An Industrial Personal Computer (IPC) is a general term for a tool that uses a bus architecture to monitor and control production processes, electromechanical equipment, and technological tools. IPCs possess essential computer attributes and characteristics, such as a CPU, hard drive, memory, peripherals and interfaces, as well as an operating system, control network and protocols, computing power, and a user-friendly human-machine interface. The products and technologies of the industrial control industry are highly specialized, belonging to the intermediate product category, providing reliable, embedded, and intelligent industrial computers for other industries.
An industrial control computer (ICC) is a general term for a tool that uses a bus architecture to monitor and control production processes, electromechanical equipment, and technological tools. So what exactly is an ICC? This article will introduce the functions and characteristics of ICCs.
What is the function of an industrial control computer?
Industrial PCs (IPCs) can reliably operate as industrial controllers in industrial environments. They possess essential computer attributes and characteristics, such as a motherboard, CPU, hard drive, memory, peripherals and interfaces, along with an operating system, control networks and protocols, computing power, and a user-friendly human-machine interface. The products and technologies of the industrial control industry are highly specialized, providing stable, reliable, embedded, and intelligent industrial computers for various industries. Currently, IPCs are widely used in communications, industrial control systems, toll collection, healthcare, environmental protection, and all aspects of daily life.
Features of industrial control computers
1. Reliability: Industrial PCs are capable of withstanding dust, smoke, high/low temperatures, humidity, vibration, corrosion, and offer rapid diagnostics and maintainability. Their MTTR is typically 5 minutes, and MTTF is over 100,000 hours, while the MTTF of ordinary PCs is only 10,000 to 15,000 hours.
2. Real-time performance: The industrial control computer performs real-time online monitoring and control of the industrial production process, responds quickly to changes in working conditions, collects and adjusts data in a timely manner, and automatically resets in case of danger to ensure the normal operation of the system.
3. Expandability: Due to its baseboard + CPU card structure, the industrial control computer has strong input and output functions and can be expanded with up to 20 cards. It can be connected to various peripherals and cards in the industrial field, such as lane controllers, video monitoring systems, and vehicle detectors, to complete various tasks.
4. Software and hardware compatibility: It can simultaneously utilize ISA, PCI and PICMG resources and support various operating systems, multiple programming languages, and multi-tasking operating systems, making full use of the software and hardware resources accumulated by commercial PCs.
5. High reliability. Industrial control computers are often used to control continuous production processes, and downtime for maintenance is not allowed during operation. A malfunction could lead to quality accidents or even production accidents. Therefore, industrial control computers are required to have high reliability, low failure rate, and short maintenance time.
6. Excellent real-time performance. Industrial control computers must respond to changes in various parameters of the controlled object in real time in order to perform real-time control and monitoring of the production process. When deviations or faults occur in process parameters, they can respond in real time and provide alarms and handling. Industrial control computers are typically equipped with a real-time multi-tasking operating system and an interrupt system.
7. The system has strong communication capabilities. Generally, the industrial control computer is required to form a large computer control system with remote communication capabilities. To meet real-time requirements, the communication network speed of the industrial control computer must be high and conform to international standard communication protocols.
8. Redundancy. In applications with high reliability requirements, dual-machine operation and redundant systems are required to ensure long-term uninterrupted system operation.
