Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that it has developed the WG51S2 infrared sensor for the WEBFREX NV online thickness gauge. Positioned as an OpreX™ Quality Control System family solution, the WG51S2 infrared sensor enables the WEBFREX NV online thickness gauge to measure and control the thickness of films and sheets with greater accuracy than ever before. This new product will be released on September 3.

Thickness gauges are used on film and sheet production lines to measure and control film and sheet thickness. They ensure that all products coming off the line are of uniform thickness. Various kinds of plastic film have been developed for packaging, including highly functional film that can preserve the quality of packaged contents and film that can be printed with vivid colors to improve the attractiveness of the packaging. Environmental concerns have driven efforts to make plastic films recyclable and thinner, and so it is important to have thickness gauges that are capable of measuring the thickness of thin films with a high degree of accuracy. To satisfy this need, Yokogawa has developed this infrared sensor.

For the handling of various kinds of films and sheets, four different types of noncontact sensors are available for use with the WEBFREX NV online thickness gauge. These are a β-ray sensor that can measure a wide range of materials, an X-ray sensor that is suitable for measuring compositionally homogeneous films, an infrared sensor that is suitable for use with plastic films that absorb infrared light, and an optical sensor that is suitable for measuring multilayer films and other kinds of transparent films.

Features:
1. Maximum accuracy of ±0.1㎛
2. Designed for maintainability and compatibility

A subsidiary of Velan, Velan ABV is a manufacturer of specialized valves, actuators, and control systems. The company employs approximately 120 people and has two manufacturing plants in Lucca, Italy.

Presented at Valve World Conference & Expo 2016 in Düsseldorf, Velan ABV’s new patent-protected cable drive actuator benefits from a transmission system with constant torque and high accuracy along the entire quarter-turn rotation. Its modular construction comprises a center body, pneumatic or hydraulic power cylinder and a spring cartridge for emergency action. It is the actuator’s newly designed center body with its revolutionary cable drive system that separates it from the standard scotch yoke actuator.

“We’ve had considerable experience over the years designing and manufacturing extremely high-quality valves and actuators. This new design builds on that expertise and takes it to the next level,” said Paolo Ranieri, CEO of Velan ABV. “First off, the features of our new actuator help cut operational costs. Since it produces 30% more running torque than traditional scotch yoke actuators, smaller actuators can be installed. Fewer components and less friction mean lower maintenance--and it’s safer to run.”

Yves Leduc, President of Velan, added: “Velan is introducing a unique and innovative quarter-turn actuator that offers strong benefits for control precision in a cost-effective package. Our decision to expand our portfolio of actuators is in line with our strategy to leverage our innovation capabilities in addressing specific end-user needs that remain underserved.”

National Instruments, the provider of platform-based systems that enable engineers and scientists to solve the world’s greatest engineering challenges, today announced a sub-6 GHz 5G test reference solution compliant with the 3GPP Release 15 specification for 5G New Radio (NR).

With commercial 5G NR deployments below 6 GHz on the horizon, engineers are actively developing sub-6 GHz 5G RF components and devices. The accelerated pace of 5G standardization is driving intense pressure to bring products to market quickly. NI’s sub-6 GHz 5G NR reference solution is a cost-effective and high-performance option for test that helps engineers quickly characterize their designs and more easily transition from R&D to production test environments.

The new reference test solution from NI is well-suited for testing new wideband RFICs, especially those operating in the 3.3 – 4.2 GHz and 4.4 – 5.0 GHz bands. Engineers can test devices operating with 400 MHz of continuous signal bandwidth and beyond with the PXIe-5840 Vector Signal Transceiver (VST), which includes 1 GHz of instantaneous signal generation and analysis bandwidth up to 6 GHz. With the NI VST, the solution delivers residual EVM performance better than 0.32 percent (-50 dB) for 100 MHz NR signals along with faster measurement speed.

“Our new offerings for 5G test are just the latest in a long line of NI innovations helping engineers bring 5G technologies to market more quickly,” said Jason White, director of RF and wireless test at NI. “By combining high-performance RF measurement capability with extremely fast and flexible measurement software, we are helping engineers reduce time-to-market and measurement correlation time by reusing the same instrumentation and measurement science in multiple phases of product development.”

NI’s new technology for 5G test also supplements a comprehensive product portfolio for RF and semiconductor test, including measurement software for 2G, 3G, LTE-Advanced Pro, WiFi 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5 and more. In addition, engineers can use the NI VST alongside more than 600 modular PXI products, spanning DC to mmWave, to create comprehensive semiconductor characterization and manufacturing test systems.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation and CiDRA Corporate Services Inc. announce that they have entered into a distributor agreement. Yokogawa will sell CiDRA's SONARtrac® range of flowmeters in the Southeast Asian markets of Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia; the Middle Eastern markets of Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE; and the Republic of Korea. Yokogawa Australia, Yokogawa New Zealand, and CiDRA have been successfully working together since 2014, so this agreement will now extend coverage to include Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Korea.

CiDRA's line of SONARtrac flowmeters provides accurate and reliable flow and entrained air measurements for mining applications, as well as most other industrial applications. Due to their non-contact design, SONARtrac flowmeters do not have any moving or process-wetted parts that are subject to wear. They also do not have inherent drift mechanisms, and can be installed on the outside of any type of pipeline. This non-contact design translates into long life, no maintenance, improved safety, and enhanced operational and process efficiency for the monitoring of mining flow processes.

Kersi Aspar, a Yokogawa vice president and head of the Global Sales Center at the company's IA Platform Business Headquarters: "Yokogawa has an extensive flowmeter lineup that includes vortex, magnetic, clamp-on ultrasonic, and Coriolis flowmeters. Based on our two years' experience selling SONARtrac in Australia and New Zealand, we believe that its unique sonar-based non-contact flow and entrained air measurement systems nicely complement our flowmeter lineup, and enhance the portfolio of industry leading products and solutions that we provide to the Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, and Korean markets. This will enable us to expand into the mining, chemical, refining, coal processing, power, and other markets."