Control Intelligence

In this episode of Control Intelligence, editor in chief Mike Bacidore spoke to Miguel Tavera, FlexLink controls engineering lead, and Xavier Le Gros, general manager AMC Automation, at Pack Expo 2026 about the new types of automation that they saw at the exhibition.

Editor in chief Mike Bacidore is reporting live from Pack Expo 2026 in Chicago, where Universal Robots regional sales manager Silas Neale showed him a demonstration of Universal Robots' Gen 7 robotics platform.

Panel wiring has always been a source of cost and overruns. It’s important to understand the devices that happen to be in the panel. We have all seen pictures of bad panel implementation where distance tolerances have not been observed. Heat issues, space and reflected or inductive voltages have always been a major consideration in panel design and implementation.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Jeremy Pollard, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses control panel wiring.

Control systems may have many types of circuits. The two primary circuits used in process are discrete and analog circuits. Discrete circuits are normally on or off and have a discrete response matching to buttons and switches. Analog circuits may be current based with 4-20 mA or voltage based with 0 to 10 V.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Tobey Strauch, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses how to troubleshoot 4-20 mA circuits.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, editor in chief Mike Bacidore is joined by Sneha Mahajan, senior application engineer for control products at Nord Drivesystems, where they discuss functional safety.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, Dave Evans, president of MiSUMi Americas, joined Mike Bacidore at IMTS 2026 in Chicago to have a candid conversation from the show floor about automation distribution and supply chain management.

In the past, the relationship between electrical drawings and physical machines was largely left to the ability to visualize both. A motor might exist as a symbol on my electrical schematic, while its physical counterpart lived somewhere on a mechanical drawing. The two representations described different aspects of the same machine, but they were not necessarily connected.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Joey Stubbs, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses computer-aided design software.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, Mike Bacidore is joined by Brian Romano, director of technology development at Arthur G. Russell Co., executive board member of ISA and long-time collaborator with Control Design. They take a technical deep dive into some of the controls industries' hottest topics.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, Mike Bacidore is joined by Jeff Burnstein, President of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), the North American trade group representing almost 1,500 companies involved in robotics, artificial intelligence, machine vision, motion control and related automation technologies.

Burnstein joined the association in 1983 and has held a variety of senior positions, culminating in his promotion to President in 2007. He is a frequent commentator on automation issues to the news media, policy makers and the public, and regularly speaks at global conferences on topics such the latest automation trends, the impact of automation on jobs and the future of automation beyond the factory floor. In 2023, he received the Engelberger Robotics Award for Leadership.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, editor in chief Mike Bacidore spoke with Doug Woods, president of the Association for Manufacturing Technology, which hosts the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) September 14-19 at Chicago's McCormick Place.

In this interview, Woods explains the missions of the association and the exhibition, which is the western hemisphere's largest manufacturing trade show, as well as expectations of what the 2026 IMTS has in store and how to navigate the massive event.