In Brief

• Carlo Gavazzi has introduced a Web-based hosting service for users of its Dupline range of monitoring and control products. Data collected from Dupline installations is held on a secure server. Users can log on via the Web and access the data as overviews, trend curves or histograms. Details from www.dupline-online.com

• Semikron has released a low-cost gate driver for IGBT power stages in inverters which, it claims, uses 30% fewer components than usual. The Skyper driver is based on a half-bridge core containing all of the basic functions.

• SafetyBus p Club International has announced that there are now more than 110,000 SafetyBus p nodes in operation around the world.

• International Rectifier has introduced a pair of 1.2kV chips for industrial motor drive controls which, it says, need fewer components and avoid the bulky opto-couplers needed for lower-voltage devices. The half-bridge gate driver ICs are designed for 400VAC AC induction motors using a 550V bus, and for brushless DC motors, both from 7.5-15kW.

• Shinkawa Electric has announced a wireless sensor system for monitoring the health of rotating and reciprocating machines. The Swins (Smart Wireless Network Sensor) consists of a small acceleration sensor connected to a radio transmitter which sends data to a base station connected to a PC via USB, RS-232C or Ethernet. Up to 255 sensors can assemble themselves into a network.