Whilst stuck in traffic I heard on a sports report that Blade-runner, Oscar Pistorius, had missed an attempt to qualify for the 400 metre event at this year’s celebration of the Olympic Games. A disabled athlete qualifying to compete in the able bodied games, this must surely be a first?
In fact it would have been a second; the honours had already been claimed by another South African.
Natalie du Toit recently became the first athlete ever to be selected to participate in both the Olympic and Paralympic versions of the games. There is a new addition penned in her CV – qualified to contest the 10 km open water endurance event in the Olympic category.
Determination of spirit coupled with a capacity to overcome impediment has earned her the right to live her dream and compete in the glow of the torch in Beijing. Godspeed Natalie!
Radar revelations
The concepts of radio detection and ranging (radar) were spawned by the theories of visionary theoretical physicist, James Clerk Maxwell, who predicted the existence of electromagnetic waves in the late 19th century. The technology did not however emerge as a practical system of measurement until World War II and the Battle of Britain. During the course of the onslaught from the sky a network of radar installations, Chain Home, alerted the war-rooms around England to impending Luftwaffe air raids. This early warning allowed the RAF to scramble her limited air defence resources with maximum effectiveness, ultimately culminating in Winston Churchill’s famous tribute to – ‘The Few.’
Today, instrumentation and control engineers use radar (and its associated guided microwave derivatives) to measure levels; some claim non-contact sensing is becoming the method of choice and radar is at the forefront. While there are many other methods for measuring level this is the most intriguing subject material to edit, by far.
One of the early movers was Vega who introduced its first sensor to the market in 1991. In 1997 the company developed a two-wire wire sensor which sparked the interest of industry and positioned Vega as a leader in the field. In this month’s cover story ('The radar revolution') we trace the developments of the last 10 years during which two-wire radar has established itself as a dependable and accepted technology.
Energy matters
Dwindling resources and spiralling costs are prompting companies to review the degree of energy efficiency in their systems as well as the ensuing operating expenses. While the investment in drives is minor relative to the overall budget for a new plant, the choice of drive technology has a significant influence on operating expenditure over time.
Our feature on motion controls and drives has elicited many submissions that highlight the emphasis being placed on this during new product development. Another notable achievement is the mechatronic solution from SEW Eurodrive. For its efforts the company scooped the 2007 Frost & Sullivan award: Product Innovation of the Year on the European market for electrical drives.
Colleague and SAI&C features editor, Andrew Ashton, has also been at it again. His article on the use of technology to improve agricultural yields ('Space Control to Farmer Bob') provides an insightful take on the hi-tech cultivation methods currently under development. The era of precision farming has arrived and in the future robots will be seen harvesting the crops that eradicate famine and supply the global demand for foodstuff better than ever before.
Steven Meyer
Deputy editor: SA Instrumentation & Control
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