Industrial Personal Computers (IPCs) are computers with important computer attributes and characteristics, such as a motherboard, CPU, hard disk, memory, peripherals and interfaces, as well as an operating system, control network and protocols, computing power, and a user-friendly human-machine interface.
So, can an industrial PC be used as a regular computer?
The answer is no, for the following reasons.
A rigid piece of hardware that can crack walnuts
Industrial control computers are mainly categorized into five types: IPC (PC bus industrial computer), PLC (programmable control system), DCS (distributed control system), FCS (fieldbus system), and CNC (numerical control system). However, regardless of the type, the hardware of these products is usually a fixed design.
In terms of appearance, it is "honest and reliable". All the interfaces and styles are designed in advance, and it is difficult to change them. Compared with the flexible DIY of computers, industrial control computers seem particularly rigid.
In addition, many industrial PCs adopt a closed design to achieve good dustproof, waterproof and moisture-proof performance. Some use internal fans for air circulation and heat dissipation, while others use blade-type fanless heat dissipation design.
Compared to the "open" design of computers, the "conservative" industrial control computer is like a brick—sturdy, durable, and capable of easily cracking walnuts.
A software system so focused it's boring.
Personal or office computers typically run on the Windows operating system, which boasts a mature software ecosystem and offers a full range of multimedia entertainment options.
Industrial control computers can be equipped with Windows operating systems, but in many cases, open operating systems such as Linux and Unix are preferred. Compared to Windows, Linux and Unix lack a unified software ecosystem; instead, each company builds its own suite, which easily leads to closed systems and strong system security: products from different companies are often not interconnected; even worse, products from different periods of the same company are incompatible.
The closed ecosystem of the software system allows the industrial control computer to focus on handling specific tasks, such as traffic light control, facial recognition, and data analysis. The tasks it handles are monotonous and focused.
Even if an industrial PC runs on a Windows operating system, because the equipment is designed to meet specific needs, the hardware configuration is based on meeting those needs and does not pursue high performance. The operating system may also not be the latest platform. Such an industrial PC does not have enough hardware resources to support additional applications and cannot meet extra audio-visual entertainment needs.
Playing on an industrial computer that was converted into a work machine would be incredibly boring.
When it comes to perseverance, industrial control computers have nothing to fear.
Industrial control computers are typically used in harsh working environments. To ensure the stability and reliability of the equipment and reduce maintenance, they are often designed to be "workaholics" that work 24/7, with an average mean time between failures (MTBF) of ten to twenty years.
If you use such a device as your home or office computer, then congratulations! You won't need to replace your computer for a long time to come. You might have already changed your phone countless times, but this "computer" will still be as stable as ever. It can indeed save you a lot of money on replacing your computer, provided that you can tolerate the less-than-ideal user experience.
In addition, industrial PCs are designed to withstand various harsh environments such as dust and humidity. Using such a device as a computer means that even the most slovenly person won't have to worry about the host getting covered in dust and crashing.
If you use a computer as an industrial control computer...
So, some people might ask, can a computer be used as an industrial control computer?
The answer is also no!
Some people used to use PCs as industrial control computers for image processing.
In actual use, PCs cannot support long-term operation, and the equipment will crash after a period of time; and video processing is far less efficient than professional industrial control computers, with disadvantages such as large latency, unstable bitstream encoding, and large image noise.
Of course, a top-of-the-line computer can be used instead of an industrial control computer, but the cost is quite high.
In general, when conditions do not permit, some engineers may temporarily use a PC to replace an industrial control computer during the verification phase. However, when the equipment is actually put into use, professional industrial control equipment must be used again.
In conclusion
As the saying goes, everyone has their own expertise. The industrial control computer exists to solve professional problems and is the result of long-term practical verification. It cannot be easily replaced by civilian products.
With the diversification of applications, especially the emergence of new technologies and applications such as 5G, autonomous driving, IoT, and AI, the use of industrial control computers has become more professional. Perhaps their hardware performance is not the best, but their application effect is the best.
Here, we would like to express our gratitude to all those in the industrial control field for their hard work and outstanding efforts in my country's industrial automation. It is thanks to your silent dedication that various needs have been met with suitable industrial control computers.
