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 …

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

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 autom…

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 transformin…

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 Intelligen…

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 hos…

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.By controldesign

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 …

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.By controldesign

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

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.By controldesign

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.By controldesign

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).By controldesign

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.By controldesign

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

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.By controldesign

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.By controldesign

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

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

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.By controldesign

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

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.By controldesign

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

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

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Tobey Strauch, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses wireless battery-less technology.By controldesign

In this episode of Control Intelligence, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses how Rockwell Automation is introducing artificial intelligence into its portfolio of products.By controldesign

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

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Rick Rice, editor in chief Mike Bacidore explains the differences between machine vision and computer vision.By controldesign

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Joey Stubbs, editor in chief Mike Bacidore shares what uninterruptible power supplies are.By controldesign

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Jeremy Pollard, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses the uses of wireless HMI.By controldesign

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

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Joey Stubbs, editor in chief Mike Bacidore shares how to troubleshoot electrical noise in composite enclosures.By controldesign

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Tobey Strauch, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses object-oriented programming in PLCs.By controldesign

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Jeremy Pollard, editor in chief Mike Bacidore differentiates between programmable automation controllers and programmable logic controllers.By controldesign

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

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Rick Rice, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses how to protect HMIs in hazardous environments.By controldesign

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Joey Stubbs, editor in chief Mike Bacidore shares four use cases of radio-frequency identification.By controldesign

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Jeremy Pollard, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses how industrial networks differ from commercial networks.By controldesign

In 2025, AVG Automation, parent company of EZAutomation, a midwestern U.S. manufacturer and factory-direct purveyor of industrial automation systems and components, will celebrate 50 years since its founding in 1975. The automation technology landscape has changed dramatically since that time, but many of the underlying industry needs remain unchan…

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

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Tobey Strauch, editor-in-chief Mike Bacidore discusses cybersecurity-enabled controllers.By controldesign

In this Control Intelligence podcast, written by contributing editor Jeremy Pollard, editor-in-chief Mike Bacidore explores networking capabilities with sensing devices.By controldesign

Pepperl+Fuchs’ Michael McCabe explains standardized tags, data transfer rates, capabilities, security and integrationBy controldesign

In this episode of Control Intelligence, Anna Townshend shares machine builder and system integrator news highlights from July 2024.By controldesign

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Jeremy Pollard, editor-in-chief Mike Bacidore explains how new frontiers in machine control have their upsides and their limitations.By controldesign

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Joey Stubbs, editor-in-chief Mike Bacidore discusses what makes stepper motors more energy efficient and reliable.By controldesign

In this episode of Control Intelligence, editor-in-chief Mike Bacidore shares highlights from a panel discussion that took place at the CSIA Exchange.By controldesign

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Charles Palmer, editor-in-chief Mike Bacidore discusses lasers and other position sensing.By controldesign

In this episode of Control Intelligence, managing editor Anna Townshend shares machine builder and system integrator news highlights from June 2024.By controldesign

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Tobey Strauch, editor-in-chief Mike Bacidore discusses the future of PLCs in machinery used in a modular, connected factory or plant.By controldesign