A collaborative environment where you can discover smart solutions to your company’s unique challenges.
Visit to the Connected Power Lab
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Learn MoreWelcome to EECO’s Connected Power Lab
Take a look inside the lab and hear from the professionals who have benefited from it.
What is the Connected Power Lab?
We built a hands-on smart lab in Raleigh, N.C. and Columbia S.C., to provide you with a clear, up-to-date understanding on the state of smart technologies. The Connected Power Lab is a learning environment to explore interoperability of smart devices over EtherNet/IP.
Why We Built It
The question isn’t do you need to modernize, but where do you start?
The surge in ethernet adoption, combined with lower hardware costs, is rapidly changing how we interact with “smart” control and power devices.
These new devices are embedded with better diagnostics, have their own HTML web interfaces, and are simply easier to start up and integrate. We are excited about the degree of freedom for design, especially as open systems become the norm.
The Connected Power Lab is More Than Just Another Assessment
We understand that your time is limited, which is why we created the lab in the first place – to educate and provide a no-pressure, hands-on view of the capabilities available to you.
Three areas of integration we explore with you during a visit to the lab are:
Connectivity
Setup (programming)
Maintenance (field serviceability)
Interoperability, together with standards we’ve created, makes integration so much easier. It enables so many vendors to participate in a supportive way, providing you with an explosion of choice. The lab is a place to see these choices for yourself and fully realize the options available.
What Some Visitors Have to Say
“We’d never seen this in real life. The criteria you can see is amazing. When [the engineers] showed us the relay and how we could get on the computer and watch real-time information, in addition to the ability to change settings without even walking out of the office – that was the eye-opening moment. And we can do this without changing our switchgear.”
– Daniel S., Electrical and Instrumentation Supervisor
“We have a high resistance ground system. So, if I have a problem with a single bucket (ground), my system keeps running and I can’t tell you where the problem is without going in and getting suited up. I needed to get down to the bucket level. The wow factor from the lab visit came when I saw the new Eaton 480 starter buckets with the shutters in them. That blew me away. I’d never seen it on a 480. Since my visit, I’ve referred people to the lab.”
– Mike M., Utilities PC and IS Project Leader
TAKE A LOOK:
Solving Real Problems in the Connected Power Lab
A large manufacturer of sweeteners and other ingredients was struggling with its existing 13-section Motor Control Center, which was approaching its end of life cycle. See how a visit to the lab opened their eyes to new opportunities.
Read the Story
After visiting the Connected Power Lab
You will walk away with a simplified set of standards that will help you commission and integrate modern motor protection devices that will ultimately:
- Increase reliability and improve safety
- Reduce operating costs of low-voltage motor systems
- Minimize commissioning and maintenance time
- Provide access and integration of all operational and diagnostic data for immediate and future use
The intent of our integration guides is to provide you with knowledge of open architecture that will help you make decisions specific to your facility. You will leave with application and purchasing standards, the integration guides, sample code in RS Logix 5000 and HMI templates.
