In order to reduce the amount of integration effort between control and communication devices, the Industrial Automation Group of Advantech has launched the APAX-6572, a combined Embedded Automation Computer with Data Acquisition and Control (DA&C) technology. This device is best suited for factory-wide DA&C applications and as an auxiliary control for unit operations.
The APAX-6572 contains an Intel Atom™ D510 1.66GHz CPU, 2GB RAM controller with 3x GbE LAN, 2x COM ports, 1x VGA, and 4x USB 2.0 ports. It comes with four slots for expansion, allowing customers to install four of Advantech’s APAX-5090P (4-port RS-232/422/485 communication modules) to provide a maximum of 18 COM ports or four APAX-5095P CAN port cards (2-port CANopen communication modules) for a maximum of eight CAN ports, or a combination of the two. A maximum of 32 APAX DA&C I/O modules can also be applied to this system providing up to 768 digital I/O and 192 analog I/O points.
The APAX-6572 integrates the three main elements of automation: computing, control, and communication, into an open system architecture with a small footprint, thereby providing users with an easier and friendlier environment to deploy the control logics. It supports the IEC-61161-3 standard for LD, FBD, IL, SFC, C, C++ and C# as well as .NET class libraries, thereby providing an open and flexible programming environment so programmers can concentrate on one controller and don’t need to switch languages between controllers.
To help handle faults and increase system availability, it includes many innovative technologies including an Advanced Watch Dog Timer to provide alarms and self-healing before the system is reset. Also included is an Active Health Check, which monitors the hardware and triggers alarms if a fault is found. Finally, to ensure that the system is always available, a backup system is provided to take over when the master is out of action.
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