ADVANCED PLC ADDRESSES EMERGING CHALLENGES IN MACHINERY CONTROL
"Machinery and motion control applications are becoming much more complex as machinery becomes more capable, smarter and safer, and as demands for more sophisticated human interfaces and communications grows"
Wauwatosa, WI, January 14, 2015 --- Today, ABB is extending the capability
performance version. The brand new AC500 PM595 features a multi-processor
system with the performance to handle the most demanding machinery and
motion automation control and communication tasks.
The new AC500 PM595 Machinery Controller is optimized for robust, high
performance industrial control, and is built around a 1.3 GHz processor with
four 32-bit RISC processors plus an embedded double-precision floating point
processor, 16 MB of user program memory and a large array of communications
interfaces. The very high level of computational capability allows the new
controller to handle extremely complex control tasks, involving complexities
such as precision coordinated motion with very large quantities of axes, and
mathematics-intensive computation such as real-time trigonometric
calculations for robotics or other advanced kinematic applications. The
controller also has a built-in interface to allow ABB's advanced safety PLC
to be connected for high risk applications.
"Machinery and motion control applications are becoming much more complex as
machinery becomes more capable, smarter and safer, and as demands for more
sophisticated human interfaces and communications grows," says ABB's product
marketing manager, Wangelis Porikis. "The sheer computational capability of
the AC500 PM595, with its rich feature set and versatile communications
capability, provides enormous flexibility for automation builders. It
provides a controller that can handle virtually any application, but also
one that is highly software-configurable - giving OEMs a single control
platform for a very broad range of applications."
Versatile connectivity is central to the new machinery controller's design.
This allows it to be used with both legacy systems and today's favored
networks - as well as providing a soft architecture that can handle future
demands. Four independent Ethernet interfaces and an integrated network
switch are built in. Two of these interfaces are programmable, supporting
different Ethernet based protocols such as EtherCAT and PROFINET - allowing
the PLC to be connected to control two different types of network
simultaneously. TCP/IP, UDP, CAN/CANopen and two RS232/485 serial interfaces
complete the on-board connectivity. Further networking and fieldbus
interfaces may be added via the PLC's dual expansion ports. This variety of
communication possibilities gives users the means to evolve control networks
easily, to add new machinery or equipment into control system networks for
example, even if located on another process line or location.
The AC500 PM595 PLC is compatible with the range of AC500 expansion modules
- providing unlimited flexibility for industrial control and monitoring
applications. Users can also build systems with integrated functional
safety, connecting ABB's safety PLC directly onto a second expansion port.
This provides great flexibility for implementing safety-critical
applications.
AC500 PM595 is intrinsically robust. The PLC uses non-volatile MRAM memory,
and operates without fan cooling - giving great flexibility of location to
equipment designers and process automation engineers. An alternative variant
of the AC500 PM595 is additionally available for controlling equipment
operating in harsh conditions and extreme climates. The XC or 'eXtreme
Conditions' version of the PLC adds further protection against a wide
variety of threats to reliability including high and low temperatures, high
humidity, low air pressure, salt mist and hazardous gases, and vibration and
shock. This can greatly reduce industrial control system building costs by
eliminating the need for sophisticated protective enclosures with special
seals, HVAC, shock absorbers, EMC protection, etc.
To handle the increasing complexity of industrial control applications and
the rapidly-escalating costs of developing software, the new PLC is
compatible with ABB's renowned Automation Builder programming capability.
This remarkable engineering development environment provides an integrated
tool-suite for control and motion systems based on PLCs, safety PLCs, motion
control and related automation components - reducing software complexity,
and cutting time to market and cost of ownership. All the tools required for
configuring, programming, debugging and maintaining automation projects are
provided via a common intuitive interface.
"PM595 offers control engineers a single platform for today's and tomorrow's
applications," adds ABB's Porikis. "The associated Automation Builder
engineering tool completes the solution for developers and owners -
providing the means to simplify control engineering and standardize on one
development platform for all projects - regardless of scale."
The applications potential of ABB's new PLC is extensive. It is especially
suited to larger-scale process control applications, with the controller
able to offer the same kind of performance levels as an industrial PC for
example, but with a much higher level of robustness. Advanced multi-axis
motion control systems is another major target, with the PM595 being capable
of controlling over 64 motion axes within a 1 millisecond cycle. The
versatile communications and security capabilities of the PM595 also suits
'telecontrol' or SCADA supervisory control and data acquisition applications
- as required in areas such as power system monitoring and control. The
controller's intrinsic robustness, the availability of a ruggedized variant,
and the easy means of integrating advanced safety - also makes ABB's new PLC
ideal for many of today's most difficult applications, from maintenance-free
controllers in applications such as wind turbines or at remote SCADA nodes
in deserts or Arctic conditions, to safety-critical applications in
equipment such as cranes, mining hoists or automatic guided vehicles.
More information: www.abb.com/plc
About ABB
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that
enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while
lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around
100 countries and employs about 145,000 people.
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