Xycom Broadens its Industrial Open Automation Products
Key among these releases were the new OpenCNTRL and OpenHMI product lines offering customers pre-configured and tested "out of the box" bundled solutions.
OpenCNTRL integrates sequential, motion and process control functions as well as HMI on a single platform with one programming and runtime environment. OpenHMI targets dedicated HMI applications and supports Window 95, Windows NT and Windows CE.
Additional announcements included support for Windows CE on an industrial PC and the addition of a NEMA 4 rated industrial PC with a 500 MHz Pentium III CPU to its new 3500 OpenHMI and OpenCNTRL family.
3500 Series Industrial PC
According to Xycom (Saline, Mich.), with its new 3500 Series, it is the first industrial automation supplier to offer a Pentium III NEMA 4 rated industrial PC. The new industrial PC targets SCADA, high-end HMI, PC-control and information management applications.
Using Xycom's own design, the Pentium III processor system includes a 100 MHz system bus and supports up to 256 MB of SDRAM, two USB ports and ISA and PCI expansion capability. Options include 10/100 BaseT Ethernet, 10.4-in. to 15-in. flat panel color displays and Windows 95, NT or CE preloaded.
"We design and manufacture all our own products including PC boards," says John Dunlap, VP of marketing at Xycom. "These devices stay on the plant floor form 10 to 15 years, users want spares and don't want to waste time hunting for device drivers." Xycom's designs mount the processor horizontally and secure it to the motherboard, providing maximum stability for harsh industrial environments. All Xycom's Pentium III PCs operate at 0-50° Celsius.
The 3500 Industrial PC line can be bundled with OpenHMI software or OpenCNTRL software and industrial networking cards in a pre-configured "out of the box" solution.
3406 Windows CE-based Industrial Workstation
Xycom announced the planned availability of its new 3406 Windows CE-based Industrial Workstation. The Hitachi SH-3 powered device is targeted at low-end-HMI and PC-based control applications. The 3406 has a 6-inch color display, 16 MB RAM, 10 MB solid-state drive and communications options such as built-in Ethernet, two serial ports (RS485/232) and a parallel port. Industrial networking and expansion capability is available through two PC/104 expansion ports. The 3406 is also control-enabled with retentative memory capability and E-Stop relay output.
The 3406 can be bundled with OpenHMI software or OpenCNTRL software and industrial networking cards in a pre-configured "out of the box" solution.
ASIC-300 Program Development System
Xycom also announced the release of its ASIC-300 PC-based program development and control software targeted at embedded applications. ASIC-300 allows customers to create application in Windows NT, while running ASIC control in a Windows CE run-time environment with hard, real-time deterministic performance.
The program development software supports all of the industry-standard IEC 1131-3 languages for any type of control application—discrete control, motion control, and process control. It features graphical configuration and program editors that support the whole suite of IEC 1131-3 programming languages as well as customizable "C" or IEC-1131 function blocks. The development environment supports local/remote programming and online editing.
Since ASIC control supports a wide range of open I/O control and device networks, customers can select the I/O of their choice.
Wonderware Agreement
Additionally, Xycom and <%=company%> (Irvine, Calif.) announced an agreement for the joint development and marketing of Wonderware's visualization software on Xycom's line of Industrial Computers and Wonderware's visualization for Windows CE on Xycom's OpenHMI Operator Workstation family.
According to Xycom, this agreement helps the company provide an "out of the box" solution with minimal configuration required by the customer. "Customers will be able to use the same software platform on a low-end Windows CE workstation to high-end SCADA systems running on our Industrial PCs," says Tom Gross, CEO of Xycom.