I. Performance Comparison between Embedded Industrial PCs and Traditional Industrial PCs
So, what are the performance differences between embedded industrial PCs and traditional industrial PCs?
(i) Low power consumption
1. Uses a low-power processor
2. Fanless design: The chassis uses passive aluminum extrusion heat dissipation fins to quickly transfer heat from the processor chip to the aluminum extrusion fins, improving heat dissipation efficiency.
3. Fully sealed structure design, adaptable to complex environments such as dusty, high temperature, humid, and severe electromagnetic interference.
(ii) Small size
Its compact design allows it to be used in various small spaces, and it makes full use of external interfaces and installation space, resulting in good product functionality adaptability.
(III) High reliability
In addition to meeting the reliability design requirements for electrical functions, it is also necessary to meet reliability design requirements such as heat dissipation design, electromagnetic compatibility design, dust and water protection design, and vibration resistance design.
(iv) Long service life
Embedded industrial PCs are often organically integrated with specific applications, and their upgrades and replacements are also carried out in sync with specific products. Therefore, once embedded system products enter the market, they have a long service life.
Can embedded industrial PCs replace traditional industrial PCs?
1. Embedded industrial control computers are at the front end of the entire measurement and control system, and the upstream connection is often a traditional industrial control computer. The computing power, software resources, and database support of traditional industrial control computers are difficult for embedded industrial control computers to match.
2. In the construction of large-scale systems, the system expansion capabilities and network communication capabilities of traditional industrial control computers are difficult for embedded industrial control computers to replace.
3. Traditional industrial control computers have inherent advantages in fields such as visual design, process monitoring, data statistics, and scientific computing.
II. How to solve the noise problem of industrial control computers
Through the above introduction, you should now have a basic understanding of the performance differences between embedded industrial PCs and traditional industrial PCs. In this section, we will discuss how to solve the noise problem of industrial PCs.
Heat sinks are one of the main noise sources in industrial control computers. The more advanced the industrial control computer and the more complex its internal processor structure, the greater the heat generated. Therefore, the rationality of heat sink design is crucial to the stable operation of the industrial control computer.
(a) Reduce radiator noise
1. Silent radiator
The principle behind silent heatsinks is to increase fan speed, accelerate airflow, increase fan diameter, widen airflow channels, and increase the heatsink's surface area, while also increasing fan diameter. Alternatively, the heatsink's fan shape can be optimized, and a drainage design can be used to prevent surrounding airflow from flowing, rather than forcing airflow.
2. Integration of radiator and chassis
External "cold" air is drawn in through the radiators at the front and sides of the chassis via various accessories of the industrial computer. A portion of the hot air from the CPU is exhausted through the radiator at the rear of the chassis, while the remaining hot air is exhausted through the power radiator. This design increases the airflow of the radiator, improves its rotation speed, effectively dissipates heat, reduces radiator noise, and extends the machine's lifespan.
(II) Speed Control
The primary goal of heatsink fans is to meet the cooling requirements of high-load processors. However, in actual use, they are mostly used for medium- and low-load mainstream processors, which do not require high speeds to provide a large airflow. Therefore, many manufacturers control the speed to reduce the noise of the heatsink.
Industrial control computers are now used more and more widely, and are involved in almost all industries. Noisy industrial control computers can no longer meet the needs of some users, and they are now being replaced by embedded fanless industrial control computers one after another.
Heat dissipation of embedded industrial PCs:
Embedded industrial computers are fanless and use centralized heating for balanced heat dissipation, resulting in near-zero noise. They are suitable for research and office environments and completely solve the problems of insufficient heat dissipation and noise in traditional industrial control computers.
