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DN Staff
November 16, 2010
4 Min Read
RockwellAutomation unveiled an aggressive program to improve the performance andcompactness of its Integrated Automation solutions at the recent AutomationFair in Orlando. The result is a product roadmap, with more than 50 newproducts to be released in the next 12 months, that strengthens Rockwell'sofferings with a focus on improving plant-wide efficiency and machine builderproductivity.
"People ask us, 'What comes after Logix?' whichis the core of our integrated architecture. The answer is that, 'Logix comesafter Logix,' and we continue to add new capabilities," says Michael Burrows, marketdevelopment director at Rockwell Automation. "We're at a threshold where we arereinvesting and growing every core aspect of the architecture."
"What we are continuing to do is to build outthe Logix controllers to make them faster, and scale them to make them smaller.As the controllers become smaller, we are building more performance andcapacity into the newer versions of Logix," he says. "We are adding motion onEthernet/IP and those types of advanced features to build out the platformwhile still maintaining the customer's work, expertise and knowledge."
The thrust of new product introductions is concentratedon the concept of manufacturing convergence driven by two primary valuepropositions. The first is plant-wide optimization primarily targetingRockwell's end user and large global customers. The second area is theincreasingly growing importance of machine builder performance, and newtechnologies that will help the machine builders differentiate themselves intotheir marketplace.
"These two unique focuses are influencing ourtechnology roadmap from different angles but we end up with one technology setbecause of it," says Burrows. "We are re-investing in our technology with aseries of new products, but the focus is on increasing the capabilities of thecore architecture."
The core of Rockwell's integratedarchitecture is multi-disciplined control, driven by the Logix engine. Thebasic concept is one control engine that provides process, safety, discrete andmotion control all in one platform. Burrows says that Rockwell is still theonly automation company executing on a vision that includes fully integratedsafety, motion and process in one control platform and one program.
A new podcasthighlights the "Top10 Integrated Architecture Enhancements" showcased at the recent AutomationFair, November 3-4 in Orlando. To learn about these new offerings, listen tothe podcast.
Below is a summary of developments to expectin the next 12 months with Rockwell Automation's Integrated Architecture.
EtherNet/IP isthe principal focus of new networking solutions, providing an ability to managediscrete, process, safety, motion and drive applications on a single network.ODVA recently extended the EtherNet/IP specifications to include CIP Motiontechnology for delivering the speed, sophistication and precision demanded bymotion control applications.
Expansionsto Integrated Motion on EtherNet/IP portfolio include new variablefrequency and servo drive solutions with Integrated Motion on EtherNet/IPtechnology: the Allen-Bradley Kinetix 6500 servo drive and enhancedAllen-Bradley PowerFlex 755 ac drive.
Newvisualization solutions give users access to a commonenvironment and real-time information needed to make better business decisions.A specific example is the new Allen-Bradley PanelView Plus 6 human-machineinterface that offers 512 Mbyte of RAM/Flash memory and Windows CE 6.0operating system, which removes the run-time memory limits for significantlyfaster refresh rates and more on-device storage.
Newsoftware for delivering real-time information. Enhancements to theFactoryTalk View Machine Edition support the PanelView Plus 6 launch. Inaddition, Site Edition now includes redundancy for alarms and events to improvefunctionality for high availability needs, and to provide users with moreimmediate access to real-time and stored data.
Increasingfocus on scalability and modularity. Rockwell plans to expandits scaled offerings by enhancing the capabilities of its CompactLogixcontrollers, Kinetix servo drives and its visualization family.
Highavailability expansion includes the ControlLogix L7 family ofcontrollers which offers significant performance improvements and providesfaster cross-loading for redundant systems. Fault-tolerant I/O provides SIL2-rated redundant input and output modules including analog outputs thatsupport redundant Ethernet adapters, with no additional programming required.
Latestcontrollers offer improved performance. The new ControlLogix 5573and 5575 controllers have enhanced memory and processing capabilities.
NewStratix switches help effectively manage real-time controland information flow. Like the Allen-Bradley Stratix 8000 switch, the new 8300switch uses the Cisco Catalyst operating system, feature set and user interface.In addition to external switches, Rockwell is designing products with embeddedEthernet switch technology using a device-level ring topology to produce asingle, fault-tolerant network.
Newtools in the migration solutions program help reduce many of thecosts, risks and complexities involved with PLC, visualization and softwaremigration projects including migrate from Allen-Bradley PLC-5 and SLC 500controllers, PanelView Standard and RSView32.
Enhancedmechatronics solution offers better information integration.Updated Motion Analyzer 5.0 software, used by machine builders to help selectthe best drive-motor-actuator combination for their application, now providesan enhanced interface with SolidWorks 3D CAD software.
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