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SPS IPC Drives 2013 exclusive show report

06 January, 2014
analogue and digital I/O. The ExtendedController has more than five CAN interfaces that support all of the main bus protocols.

Kontron used the SPS show to launch a range of four modular control cabinet industrial PCs. The KBox PCs span the range from fanless box PCs based on Atom processors, to booksize PLCs using Intel’s latest i5 and i7 processors.

Kontron also launched a series of multitouch monitors that can be mounted up to 30m from their host and connected via DVI-D and USB. The modular OmniView HMIs offer a choice of widescreen displays from 15.6–21.5” and have IP65 front protection.

Mitsubishi used SPS to announce the successor to its GOT1000 family of HMIs. The new GT2000 devices (above) offer multitouch functions and gesture controls. They include the new GT27 panels, which are twice as fast as the earlier GT16 series with four times the storage capacity. Their 8.4–12.1” screens can be operated while wearing gloves and they include Ethernet and serial ports, USB connections on the front or back, and an SD card slot, with WLAN support as an option. The lower-cost GT23 panels come in 8.4” and 10.4” versions.

Pilz is now offering a range of resistive (pressure-sensitive) touchscreen displays in seven sizes from 6.5–15”. The PMI terminals are based on 1GHz ARM CPUs and run the Windows CE 6.0 Professional operating system. When used with Pilz’s PVIS diagnostic system and control systems, the terminals can display troubleshooting messages in plain text.

Rexroth has unveiled a control system for modular machines that supports real-time processing of complex processes and networking with IT systems. The expandable IndraControl XM system is based on Intel Atom processors and can be combined with a real-time I/O system to offer update times of less than 6µs for up to 256 I/O. It supports Sercos communications and includes a Gigabit Ethernet interface.

Rexroth also has a new range of controllers with multitouch displays in sizes from 4–9”. The IndraControl V controllers are also available in single-touch versions.

The German automation manufacturer Schleicher announced an EtherCat-enabled machine controller that supports applications with up to 32 interpolated axes. The i3-based ProNumeric XCI 600 controller supports the CAN-over-EtherCat profile and is compatible with most EtherCat-enabled drives. It runs the VxWorks real-time operating system in parallel with Windows 8, facilitating visualisation and communications.

New from SEW-Eurodrive is a controller that can process up to 64 axes in 1ms, with capacity to spare. The UHX71B controller can run Windows 7 Embedded in parallel with a real-time PLC with independent programming, diagnostics and visualisation. Any Windows capacity spikes have no impact on the hard real-time section.

Siemens has extended its Simatic S7-1500 controls family by adding two news CPUs. The 1515-2 PN CPU for mid-level applications (shown on the right, above) has a 30ns bit performance and two Profinet interfaces. The 1518-4 PN/DP (shown on the left) is the most powerful controller in the range and can handle 128 drive axes and their isochronous operation in 250µs. Siemens has also issued new firmware (v1.5) for all of its S7-1500 models.

Siemens has developed 25mm-wide I/O modules for its Simatic ET 200MP distributed I/O system. Up to 30 of these modules can fit on a 830mm-long rail. There are also new positioning, measuring and counting modules for the distributed Simatic ET 200SP I/O system.

Other controls arrivals on the vast Siemens stand included: a new generation of operator panels from 4–12” for simple applications; communications modules for remote




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