Next year, this will be joined by an all-in-one controller called CompactLogix. It can handle up to 256 local I/O points and a further 256 via a network. The latest hardware implementation of the Logix engine is a distributed control system called FlexLogix, which combines Logix with Allen-Bradley`s Flex I/O to create a controller that can be mounted on a DIN rail close to the point of application. Also in the pipeline is a SERCOS interface.
#SOFTLOGIX 5800 COST PORTABLE#
Initially, SoftLogix 5800 is available for Windows NT and 2000, but other versions are planned including one for the portable Windows CE operating system. The advantage, he says, is that it will become even more powerful as faster processors emerge. Pritchard says that unlike some other "soft" motion controllers which perform their calculations on a card plugged into a PC, SoftLogix 5800 uses the PC`s own processor. John Pritchard, Rockwell`s motion control business manager for the UK, gives the example of a system running on a 300MHz PC which, he says, can generate a profile from a few points in just 1ms, compared to the 30ms typically needed by a PLC.
#SOFTLOGIX 5800 COST SOFTWARE#
The package can perform multi-axis motion control in software and generate complex cam profiles in a fraction of the time needed for hardware-based systems. Using a monitoring tool, users can create, configure, and control processors and communication cards in the PC. The PC-based implementation of Logix - called SoftLogix 5800 - incorporates a "virtual chassis" that replicates the functions of a traditional PLC and an HMI.
These include a drive - called DriveLogix - that will be able to control both PM and standard induction motors, will accept inputs from high-resolution encoders and will offer a choice of control strategies.
The company has also released preliminary details of further Logix products, still in the pipeline. All use the same programming techniques, leading to savings in training, designing, implementation, and maintenance, according to Rockwell. The expanding Logix family now includes process controllers, and integrated as well as distributed sequential controllers. Soft controller combines motion and logic functionsĪ software package that performs both motion and sequential control functions, and a hardware controller that cuts the cost of distributed control, are the latest members of Rockwell Automation`s Logix family of industrial controllers that share a common "engine" and programming technique.