Touring the dome

 The exiderdome is a fascinating building. Let me put it into perspective. The facility is constructed of 55 flexible and modular containers that are 40 ft long and 12 ft high and sit on top of a barge. There is 220 tons of steel, 20 kilometers of power cable and 2 kilometers of data cable in the exiderdome. Many of the analysts have commented on the uniqueness of the venue and said it would be interesting to watch the exiderdome being assembled. I snapped this picture however you can see a full video on the exiderdome website on the making of.

While the building is unique, the contents within are truly remarkable. The website does a wonderful job of explaining each container on the topics of: Electrical Infrastructure, Industrial Controls, Drives, Motion Control, Discrete Manufacturing and Process Automation. One of the tour guides explained it best – each area builds upon one another to create Totally Integrated Automation (TIA).

Below is a small sample of the products that are highlighted on the tour:

 

Large Motor for general drive applications such as conveyors, pumps, fans and compressors. Since I call Cincinnati, OH home, I found it interesting that this product is manufactured in Norwood, a suburb of Cincinnati.

 

Controllers – this model was scene in a life size scale at the Hannover Fair

 

Comprehensive range for flow and level management

 

Weigh scales. For example, in mining, a conveyor would sit on top of this scale allowing companies to determine how much coal was coming out of the mine.

And lastly, given last night’s talk by Patrick Dixon, I thought it was appropriate to captured this demo from the tour of how RFID technology can be used for tracking and traceability.