An ultrasonic device may include an electromechanical ultrasonic system defined by a predetermined resonant frequency and include an ultrasonic transducer coupled to an ultrasonic blade. A method of delivering energy to the device may include applying energy to the blade at a first power level via the transducer coupled to the blade, measuring a complex impedance of the transducer, receiving a complex impedance feedback data point, comparing the complex impedance feedback data point to a reference complex impedance characteristic pattern, and determining that the blade is contacting a vessel based on the comparison. The method may also include disabling the power applied to the transducer and switching to a lower power level. The method may further include generating a warning that the blade is contacting a vessel, such as a light or a sound. An ultrasonic surgical instrument may effect the method.

A circuit interruption apparatus, for an electrical network, comprising a circuit interruption device that is operatively connectable at a source side to a source of the electrical network and at a back side to a load of an electrical network. The circuit interruption device when closed permits and when open inhibits the current flow between the source side the back side,. The current interruption device is configured to open when a current flowing therethrough meets or exceeds a fault current threshold. The circuit interruption apparatus also includes a fault current level determination unit that is configured to determine a predicted fault current level as a function of measured current and voltage values at the circuit interruption device before and after a variation in the current and voltage values at the circuit interruption device that result from a change of load at the back side of the circuit interruption device.

A management system controls environmental conditions to facilitate operating state changes of individual information technology (IT) equipment within a data center. A management controller accesses a specification data structure containing environmental conditions specified to enable each one of the IT components to function in operational operating state(s). The management controller determines a temperature range specified in the specification data structure for a first IT component that is scheduled to transition into a first operational state. The management controller adjusts a temperature set point of supply air provided by the data center to the first IT component to be within the temperature range. In response to determining that the interior air temperature is within the temperature range, the management controller triggers activation of the first IT component into the first operating state.

A secure control system includes a network of multiplexers that control end/field devices of an infrastructure system, such as an electric power grid. The multiplexers have a default secure lockdown state that prevents remote access to data on the multiplexers and prevents modification of software or firmware of the multiplexer. One or more of the multiplexers include a physical authentication device that confirms the physical proximity of a trusted individual when remote access is requested. A user accesses the network and one of the multiplexers remotely by way of login credentials. The trusted individual confirms the identity of the remote user and operates the physical authentication device connected with and in proximity to that multiplexer, thereby confirming that the remote user can be trusted to access data and reconfigure the multiplexers. The multiplexer connected with the physical authentication device generates a token that is passed to each of the multiplexers that the remote user needs access to. The token may specify a time period, after which, the multiplexers will reenter secure lockdown mode.

A malfunction analysis support program causes a computer to perform a log data acquisition step, an action reproduction step, a three-dimensional data display step, a processing step being at least one of a program operation display step, a waveform display step, or a video display step, and a time synchronization step. The log data acquisition step obtains log data temporally sequentially recording a state of an operational part and input-output data of a control signal. The action reproduction step generates action reproduction simulation data obtained by causing a virtual object-to-be-controlled to reproduce an action based on the log data. The three-dimensional data display step displays the action reproduction simulation data as three-dimensional data. The time synchronization step synchronizes time between three-dimensional data displayed by the three-dimensional data display step and data displayed by the processing step. The three-dimensional data display step displays the three-dimensional data according to display setting information.

A method for managing soft errors associated with one or more safety programmable logic controllers (PLCs) is provided. The method includes receiving an expected soft error rate for type(s) of input/output (I/O) modules over time, receiving respective soft error data that was aggregated by the respective safety PLCs based on soft errors detected by I/O modules coupled to the respective safety PLCs. Actual soft error rates are determined per I/O module type based on the received soft error data, and soft error rates are predicted for the safety PLC(s) per I/O module type. The actual and/or predicted soft error rates are compared to the expected soft error rate per I/O module type. The method further includes taking one or more actions in response to a threshold deviation between the actual and/or predicted soft error rates relative to the expected soft error rate for the corresponding I/O module type.

A method for monitoring an IO link system and/or at least one IO link device of the IO link system and/or a plant, a plant part and/or a process that works together with the IO link system is suggested. The current (I.sub.m), the voltage (U.sub.m) and/or the electrical power (P.sub.m) are here recorded (42) at at least one port of an IO link master of the IO link system. A monitoring of a condition (Z) and/or a detection of anomalies, errors, deviations and/or maintenance indicators and/or a prediction of a maintenance requirement, an error and/or an outage of the IO link system and/or of the at least one IO link device and/or of the plant, of the plant part and/or of the process in the IO link master occurs by means of a model (M) for the current, the voltage and/or the electrical power previously learned via machine learning.

One aspect of the invention relates to a high-availability control system (100) for an industrial process comprising: A plurality of operator stations (108) displaying a subset of information; An interface module (105) including a pair of computers (104) for each model, each collecting each item of data received by each controller (103) having the model and eliminating the duplicates, the computers (104) operating in asynchronous redundancy; A processing module (106) including a pair of computers (104) each receiving the collected data, sorting the data received as a function of their acquisition time, eliminating the duplicates and calculating an information group by acquisition time, the computers (104) operating in active redundancy, A module for managing the operator stations (107) including one computer (104) per operator station (108), each receiving each calculated information group and sending to the operator station (108) each information group corresponding to the subset of information; A duplicate communication network, comprising a distributed redundancy module configured to manage the message exchanges between computers (104).

A control device for industrial machines includes a plurality of signal input-output circuits configured such that pulse widths of pulse signals output from the signal input-output circuits are different from each other. The control device detects a fault when a pulse signal output from one of the signal input-output circuits has a pulse width different from the pulse width set to the one of the signal input-output circuits.

A motor control center (MCC) for an industrial system includes a plurality of sections and a safety bus. Each section includes one or more units. Each unit includes one or more industrial control devices. The safety bus is configured to receive safety signals from a safety distribution unit and delivers the safety signals to each unit of the plurality of section.