in industrial and manufacturing environments. Fluke’s ii900 Industrial Acoustic Imager features an array of microphones, providing visualisation of sound field within an expanded field-of-view and on a distance of up to 70 meters, that enables maintenance teams to visually locate air leaks very quickly and accurately in compressed air systems.

Beyond the improvement of rugged handheld tools, monitoring practices are also evolving with the use of internet-connected instruments. Analysis and data is captured on a cloud platform allowing operators to monitor the key performance indicators (KPI) of compressed air systems including energy, electric power, flow, pressure and leakage flow. Fluke’s LeakQ™ Report Generator creates detailed air compressor leak reports from images captured by Fluke ii900 or the ii910 Precision Acoustic Imager and calculates the energy savings once the leaks are repaired.

• Using data to deliver predictive maintenance

For generations, maintenance professionals have used preventive maintenance to avoid equipment failures and turned to reactive maintenance when assets failed. With the emergence of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies, maintenance professionals can now connect tools, software and sensors to collect, store and analyse multiple data sources in one place. The pandemic accelerated investment in technologies that make remote monitoring possible. The technology enables reliability and maintenance teams to meet up-time requirements no matter how fluid on-site staffing might be. The trend for remote monitoring will continue, with small scale operations turning to remote condition monitoring services.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have held the promise to quickly identify trends and adapt quickly to changing operational conditions. Software armed with prescriptive analytics is finally meeting up with modern condition monitoring hardware to spark a revolution in the use of AI/ML in maintenance operations.

Now a new race has emerged to pair that hardware and software with ML and AI algorithms. Companies, like Fluke, are working to combine technologies so that the software can identify trends, recognise data patterns and make specific recommendations for equipment maintenance.

• Digital SI speeds integration of critical equipment measurements

The accelerated uptake in digital measurement solutions for industrial applications can save time and money, whilst facilitating a shift towards predictive maintenance for systems. Although modern measurement digital devices are typically not fit-and-forget solutions, the increase in digital measurement solutions paves the way for verification technologies that can help to reduce the maintenance burden on personnel, without compromising on accuracy or reliability.

Digital SI (International System of Units), an initiative created as part of the industry 4.0 revolution, relates to the creation of a globalised system to transmit calibration certification information electronically. This is critical as the exchange of data and the data itself are the basis of highly automated industrial processes. The system ensures measurement traceability from all calibrations performed and enables sharing of information in a paperless manner. This speeds up the integration of measurements that can be performed using critical test equipment as part of an integrated factory enhancing maintenance efficiency and plant efficiency.

“The tests we have faced within the last 24-36 months is delivering a growing awareness among top management that fundamental changes in maintenance best practice need to occur in order to protect the bottom line,” said Paul Feenstra.

“This is music to the ears of progressive industrial managers who have been advocating for investments to improve efficiencies and reliability of systems. Now is the time to make the case to adopt innovative technologies, tools, and processes to ensure your company maintains a competitive edge and thrives in this new environment.”

For more information about Fluke’s specialist products and services, go to: https://www.fluke.com/en.

Voting is now open for the 2022 Instrumentation Excellence Awards so head over  to https://instrumentationawards.co.uk/vote/ to make your selection. The nominations for the Signal Conditioning Product of the Year category are as follows:

• Dewesoft, SIRIUS UNI  
• HBM, ClipX  
• Kemo, DR PRT  
• NewTek Sensor Solutions, NTC-6000 Qwik-Cal LVDT Signal Conditioner  
• NewTek Sensor Solutions, NTC-6000-DS Quick-Cal LVDT Signal Conditioner  
• Precision Filters, SCB-32CC-100μA  
• Renesas, ZSSC3230  
• Turck Banner, SNAP SIGNAL  

Voting closes on 25 August 2022, so visit https://instrumentationawards.co.uk/vote/ to make your vote count for the Signal Conditioning Product of the Year Award. 

Teledyne FLIR recently installed its dual thermal AID camera technology for use on the new 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey, which was constructed in a joint venture between DL E&C (formerly Daelim), Limak, SK Ecoplant and Yapı Merkezi. With incident detection cameras covering the entire length of the 4.6 km bridge, Teledyne FLIR technology will allow traffic users to cross the Çanakkale Strait in a fast and safe way.

At 4608-meters in length, 1915 Çanakkale Bridge is the longest mid-span suspension bridge in the world to date. The deck carries six lanes of motorway (three in each direction), together with two walkways on each side for maintenance purposes. Part of the Malkara-Çanakkale Motorway, the bridge is expected to be a huge contribution to the region and country’s economy by decreasing the time it takes to cross the Çanakkale Strait to six minutes.

Weather-Proof Incident Detection

From the onset, the consortium of DL E&C, Limak, SK Ecoplant, and Yapı Merkezi was looking for a high-performance automatic incident detection (AID) system that was able to deliver reliable detection results in all weather conditions. Operators needed to be able to see clearly in various environmental conditions as well, including foggy weather and heavy rain. Another difficulty was the risk of sun glare which could distort the images generated by a visual camera based automatic incident detection system. Thermal cameras have no issues whatsoever with fog, bad weather, or sun glare since they can detect traffic based on heat and not light. “Winters can be hard in Çanakkale and Malkara, with snow, fog and heavy wind,” says Emrah Ilteray, Chairman of the Board at Elmak-YMIdis, the joint venture responsible for ITS part of the project.

Thermal and Visible-Light Camera in One

Teledyne FLIR provided 98 units of the ITS-632 Dual AID camera to be installed along the entire bridge length every 96 meters on each side. This camera combines best-in class thermal and visual imaging technology with advanced video analytics to provide a complete solution for automatic incident detection. The camera can reliably detect incidents—including collisions, stopped vehicles, wrong-way drivers and pedestrians—in challenging lighting and weather conditions. In addition, the camera also detects fires within seconds of ignition and provides valuable traffic data, including number of vehicles and vehicle classes.

The visible-light camera offers bridge operators a way to verify incidents in real time in a visual way. The visual footage can also be used as forensic evidence after an incident. In addition to the incident detection cameras, Teledyne FLIR also delivered 8 of its FLIR Elara DX-Series multispectral pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) security cameras, which offer control room operators extra means to monitor the bridge for incidents.

“The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge is a high-profile project with international impact,” says Ilteray. “That’s we did not want to compromise on the quality of our incident detection technology. FLIR’s Dual AID camera ticks all the boxes in terms of detection performance and accuracy, and the support from the company to realise this project has been nothing but amazing.”

One of the strengths of Teledyne FLIR’s dual series AID cameras, which knocked most of the company’s competitors out of the park, is that they have their video analytics embedded within the camera. Since the camera takes care of all the video analytics processing, the video stream does not need to be sent over the network to a central processing server. This significantly reduces network traffic and results in much lower latency. And in case the network should go down, the camera can still store its incident events. Another benefit of such a distributed architecture is that in the rare case that an AID camera should go down, the rest of the network and camera infrastructure are not affected.

Managing Sources in the Control Room

Information coming from the 98 AID cameras and 8 security cameras is collected and managed by FLIR’s Flux video detection management system. Control room operators use this software to overview traffic data, events, alarms and video images generated by the various cameras. Flux provides a user-friendly interface composed of a monitoring and a reporting application and enables real-time monitoring of events and alarms.

SensoPart’s range of VISOR sensors now allows complex linking of detection results – previously reserved to much more expensive image processing systems or sophisticated PLC applications. These advanced possibilities for processing results are part of a free software upgrade.

Designed as cost-effective and versatile solutions, vision sensors can today be found in automation applications across all sectors of industry. Their one shortcoming has now been remedied by SensoPart through a software upgrade for the entire VISOR series: while vision sensors were previously only able to logically link results from individual detectors as part of an overall good/bad decision, the innovative “result processing” detector makes it possible to link results from previous assessments and other jobs, now allowing the identification of changes and trends over longer periods.

The detection results can be used in calculations, as well as in string or code comparisons, and allow logical decisions to be made – with a choice of more than 50 different integrated operators for the user.

The possibility of being able to store results as “static variables” for use in subsequent processes and statistical evaluations significantly extends the range of applications for vision sensors. The VISOR can now detect consecutive errors and transmit a signal to the control system after a set number of errors have occurred (see graphic).

Reducing application and integration costs

Since such complex evaluations can now be carried out directly in the sensor, considerably less PLC programming work is required in many applications. The solution is simultaneously more robust as it only needs to transmit simple digital signals to the control system instead of data telegrams. This consequently also reduces integration costs: thanks to VISOR’s built-in intelligence, challenging applications can be solved with a cost-effective vision sensor.

With its advanced evaluation capabilities, VISOR is unique in this product and price class. The software upgrade 2.6 applies to the entire VISOR family and is available to SensoPart users as a free download.

Thanks to its advanced result processing function, VISOR was recognised for the third time as one of the best in machine vision by the judges of the Vision Systems Design 2022 Innovators Awards program.

Princeps, the accredited specialist distributor of obsolete and difficult-to-source electronic, electrical and e-mech components for advanced industries, announces it has been appointed an authorised distributor by high-performance RF connector manufacturer, COAX Connectors.  COAX Connectors design interconnects incorporating the latest RF connector technology which are manufactured in the UK and Asia to stringent ISO 9001/2015 quality standards.

The full range of straight and angled RF COAX Connectors’ interconnects are available through Princeps and in addition to standard gold and nickel–plated designs, alternative finishes are available including black nickel, white bronze and stainless steel, as well as custom interconnect solutions.

To complement its extensive range of RF Coaxial connectors, COAX Connectors can work closely with Princeps to design and manufacture cable assemblies to customers’ requirements for both small prototype quantities or full production orders.

Comments David Nash, Sales Director, Princeps: “We are delighted to partner with COAX Connectors – its robust RF products are of the highest quality and its expertise in multiple markets including aerospace & defence, medical, transportation and others aligns closely with our own customer base.  COAX Connectors’ latest RF technology coupled with the very competitive pricing structure we are able to offer will also be enhanced by joint FAE customer visits, ensuring customers benefit from product-specific knowledge combined with advice on our flexible ordering and delivery services as designs ramp into production.”

Voting is now open for the 2022 Instrumentation Excellence Awards so head over  to https://instrumentationawards.co.uk/vote/ to make your selection. The nominations for the Sensor Product of the Year category are as follows:

• ABB Measurement & Analytics, ADS420 dissolved oxygen sensor  
• Baumer, PFMH hygienic pressure transmitters  
• ESI Technology Limited, The GD4200-USB Digital Pressure Transducer  
• ifm electronic, LDL101 conductivity sensor  
• Kistler, 9132CD piezoelectric force transducer  
• Metasphere Ltd, ART Sewer- IoT Wastewater Level Monitoring solution  
• Photoneo s.r.o., MotionCam-3D  
• Rolls-Royce.com, Novel Nuclear Reactor Rod Position Sensor  
• VEGA Controls, VEGAPOINT  

Voting closes on 25 August 2022, so visit https://instrumentationawards.co.uk/vote/ to make your vote count for the Sensor Product of the Year Award. 

Global engineering technologies company, Renishaw, celebrated International Women in Engineering Day with Girlguiding groups, by hosting an event at its New Mills headquarters site in Gloucestershire on June 25, 2022. The Company held the event to coincide with the international awareness campaign to raise the profile of women in engineering and showcase the diverse opportunities available to girls in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers.

The event saw over 130 Rainbows, Brownies and Guides, ranging from four to 14 years old, visit the Renishaw site to learn about the foundation of the Company, the products it manufactures and the importance of attracting young people into STEM careers. They listened to a talk from an engineer who talked about why she chose to join Renishaw and the importance of attracting girls into STEM careers.

During the event, the girls took part in a range of workshops highlighting the different STEM disciplines. The science and engineering workshop included experiments where they learnt about electromagnetic induction and they were able to make RGB LED torches which they could take home to share with their families. The girls also attended a technology workshop where they learnt about the creation of Gromitronic, one of the three interactive Gromit sculptures made for The Grand Appeal’s Gromit Unleashed 2 trail in 2018. They were also able to see a plastic 3D printer in action to help them understand the impact of new technology on their everyday lives and how 3D printing can make a difference across many industries. There was also a maths workshop where the girls had to solve maths calculations to help them with a colouring-in puzzle.

“We wanted to show the girls how the subjects they enjoy at school, like maths and science, can be used in a future STEM career,” explained Rebecca Bound, Early Careers STEM Outreach Officer at Renishaw. “Providing girls and young women with fun and interactive experiences gives them the opportunity to see the possible applications of STEM subjects from a young age. At the end of the event one of the attendees commented, “I think I would like to work at Renishaw in the future”, which is music to our ears. We have also created our own STEM badge to celebrate the girls’ efforts at these type of events and these were handed out to all participants.”

“Our Girlguiding mission is, whoever they are, wherever they’re from, girls and young women can do amazing things – we give them the chance,” said Debbie Jackson, Severnvale Division Brownie Co-ordinator. “A visit to Renishaw to celebrate International Women in Engineering Day was a great opportunity for the girls to be inspired, discover new opportunities and maybe some of them will be our next generation of engineers.”

Renishaw holds many educational outreach events for local schools, youth groups, colleges and universities to encourage the next generation of students to find their passion for engineering and STEM careers.

To find out more about Renishaw’s STEM education programmes, visit https://www.renishaw.com/en/education-outreach.

Knowing how strong a piece of steel is, especially the stainless steel used in everything from cars to buildings, is vitally important for the people who make and use it. This information helps to keep people safe during crashes and to prevent buildings from collapsing.

Accurately predicting the strength of a steel prototype based on its microstructure and composition would be indispensable when designing new types of steel, but it has been nearly impossible to achieve — until now.

“Designing/making the best-strength steel is the hardest task,” said Dr. Harishchandra Singh, an adjunct professor at NANOMO and the Centre for Advanced Steels Research at the University of Oulu in Finland.

Estimating the contribution of various factors towards designing high-strength novel steel has traditionally required numerous tests that can take months, according to Singh. Each test also requires a new sample of the prototype.

Instead, Singh and colleagues used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan to predict the strength of a novel steel.

They shone the facility’s synchrotron light on a small cube of steel and analysed the diffraction pattern it produced as the powerful X-rays passed through it. This created data on the crystal structure of the steel that the researchers used to predict its material properties, including strength, through an analytical model.

The team found that these predictions matched up exactly with the data from time intensive, traditional lab-based tests.

The team’s method offers a new way to predict the yield strength for highly alloyed complex steel. The process could also help to engineer novel steels through a better understanding of the relationship between a steel’s microstructure and its mechanical properties.

Not only was the synchrotron-based method for analysing steel just as reliable as traditional testing, but it was much faster and required far less material.

“We can get complete information about the crystalline microstructures from the synchrotron in one hour, rather than spending a couple of months on various lab-based testing,” he said. Their findings were published recently in the Journal of Materials Research and Technology.

This rapid and accurate synchrotron-based method of testing could be extremely helpful to the steel industry to approximate the strength of the developed steels and could save months compared to standard routes, said Singh.

“Steel companies make hundreds of batches of steel. With synchrotron testing, they could have precise results from every batch the same day,” he said.

Going forward, steel developers can use synchrotron analyses to quickly and accurately predict the strength of novel steel prototypes and use the data to help identify what elements of a prototype are beneficial or not. This faster method for assessing and developing steel could lead to better building materials coming on the market.

element14, an Avnet Community, recently launched the Experimenting with Gesture Sensors Design Challenge. Eight successful applicants who propose a project with the best use of gesture sensing technology will receive an evaluation kit by Maxim Integrated free of charge to experiment, test, or build a project.

With gesture recognition control technology, sensors are used to read and interpret hand movements as commands. One of the most common examples of touch-free gesture control can be found in cars where drivers and passengers can interact with the vehicle, including controlling their infotainment systems, without touching any buttons or screens.

“Gesture control has left the realm of science fiction and can now be found integrated into smart appliances, touch-free smart home hubs and thermostats, gaming controllers, virtual reality systems, and more,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “We’re excited to continue our Summer of Sensors series with this design challenge that offers our community the chance to experiment with this cutting edge sensor technology.”

Participants have eight weeks to test and experiment with the gesture sensing kit, which is a complete system for demonstrating the MAX25405 optical IR sensor in a typical gesture and proximity-sensing application. The MAX25405 enables recognition of hand swipes, finger/hand rotations, air clicks, proximity detection and linger-to-click.

The application circuit operates by illuminating the user’s hand with a precision-controlled IR light source and measuring the reflected signal with the MAX25405’s 6×10 (60 pixel) IR sensor array. The four-LED IR light source is PWM controlled with external FETs from the MAX25405’s onboard FET driver. The return signal is analyzed with an embedded microcontroller that interprets the gestures. The EV kit consists of the following:

• MAX32620FTHR microcontroller platform
• Interface shield board
• MAX25405 sensor board
• Ribbon cable (connects sensor board to shield board)
• 3.3V power supply
• USB 2.0 Type A to Micro B cable

To be eligible to win, participants must post at least two blog posts about their process. At the end of the competition, judges will determine the best work and award prizes. The first-place winner will receive an HTC Vive Cosmos Elite VR Headset valued at $700 and an iPad Pro valued at $1400. The runner up will receive a Tap Strap 2 Wearable Keyboard, Mouse and Air Gesture Controller, valued at $250 and an Air Neo (POCKET-SIZED, ULTRA-LIGHT AERIAL CAMERA) valued at $160. Anyone who completes the two blog posts around their experience with the MAX25405 evaluation kit will receive a Handheld Capacitance Meter.

Applications for the Experimenting with Gesture Sensors Design Challenge are open now through August 30, 2022. Participants will be announced on September 6, 2022 and blogs will be due on October 30, 2022. Winners will be announced in October.

To enter the challenge and to learn more, community members can visit: https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/experimenting-with-gesture-sensors/

Yokogawa has launched two new optical spectrum analysers (OSAs) to fulfil market demands for an instrument capable of measuring a wide range of wavelengths to meet new needs in optical product development and manufacturing.

The Yokogawa AQ6375E and AQ6376E are the only grating based OSAs covering SWIR (Short-Wavelength InfraRed) over 2 μm and MWIR (Mid-Wavelength InfraRed) over 3 μm with world class optical performance.

Building on the pedigree of Yokogawa’s AQ6375B and AQ6376 OSAs, the new OSAs are offered in four versions.

The AQ6375E Standard has a wavelength range of 1200-2400nm; the AQ6375E Extended Wavelength version has a wavelength range of 1000-2500nm; the AQ6375E Limited version has a wavelength range of 1200-2400nm (with reduced wavelength resolution); and the AQ6376E Standard has a wavelength range of 1500-3400nm.

The choice of wavelengths available gives developers increased flexibility to apply the OSAs in a wide range of applications.

These include environmental measurement and gas sensing, where the AQ637xE can be used in the measurement of gas absorption spectra and the characterisation of light sources used in Laser Absorption Spectroscopy.

Other major uses for the new OSAs are medical care and biotechnology and industrial laser applications.

Typical applications will include the development and measurement of lasers; the characterisation of broadband light sources such as supercontinuum light sources; optical passive devices; and optical fibres.

“The new AQ637xE has been launched to give developers and manufacturers greater flexibility in the range of wavelengths they can measure, all in one highly accurate and very useable family of OSAs,” says Terry Marrinan, Yokogawa Test&Measurement’s Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer.

“The AQ637xE will extend the number of optical products that can be analysed, both in development applications and in production, bringing feature rich, high accuracy measurement to all stages of the process.”

The AQ637xE incorporates numerous features that contribute to achieving maximum accuracy. The free space optical input offers single-mode fibre for the SWIR and MWIR regions and MMF (up to 400 µm) on the same OSA. The small variation in insertion loss at the input connector increases measurement repeatability, while the lack of physical contact with the connecting fibres ensures they avoid damage.

Also included is a built-in calibration light source for optical alignment and wavelength calibration. This maintains high optical performance by compensating for deviations in the optical axis caused by vibrations and impacts and wavelength deviation caused by changes in ambient temperature.

The AQ637xE also uses an air purging feature to compensate for another cause of possible error. In the SWIR and MWIR region, there are wavelengths where light shows strong absorptions due to the presence of water vapour and carbon dioxide, which can both disturb the spectral measurement.

By continuously supplying pure purge gas such as nitrogen to the monochromator through dedicated connectors on the back panel, the AQ637xE can reduce the influence of light absorptions on the measurement.

High order diffracted light is also compensated for through a built-in cut filter in all versions except the AQ6375E-01 limited model. This is required because the monochromator generates high order diffracted light, which has wavelengths equal to the integral multiples of the input wavelength. The built-in filters reduce this higher-order diffracted light, minimising its influence on the accuracy of the measurement.

To analyse results, the AQ637xE has built-in analysis functions to characterise optical spectrum from a variety of optical systems and devices, such as WDM system, DFB-LD, EDFA, and filters.

Analysis functions include: DFB-LD; FP-LD; LED; Spectral width (peak/notch); SMSR; Optical power; WDM (OSNR); EDFA (Gain and NF); Filter (peak/bottom) and WDM filter (peak/bottom).

To improve measurement efficiency and productivity, the AQ637xE features an application (APP) mode, transforming a versatile OSA into a machine dedicated to a device under test (DUT).

APP mode provides a DUT-specific user interface that allows the user to move from configuration settings to test results without the need to know the wide variety of OSA settings. The AQ637xE comes pre-installed with several basic applications such as WDM test, DFB-LD test, and FP-LD test. A guide through wizard leads the user through an easy set up process for specific measurements and analysis.

New or additional testing applications will be made available for download from the Yokogawa website and can be added to the AQ637xE by future firmware updates.

Enhanced user friendliness is achieved with the unit’s high-resolution, responsive 10.4-inch multi-touch capacitive LCD touchscreen, which makes operating the device even simpler and more intuitive.

Users can change measurement conditions, perform analysis and change the optical spectrum view as simply as operating a tablet device.

The AQ637xE’s screen design and intuitive operability is inherited from Yokogawa’s best-selling optical spectrum analyser. This proven interface has served the needs of many thousands of users around the world in areas such as R&D testing and manufacturing testing.

Usability is further improved by the addition of frequently used keys to the hardware keys on the front panel. These include keys for sweep control (Auto/Single/Repeat/Stop), resolution setting, and sensitivity setting.

The AQ637xE also features USB ports that are compatible with a USB storage device, mouse and keyboard. Data and screenshots can be saved to internal memory or USB storage to create test reports, while connecting a mouse or keyboard to the USB port allows the AQ637xE to be operated in the same way as a PC.

The standard LAN port allows convenient access to files stored in the internal memory as well as allowing remote firmware updates from a PC. The APP function also supports a fibre inspection probe, allowing users to visualise the quality of the fibre connector surface.

For further information about the AQ6375E please visit

For further information about the AQ6376E please visit