newsletter A publication from ifm efector featuring innovation steps in technology from around the world EDITORIAL TECHNOLOGY NEWS Dear Readers, Buckle your seatbelt. Augmented Reality This issue of i-Step Augmented Reality newsletter is designed to take you to a new Technology dimension – it’s called augmented reality (AR). The picture of the train to the right is not what it seems. Using your smartphone or tablet, take a moment to follow the three steps explained below the picture and watch what happens. AR will soon be infiltrating your everyday life. From the newspapers and magazines that you read to the buildings and restaurants that you walk by, AR bridges physical imagery The start up company Aurasma has developed the latest technology in with virtual reality to deliver content in augmented reality. To see what we’re talking about, follow these three steps a way that’s never been seen before. that explain how to get started and let the fun begin! Many of the images in this issue Step 1: Download the free Step 2: Scan this Step 3: Point your will come alive. Simply point your Aurasma Lite app QR code with any QR device’s camera at the device wherever your see the and to your smart phone reader on your device. complete photo above experience the fun of this new or tablet from the App This code connects you and be surprised! technology. or Android Stores. to the ifm channel. Enjoy the issue! There’s an adage that states “there’s is deemed old the minute the nothing older than yesterday’s news.” newspapers roll of the press. Well in today’s world of immediate But what if you could make that Lizanne Dathe online news sites, YouTube videos, newspaper more current and exciting? Editor, i-Step Newsletter ever-changing Facebook updates, and What if you could make the ads inside up-to-the-minute Twitter remarks, the the paper more enticing? permanent ink-on-paper style of news Aurasma, a start-up based in IFM PRODUCT Cambridge, UK is aiming to do just that with the mobile app it created. Dynamic Duo: Basic HMI and Basic Controller for Aurasma has the power to turn outdoor applications that require “hardened” controls printed publications into interactive videos and animations that literally ifm offers a complete controls platform for outdoor applications typically jump off the page. They have found in agriculture, water treatment and off-road vehicles. developed the technology that • Powerful controls platform rated for outdoor use. Products can bridges physical imagery with virtual withstand extreme temperatures, shock and vibration. reality to deliver content in real-time • Units withstand temperature extremes (-40°F to 85°F). including videos, animations, audio and webpages. This virtual world can • Hardened PLC controller can be programmed in be seen easily on a smartphone or common PLC languages. 32-bit processor with up to tablet by simply downloading 24 inputs/outputs. Easy to install and operate. List price List price Aurasma’s app called “Aurasma Lite” • HMI with 2.8” display with full-color graphics for $295 $225 (instructions above). viewing and communicating data and system messages. Aurasma is an augmented reality Backlit function keys for data entry and handling. For more information, visit platform that uses the device’s video • Easy connectivity from HMI to controller via CANbus. www.ifm.com/us camera to recognize pre-trained images and overlay an image or video November 2012 • Issue 29 Continued on page 3 ifm efector – close to you! IFM PRODUCT 2 SM Series Magnetic Inductive Flow Meter Now with larger flow rates and empty pipe detection • analog output (flow rate or New product available 2013! temperature) Look for the SM in January A new simulation function (SIM) is used to drive the ifm’s magnetic inductive flow meter analog output signal to a offers low profile mounting, simple fixed value (4mA or 20mA) so setup and high accuracy for that the PLC wiring and critical flow applications. The SM is scaling can be checked. This is another product from ifm with a ideal for troubleshooting and disruptive price with the performance setup in an application. and specifications of a high-end magmeter. For traceability, the new units include a unique 32-digit serial number that is etched on the housing. Empty pipe detection The SM magmeter uses a Continuous monitoring of high-frequency capacitance spectrum conductive liquid media profiling tech nology to effectively ifm has expanded its magmeter determine if a pipe is empty or not- product line to include the SM2001 empty and eliminate the output of and SM9001 magmeters with larger false signals. The SM magmeter flow rates and the ability to detect measures the electric and magnetic empty pipes. field strength at multiple frequencies between 50-200 MHz. This innovative The SM2001 features a 1.5” pipe technology allows the SM magmeter diameter with a range of 80 gal/min to provide high accuracy with a The SM can be used in a variety of applications (300 l/min). The SM9001 has a response time of less than 0.15 including furnace monitoring, batching 2” pipe diameter and a range of seconds and a repeatability of ±2% . applications, machine tool, solar and water 160 gal/min (600 l/min). These larger treatment. volume magmeters also have an increased accuracy of ±2% Compact housing fits in-line measured value + 0.5% full range. Alphanumeric display The magmeter’s stainless steel, Switchpoint indication Engineering units mechanically robust design is Programming buttons mounted in-line providing a compact, Laser etched serial number low-profile installation for process control. For setup, the new models now include three pushbuttons Available that quickly establish application January 2013 parameters with no calibration needed. Principle of operation The meter’s housing includes a 4-digit The SM Series Flow Meter’s numeric display with eight integrated principle of operation is based on LEDs that together indicate the flow Faraday’s law of electromagnetic rate, total volume (gallons or liters), induction. The conductive medium flowing and temperature (°F or °C) of any through a pipe in a magnetic field generates a voltage that is proportional to the flow velocity or conductive liquid. volumetric flow quantity. The voltage is measured via Three separate outputs can be set up: electrodes and converted in the evaluation electronics. • switching output (flow rate and/or Faraday’s law states that the voltage induced across any Learn about the temperature) conductor as it moves at right angles through a magnetic operating principle of field is proportional to the velocity of that conductor. the SM magmeter. • pulse output (flow volume) List price starting at $990 Place orders, tech support 800-441-8246 Visit our product catalog www.ifm.com/us Shop for products online. Easy ordering via eShop VIRTUAL REALITY (CONTINUED ) so that the video tracks as the camera interest, tag it, and then add feature augmented reality technology 3 is moved. additional information to it. That to embellish their ads, and movie Camera tracking is a fundamental added detail is called an aura, and marketers can make trailers appear on requirement for video-based aug - could be anything that counts as their posters. Or, hold the phone in mented reality applications. The main digital content. front of a restaurant and a display hardware com ponents for augmented The examples Mills gives clearly could pop up giving a menu and reality are a processor, display, sensors demonstrate how powerful an idea customer reviews. and input devices. These elements, this content link-up is. If you bought a But there’s definitely potential here for newspaper this morning with the non-commercial use. Much like sports results inside, you could point people use YouTube to record a your smartphone at the page and tutorial, Aurasma could be used to see the video replays appear. It also create a guide for any object, be that has the potential to replace user a gadget, location, or piece of text. manuals with interactive guides played through your phone. To see the technology in action at the TED Conference, visit http://goo.gl/My9d3 . Augmented reality using a smart - phone, tablet, or hand held gaming device isn’t a new idea, but Aurasma has a lot of potential to become specifically the CPU, display, camera hugely popular. The reason? It is com - and MEMS sensors such as the pletely free for anyone to tag objects accelero meter, GPS and solid state and associate digital media with them, compass are present in modern and the tools to do that are very smartphones and tablets. simple to use. Aurasma uses a scaled down version From Google Goggles to The ability to connect virtual content of the outfit's IDOL pattern recognizer Project Glass with real-world ob jects holds a lot of to identify images stored in a vast learning potential as well. Imagine a database, then converts those images Google Inc. has been working on its mother at Parent Night pointing her into related video and squeezes it own version of augmented reality. The smartphone at her kid’s 3D clay down to run on a smartphone or com pany started with Google sculpture and a video pops up of her tablet. Goggles image recog nition soft ware daughter discussing her art. Or a that allows a user to point their mobile Augmented reality requires all of the classroom of students pointing their phone camera at a painting, a famous iPads at a drawing of a DNA helix on computing horsepower the hand-held landmark, a QR code, or a popular smartphone can muster and it makes the walls of a science classroom and a image.