What you read in 2011—The top ten articles on Industrial Control DesignLine

Throughout every year, all of you reading (and sometimes rereading) articles on Industrial Control DesignLine establish the top ten articles of the year. Beginning at Thanksgiving and running through the end of the year, I count down with the winners in the Industrial Control DesignLine newsletter, announcing first and second place winners last. If you don’t want to wait to find out what they are, subscribe to the newsletter here and be one of the first to know.

So, what were you reading? Here is the list of the top ten articles:

1. DC Motor Drive Basics—Part I, II, III, IV, V

This multi-part series was a really good tutorial, which was an excerpt from the book “Electric Motors and Drives” by Austin Hughes.  The series was obviously extremely popular, and claimed by one reader to offer material they hadn’t seen since college.

 2. CCD and CMOS image sensor processing pipeline

Everyone knows that CCD and CMOS image sensors convert light into electrical signals, but how the conversion occurs is the subject of this well-written article by David Katz and Rick Gentile of Analog Devices, Inc.

3. A primer on high-side FET load switches—Part I, Part II

This article, written by Qi Deng of Micrel, Inc.,  takes an easy-to-understand and non-mathematical approach to explain the various aspects of MOSFET-based high-side load switches and discusses the various parameters that must be considered throughout the design and selection process.

4.  Basics of the electric servomotor and drive—Part I, II, III, IV

Based on an excerpt from Control Systems Design Guide by George Ellis, the book helps apply control theory to practical systems using a PC. The article provides an intuitive approach to controls without getting stuck in the underlying math. It emphasizes key concepts using control system models.

5.  What is Power Line Communication?

Here’s a basic PLC tutorial from Cypress Semiconductor that provides a glimpse at what the technology can deliver to an increasingly energy conscious world.

6.  The basics of doing PID design: Part I, II, III

Here’s an article by John Holland that has been available on the site for more than a year but is still in the top ten in popularity. The article is a part of Embedded Systems:  World Class Design edited by Jack Ganssle.

7.  The Radio Link—A Tutorial—Part I, II, III, IV

Another book excerpt from Introduction to Wireless Systems by Bruce A. Black, Philip S. DiPiazza, Bruce A. Ferguson, David R. Volmer, and Frederick C. Berry. This is a still-ongoing series.

8. A look at 1588v2 and Synchronous Ethernet in mobile backhaul networks

Here’s an overview of the leap from TDM to IP/Ethernet backhaul by Tara Van Unen from Ixia. It’s an easy-to-read and well-illustrated article covering a subject that is increasingly important.

9. CANopen:  An introduction

Some articles never lose interest and this one is a good example. Initially published in 2003, the article is written by Konrad Etschberger, a CAN pioneer located in Germany.

10. 10. Components of an ROV system—Part I, Part II, Part III

This article is taken from The ROV Manual: A User Guide for Observation Class Remotely Operated Vehicles by Robert D. Christ and Robert L. Wernli, Sr.

Just a word about the popularity of tutorials. Several of the top ten articles are excerpted from recently published books. The chapters typically chosen for excerpt are those that over an overview or are tutorial in nature. I would like to challenge my readers to consider not necessarily writing a book, but to consider contributing articles that are tutorial. You are the experts and innovators. Not only could you see your name in lights next year in the Top Ten of 2012, but you’ll be passing on valuable knowledge to information-hungry design engineers.