IS THERE A PLC ALTERNATIVE FOR INDUSTRY?

Microprocessor improvements and cost reductions outpace industrial controllers without widespread industrial acceptance. Programmable logic controller popularity is due to rugged packaging, predictability, reasonable debug capability and widespread familiarity. Equipment life cycles involve machine building, commissioning, on-site upgrading and fault finding. An alternative high-performance platform suitable for development as well as during deployment is proposed for increasingly complex tasks such as high-speed packaging, motion control, robotics, networking and remote visualization that demand faster processors programmed in a common high-level language.