Toronto Electricians and Electrical Contractors

Today’s rapidly evolving tech world can essentially be summed up in one word: connectivity. It may seem cliché, but every “dumb device” we turn into a “smart device” presents an opportunity for innovation, and in turn expands the connected world we are all a part of. In the words of Akamai Technologies , the cloud services giant that serves roughly one third of the world’s daily web traffic, “You don’t just GO online, you ARE online.”   One industry that has been hugely impacted by evolution of technology, particularly the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), is healthcare. Intel estimates that almost one third of smart devices are in healthcare buildings – not in your pocket or on your wrist. Medical facilities have embraced IoT so much that the industry has carved out its very own piece of the pie, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). According to Forbes, there are currently 3.7 million devices that make up the IoMT, a number that continues to grow with every pulse oxim...

Stupid Patent of the Month: How 34 Patents Worth $1 Led to Hundreds of Lawsuits One of the nation’s most prolific patent trolls is finally dead. After more than a decade of litigation and more than 500 patent suits, Shipping & Transit LLC (formerly known as Arrivalstar ) has filed for bankruptcy. As part of its bankruptcy filing [PDF], Shipping & Transit was required to state how much its portfolio of 34 U.S. patents is worth. Its answer: $1. We are recognizing Shipping & Transit’s entire U.S. portfolio as our latest stupid patent of the month. We agree that these patents are worthless. Indeed, they have always been worthless, except as litigation weapons. In the hands of their unscrupulous owners, they caused enormous damage, costing productive companies more than $15 million in licensing fees and untold legal expenses. That’s tens of millions of dollars that won’t be used to invest in new products, reward shareholders, or give raises to workers. Dozens of worthless...

The world is making meaningful progress in building the “new energy” workforce needed to end energy poverty. Schneider Electric can proudly say that we’ve already helped train almost 20% of the 1 million solar technicians we’ve pledged to train by 2025. Yet, we must also acknowledge that there is a growing gap in the human capital — workers and entrepreneurs — needed to deliver electricity to the 1 billion people globally without it, two-thirds of whom live in Sub-Saharan Africa. It’s estimated that scaling off-grid renewables can create 4.5 million jobs by 2030. But of the 10.3 million renewable energy jobs in the world today, just 76,000 are in Africa. In other words, less than 1% of the jobs worldwide are in the region that most urgently needs them. The same trend holds true for energy-poor communities in Asia and elsewhere. That is why Schneider Electric is supporting the launch of the #PoweringJobs campaign, a global effort to ensure the creation of an energy access workforce...

No matter how much has been written about edge computing , how many presentations given or panels held, the definition of edge is still a talking point. That’s where we started during the Data Center Austin Conference (DCAC) where I hosted a discussion with Ty Schmitt, VP and Fellow of Extreme Scale Infrastructure, Dell EMC, and Sharif Fotouh, Founder & CEO, Compass EdgePoint. Why can’t we agree on what edge means ? While there’s value to speaking in common terms, Schmitt thinks we shouldn’t try to define it. Though it’s human nature to want to put parameters and classifications around technology to solve a specific problem, in this case he believes the open-ended nature of edge is what makes it full of possibilities for the data center market . “The lack of definition or consistency comes with massive opportunity,” he explained. “We should embrace the unknowns. That’s where we find opportunity galore. If edge was a constant, we wouldn’t be talking about it, and there’d be n...

Hospitals are critical buildings – we all know that. Losing power in this type of facility is extremely dangerous and can quickly become fatal to many. Hospital power control and efficiency is heavily relied on from the emergency room to the executive suite. It is essential to maintain high performance and patient satisfaction which can be done through EcoStruxure for Healthcare . EcoStruxure is Schneider Electric’s open, interoperable, IoT-enabled system architecture and platform that delivers enhanced value around safety, reliability, efficiency, sustainability, and connectivity for our customers. Designed to deliver improved safety, patients’ satisfaction, and operational efficiency, EcoStruxure for Healthcare is the IoT-enabled hospital solution architecture for digital hospitals. From existing building to a fully connected, state-of-the-art IoT-enabled hospital In Novokuznetsk, Siberia, Russian Federation, EcoStruxure for Healthcare made a huge difference to a building that w...

The electrical distribution infrastructure is the foundation through which power is safely delivered to industrial processes around the globe. This vital power distribution infrastructure operations 24/7 for, in some cases, years at a time without interruption. Behind the scenes plant managers have used time-proven maintenance strategies to avoid unplanned downtime.  Today however, connected technologies and the  Industrial Internet-of-Things  (IIoT) are enabling innovative new  condition-based monitoring services  that continuously monitor asset health and, with the support of an expert-staffed service bureau, deliver advanced notification if any asset exhibits abnormal behavior. Potential problems are then addressed long before there is a safety risk or a costly impact to plant operations. The span of critical electrical distribution assets that now can be continuous...

  Infrastructure is one of the major components that play a significant role in the efficient functioning of an industry. Be it any domain, manufacturing, packaging or assembly, seamless operations help in meeting the deliveries in time. This in return establishes goodwill of the company. Now, to bring this into place, building management system can act as the pillar supporting such positive development. With technical advancements and various research and developments happening round the clock, it is now possible to deploy Internet of Things in the industrial setup. This means that the industrial components like machines, display panels, data centers, access points or even gates can be connected in a secured network. This network can be controlled by a central hub making network connectivity sustainable. In the absence of such advanced connected systems, companies have faced unwanted conditions of inefficiency and losses. The primary cause of such shortcomings were recorded ...

To get a better understanding of how HMI is contributing to modern technology, let’s first understand what exactly is HMI and what are its functions. To begin with, Human-Machine Interface is a system which acts as a link between the human operator and a machine. In HMI, the tools and other aids are controlled by a human operator. Human machine Interface The tool helps you to interact with the machine. For example, the physical aspect of HMI could be a machine that has a touch display, a push buttons or a computer that has a keypad. At the same time, it focuses on problem-saving in a naturalistic setting. From an industrial point of view, HMI helps you intimately understand and monitor production and respond to changing production demands, which therefore improves efficiency and increases output. Due to the Evolution, i.e., industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) it has opened many doors, as the technology is so advanced it will improve the process cycle time and provide data security...

This Weekend: Celebrate the Life and Work of Aaron Swartz at the Internet Archive On November 4 and 5, the Internet Archive will host the Fifth Annual Aaron Swartz Day and Hackathon . Aaron would have turned 31 on November 8. The late activist, political organizer, programmer, and entrepreneur was a dear friend of EFF’s who made a lasting imprint on the Internet and the digital community. Aaron’s life was tragically cut short after overzealous prosecutors sought to make an example out of him under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for using MIT’s computer network to download millions of academic articles from the online archive JSTOR. At EFF, we carry on Aaron’s legacy every day through our work on open access and CFAA reform. And this weekend, we’ll join our friends at the Internet Archive in celebrating Aaron’s life and work. This weekend’s events include a two-day hackathon focused on  SecureDrop , the whistleblower submission system Aaron created just before he passed away...

Stupid Patent of the Month: Bad Patent Goes Down Using Procedures at Patent Office Threatened by Supreme Court Case At the height of the first dot-com bubble, many patent applications were filed that took common ideas and put them on the Internet . This month’s stupid patent, U.S. Patent No. 6,738,155 (“the ’155 patent”), is a good example of that trend. The patent is titled “System and method of providing publishing and printing services via a communications network.” Generally, it relates to a “printing and publishing system” that provides “workflow services…using a communication network.” The original application was filed in 1999, and the patent issued in 2004. The ’155 patent has a significant litigation history. Starting in 2013, its owner 1  CTP Innovations, LLC, filed over 50 lawsuits alleging infringement, and told a court  it intended to file as many as 200 additional cases. CTP claimed  [PDF] that infringement of its patent was “ubiquitous” by the...

The Data Center Science Center makes the system architecture simple to understand with a new FAQ app note SO…EcoStruxure is Schneider Electric’s name for our IoT-enabled, open, and interoperable system architecture.  A system architecture is a conceptual model that defines the structure and behaviour of a system.  In the case of EcoStruxure, the system is comprised of 3 levels: connected products, edge control software, and cloud-based apps/analytics/services. It takes great advantage of IoT, cloud, and Big Data analytics technologies to bring unprecedented insight into data center operations. The EcoStruxure architecture maximizes the value of data to deliver improved safety, reliability, efficiency, and sustainability for our customers and their data centers.     It sounds wonderful, but, what does all that mean in reality?  How is that value achieved through the architecture?  And what the heck is “edge control software”??  There’s been a lot o...

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Happy workers make a happy bottom line Is there a business benefit to happy employees? Indeed, there is. It’s all about improved productivity which leads to improved results. I will show you some compelling proof points below. Throughout this blog series , I’ve written about how the EcoXpert Partner Program helps our partners stay on the cutting edge of EcoStruxure Power, EcoStruxure Building, and IoT-enabled energy management technology. In the 4th blog of the series, I focused on employee talent where through continuing education, employees can keep up with advances in our EcoStruxure architecture and platforms to ensure that their company is positioned to take advantage of new business opportunities. There’s another advantage to employee training that also helps the business, and that’s employee satisfaction. Employees are your best assets but you may be surprised to learn just how much happy employees can affect improved productivity and your business’ success. Improved pro...

Direct current (DC) distribution systems predominated in electricity’s early days, but they have since lost ground to alternating current (AC) approaches in most applications. However, DC has maintained its importance in a number of specific applications – especially those involving battery-based storage equipment and uninterruptible power supplies. Designing protection into DC distribution systems can be complicated, though, and require special attention from the consulting engineers working on such projects. Among DC technology’s advantages is its compatibility with simple battery storage solutions, and it has benefited from the development of power supplies with electronic converters and batteries. Additionally, at its lowest voltages, DC power poses many fewer dangers to installers and maintenance personnel than AC systems, which can reduce requirements for personal protective equipment in some applications. DC systems can be found performing a number of tasks in remote and indust...

It depends on your strategy, level of internal expertise, and what you need from your electrical system. For many, business continuity is the single most important need because shutdowns are unacceptable. The cost of failure is too high. That top goal is often followed by planning and forecasting operations and opex budgets over time, and by maximizing asset lifespans and efficiency. Engaging the services of trusted power distribution experts from original equipment manufacturers can accomplish each of these goals. They can deliver more than one might expect across the entire lifecycle of an electrical installation. Some facility or network managers are satisfied with the current performance, efficiency, and maintenance strategy of their electrical distribution system…but whose opinions change when they see what’s actually possible. Connected, digital technologies for these networks and equipment have come a long way in recent years, and it’s easy to underestimate the extent of wha...

Heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration systems represent 15% of all electrical power consumed worldwide, and 30% to 60% in any given facility. Providing the global market with innovative and smarter HVAC/R systems can lead to an enormous energy savings for your customers, plus greater market share for you. Your challenge is finding innovative ways to wring out the energy savings potential of your manufactured HVAC/R equipment and gain differentiation in the market. Control systems and automation architecture offer big energy efficiency benefits   Whether you build chillers or air-handling units in commercial buildings, residential or industrial facilities, application engineering in your manufactured HVAC/R equipment plus choosing the right automation architecture are key to distinguishing yourself at every stage of the process.   CONTROL SYSTEMS Innovation is the key in wringing out optimum performance and peak energy efficiency. Most of today’s fa...

By: Rachel K. Carson, MarCom Intern for Process Industries Remember when you were young and completed a connect-the-dots activity? At first the page appeared to be an array of random dots with no association with one another. However, once you started following the chronological nature of the numbered dots, and connected them, suddenly a picture came to life. The dots that before were separate and unconnected suddenly work together, in one solution, to create the bigger picture.  Like connect-the-dots activities, value chain optimization does the same task in mining processes. Value chain optimization is all about connecting individual point solutions to close gaps and create a more smooth flowing, connected mine. The first of the four pillars of digital mining transformation is Value Chain Optimization . This innovation is sparked from within the environment full of individual point solutions that cover some portion of the overall supply chain. These individual point solutions ...