Control Intelligence

In the world of motor encoders, there are two main types – incremental and absolute. Incremental encoders do not retain their actual position upon power-up, whereas absolute encoders do. They both give position feedback, which the motion controller can use to calculate velocity, acceleration and jerk. These parameters are necessary for a fully capable motion control system. In this episode of Cont...

Managing editor Anna Townshend spoke with two team members at BioMADE, which is one of nine different Manufacturing Innovation Institutes started by the Department of Defense. This particular group is focused on building the U.S. bioindustrial economy. There are many companies and scientists doing great work using chemical waste products to create new products that we often lack a domestic supply...

In this episode of  Control Intelligence , managing editor Anna Townshend shares  machine builder and system integrator news highlights from the month of May.

This week’s guest on Control Intelligence is Patrick Bunn, owner of Bunn Automation Consulting in Birmingham, Alabama. Bunn’s career has included valuable experience with CMC Steel Alabama, Revere Control Systems, EC&S, Hargrove Controls & Automation and Enercon, as well as his volunteer work with younger people in technology, engineering and automation. He will be one of the presenters at...

This week’s guest on Control Intelligence is Stu Shepherd, co-founder and president of Shepherd Solutions. Shepherd was selected as the winner of the 2025 Joseph F. Engelberger Robotics Award for Leadership. He will be recognized at the awards dinner during the Automate Show in Detroit the week of May 12. Shepherd is nearing 50 years of transforming manufacturing in the Americas through robotic au...

The decentralized MX-System achieves completely cabinet-free automation of machines and systems. Beckhoff has bundled more than four decades of automation expertise into the MX-System, which performs all of the tasks and gives individual externally mounted components the protection of a classic control cabinet. In this episode of Control Intelligence, editor in chief Mike Bacidore talks with Brand...

This week’s guest on Control Intelligence is robot royalty. Joe Gemma was the 2024 winner of the Joseph F. Engelberger Robotics Award for Leadership, but that was just a touchstone along a career that continues to move robotics and automation forward. Gemma serves on the board of directors for the Association for Advancing Automation, A3, which hosts the annual Automate Show, this year taking plac...

Message queuing telemetry transport (MQTT) is a protocol. It has a broker and a client and can run over Ethernet. In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Tobey Strauch, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses MQTT and how it is used in different industries.

Manufacturing is wrought with safety devices. As we progress further along with cobots and mixing humans and automation together, presence sensing becomes more important, not only for operations, but for functional safety. In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Tobey Strauch, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses machine safety, specifically presence-sensing tech...

Spring is sprung, and it’s time to start making plans for upcoming conferences and trade shows. In this episode of Control Intelligence, editor in chief Mike Bacidore shares two of his favorite upcoming automation events—Automate and the CSIA Conference—and what attendees can expect.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, managing editor Anna Townshend shares machine builder and system integrator news highlights from the month of March.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Charles Palmer, editor in chief Mike Bacidore explains the different types of industrial sensing technologies and why they're critical to ensure safety.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Jeremy Pollard, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses remote monitoring and diagnostics, and how they require security.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Tobey Strauch, editor in chief Mike Bacidore shares the similarities and differences between programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and programmable automation controllers (PACs).

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Joey Stubbs, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses industrial PCs, IT departments and software updates.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, managing editor Anna Townshend shares machine builder and system integrator news highlights from the month of February.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Jeremy Pollard, editor in chief Mike Bacidore explains the many advantages of variable frequency drives.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Joey Stubbs, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses which IEC 61131-3 programming languages are best for safety controllers.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by Larry Stepniak, electrical engineer at Flint Group, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses voltage spikes.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, managing editor Anna Townshend shares machine builder and system integrator news highlights from the month of January.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Tobey Strauch, editor in chief Mike Bacidore explains what unified namespace is and why it's beneficial.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Joey Stubbs, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses presence sensing technology.

In this episode, written by Tom Trinh, senior application engineer of automation at Valin, a subsidiary of Graybar, editor in chief Mike Bacidore dissects four types of industrial robots.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, managing editor Anna Townshend shares which news stories made the biggest waves in the automation industry in 2024.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Jeremy Pollard, editor in chief Mike Bacidore debates the merits of different network protocols.