Unitronics expands SAMBA series, introducing a new model with a 4.3" HMI panel

Oct. 17, 2014
Samba, an all-in-one, palm-size controller, fills a growing niche—OEMs on a tight budget who need compact controllers for simple machine control, but still want the competitive advantage of a modern, color-touch HMI panel.

Samba, an all-in-one, palm-size controller, fills a growing niche—OEMs on a tight budget who need compact controllers for simple machine control, but still want the competitive advantage of a modern, color-touch HMI panel. The first model of Samba was released this spring; now, only few months after that launch, Unitronics is expanding the series with 4.3" HMI panel model. The beautiful HMI with 3.5” or 4.3" QVGA 16-bit touchscreen enables data entry and display of variable data, including color Trend graphs and alarm screens. Samba supports 24 user-designed screens, and up to 40 images per application. The integrated PLC offers a broad range of features including 2 auto-tuned PID loops, time-based RTC control, data logging, recipes and more. The internal memory holds 0.5 MB of application logic, plus 512K for fonts and 0.5 MB for images. Onboard I/Os offer digital, analog, and high-speed functionality.

The flat fascia and IP66/IP65/NEMA4X rating make Samba an excellent fit for the food and pharmaceutical industries; it’s ideal wherever spray or wipe down requirements apply. BothSamba units come supplied with a built-in programming port (RS232 for the 3.5” model and USB for the 4.3” model) and an additional RS485 serial, Ethernet, or CANbus port can be added. Samba supports GPRS/GSM, email and SMS, as well as industrial TCP/IP protocols, MODBUS, DF1 slave, CANopen, and J1939; it can also be adapted to any 3rd-party protocol.

Unitronics’ free VisiLogic software provides a single, simple environment for hardware and communications configuration, Ladder application development, and HMI design, including a free library of industrial images. Free utilities include remote PC access and data export. Unitronics offers free technical support for all of their products and supports an active user forum.

Samba offers all the functionality system integrators need for small applications, reduces space and wiring requirements, and eliminates the need to set up Panel-PLC communication—resulting in an excellent price-performance ratio.

>> For more information, click here