I recently fielded a question from a potential client who wanted to know if Microsoft SharePoint or Google Docs with Google Sites was a better fit for their organization's document management and collaboration needs.  Although this question is pretty straight-forward, the explanation can get a bit complicated.  The short answer is Google Docs/Sites is great tool if you do not have ... [Read the rest of this blog...]

Those who visit DMC may notice our ever-changing "Quote Board."  This is where we document the most infamous utterances of the moment.  For those who aren't able to keep updated on our quotes in-person we will be showcasing a few verbal gems monthly.  

Creating custom web parts for SharePoint 2010 is relatively simple, as is creating basic configuration options which can be edited in the properties panel. However, as you advance in your understanding of SharePoint and custom web part creation, you inexorably run in to the problem of creating rich, custom configuration capabilities for your web part which go far beyond the basic configuration cap... [Read the rest of this blog...]

We received several interesting responses to the Santa’s Reindeer problem.  The best one was by Dave Montesano of IMAC Motion Control Corporation.  What Dave did was recognized that the harness between and reindeer should be treated as a two force member, exerting only an equal and opposite force vector on each end and carrying no moments.  He then analyzed a Free Body Diagram with ... [Read the rest of this blog...]

We have always had a tremendous learning culture at DMC and, in October, we started a business book club to have some shared experiences kicked off with some shared smoothies.  The first book we started off with wasSwitch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Dan & Chip Heath.  A Quick Synopsis Switch advocates creating and continuing change through mo... [Read the rest of this blog...]

Santa’s reindeer and sleigh in flight are typically drawn nearly horizontally like they would be if standing on the ground.  However,  the lift and thrust comes only from the reindeer.  The sleigh, which is not wing-shaped, provides only weight and aerodynamic drag.   The 8 reindeer are connected single-file to the sleigh, and each reindeer provides equal lift, thr... [Read the rest of this blog...]

John Sullivan, Systems Engineer  Rose Hulman is highly represented at DMC.  What made you choose DMC? The atmosphere.  The idea of working with such outstandingly smart people was enticing.  By the end of my interview it was evident that DMC is a top-notch organization.  Additionally I was excited to see a variety of projects from start to finish. Wha... [Read the rest of this blog...]

Ever wish you could replicate the NI Measurement and Automation Explorer interfaces in LabVIEW code? You can! Download DMC DAQmx Assistant Tools For years I have been looking for a good implementation of NI MAX that I could encapsulate and throw into my LabVIEW apps so that customers can edit measurement channels, scaling, calibration, etc. from inside of my application instead of havi... [Read the rest of this blog...]

I recently had the experience of working on a Visual Basic.NET 1.1 application that our company created a number of years ago.  This brought the whole issue of maintaining legacy code into sharp focus.  Legacy industrial software could easily take up several blog entries on its own so we will focus specifically on Visual Basic 6 and .NET (Visual Basic.NET or C#). For a blog entry on wor... [Read the rest of this blog...]

I recently developed a 3D void detection prototype system for the packaging industry. The system will measure the empty volume inside of a box filled with contents. Once this volume is known, a subsequent system can optimize the number of packing peanuts required to fill up the box. By using this system, the filling of boxes with packing peanuts can be automated. The Hardware and Software u... [Read the rest of this blog...]

A version of VNC Server is available which works on Siemens MP277 and other Siemens displays that are WinCE 5.0 or higher.  The open source project can be found here:   http://sourceforge.net/projects/efonvnc/     The MP277 uses the ARM processor, so extract the contents of efonvnc_v4.3_wce5x_armv4i.zip into a folder in Program Files on the panel.  Run the file VNCCon... [Read the rest of this blog...]

Darren Jones, Project Manager Do you have any engineering hobbies? I am into motorcycling so I like to tinker with bikes.  I currently have three motorcycles, one for the street, one I completely restored several years ago,  and one dedicated race/track bike.  It's interesting that even small changes to a bike can produce significant changes in handling and performance, so I lik... [Read the rest of this blog...]

Four people correctly answered last month’s Geek Challenge:  Shanti Ahluwalia, Sanjay Sheth, Brian Page, and DMC’s own John Sullivan. The September DMC Geek Challenge was based on a recent episode of Futurama where a mind-switching machine had several of the characters minds and bodies switched up.  However the machine could switch the same minds back again.  How to get all of th... [Read the rest of this blog...]

If SharePoint Search saves you 30 minutes per week, think how much time and money it will save your entire organization...

30 minutes x 52 weeks x 50 employees = 78,000 minutes or 1,300 hours.  At [$25] an hour, that saves you [$32,500] every year!

Impressive results for a business software license that's free.

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On Tuesday, October 12, 2010 DMC decided to welcome our newest member, Jason Mayes, with a Whirlyball outing.  This being my first Whirly experience, I was unsure of what to expect; and varying descriptions of ‘‘basketball meets jai alai’ or ‘bumper cars meet lacrosse’ were not much help. For weeks prior to visiting I heard whispers around the office of strategy, deceit, and past battle wound... [Read the rest of this blog...]

Last month I attended the inaugural meeting of the Chicago LabVIEW User Group.  A group of about thirty fellow LabVIEW users gathered in Schaumburg for the first event. Traditionally, User Groups hearken back to the early tech days of subsets of passionate, like-minded fans trading ideas and discussions around a specific product or technology.  Sponsored by National Instruments, the Use... [Read the rest of this blog...]

Last month DMC’s Nick Shea presented a webinar in conjunction with Siemens Industry, Inc.  The topic, An Unbiased Comparison of the Siemens SIMATIC S7-1200 and AB (Allen-Bradley) MicroLogix, drew an audience of over 400 registrants. Nick’s presentation focused on providing an independent analysis of both platforms from both a technological and benefits-oriented perspective.  Its aim i... [Read the rest of this blog...]

DMC will join leading companies to host the National Instruments Technical Symposium that builds on the success of NIWeek, the worldwide virtual instrumentation conference and exhibition held annually in Austin, Texas, where the company is headquartered. NIWeek 2010 concluded in August with attendance of more than 2,500 people, who participated in hands-on training, interactive technical sessions,... [Read the rest of this blog...]

Testing your BMS is a necessity. Determining a strategy to complete that testing is not so easy.  It is tempting to over focus on hardware cost minimization, which must be weighed against the cost of ineffective or incomplete testing.  Here we explore three different strategies for balancing hardware cost with performance.

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Upon first seeing the automated Battery Management System Test Stand DMC recently developed, people tended to ask the same question: "Why is it so tall?" .  Here are three good answers for why DMC deliberately choose that structure to benefit the customer in the long term.

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