ABB is extending the capability of its AC500 with a high performance version. The new AC500 PM595 features a multi-processor system designed to handle demanding machinery and motion automation control and communication tasks.
The AC500 PM595 machinery controller is built around a 1.3 GHz processor with four 32-bit RISC processors plus an embedded double-precision floating point processor, 16 MB of user program memory and an array of communications interfaces. "The high level of computational capability allows the new controller to handle extremely complex control tasks involving complexities such as precision coordinated motion with very large quantities of axes, and mathematics-intensive computation such as real-time trigonometric calculations for robotics or other advanced kinematic applications," said a company spokesperson. The controller also has a built-in interface to allow ABB's advanced safety PLC to be connected for high-risk applications.
"Machinery and motion control applications are becoming much more complex as machinery becomes more capable, smarter and safer, and as demands for more sophisticated human interfaces and communications grow," said ABB's Product Marketing Manager Wangelis Porikis. "The sheer computational capability of the AC500 PM595, with its rich feature set and versatile communications capability, provides enormous flexibility for automation builders. It provides a controller that can handle virtually any application, but also one that is highly software-configurable - giving OEMs a single control platform for a broad range of applications."
Versatile connectivity is central to the new machinery controller's design. This allows it to be used with both legacy systems and today's favored networks, as well as providing a soft architecture designed to handle future demands. Four independent Ethernet interfaces and an integrated network switch are built in. Two of these interfaces are programmable, supporting different Ethernet based protocols such as EtherCAT and PROFINET - allowing the PLC to be connected to control two different types of networks simultaneously. TCP/IP, UDP, CAN/CANopen and two RS232/485 serial interfaces complete the on-board connectivity. Further networking and fieldbus interfaces may be added via the PLC's dual expansion ports. This variety of communication possibilities gives users the means to evolve control networks, to add new machinery or equipment into control system networks, for example, even if located on another process line or location.
The AC500 PM595 PLC is compatible with the AC500 expansion modules to provide flexibility for industrial control and monitoring applications. Users can also build systems with integrated functional safety, connecting ABB's safety PLC directly onto a second expansion port. This provides flexibility for implementing safety-critical applications.
The PLC uses non-volatile MRAM memory and operates without fan cooling, giving flexibility of location to equipment designers and process automation engineers. An alternative variant of the AC500 PM595 is additionally available for controlling equipment operating in harsh conditions and extreme climates. The XC, or eXtreme Conditions, version of the PLC adds further protection against a variety of threats to reliability, including high and low temperatures, high humidity, low air pressure, salt mist and hazardous gases, and vibration and shock. This can reduce industrial control system building costs by eliminating the need for sophisticated protective enclosures with special seals, HVAC, shock absorbers, EMC protection, etc.
"To handle the increasing complexity of industrial control applications and the rapidly escalating costs of developing software, the new PLC is compatible with ABB's Automation Builder programming capability," said the spokesperson. "This engineering development environment provides an integrated tool suite for control and motion systems based on PLCs, safety PLCs, motion control and related automation components - reducing software complexity and cutting time to market and cost of ownership. All the tools required for configuring, programming, debugging and maintaining automation projects are provided via a common intuitive interface."
"PM595 offers control engineers a single platform for today's and tomorrow's applications," said ABB's Porikis. "The associated Automation Builder engineering tool provides the means to simplify control engineering and standardize on one development platform for all projects - regardless of scale."
"The applications potential of ABB's new PLC is extensive," said the spokesperson. "It is especially suited to larger-scale process control applications, with the controller able to offer the same kind of performance levels as an industrial PC, for example, but with a much higher level of robustness. Advanced multi-axis motion control systems is another major target, with the PM595 being capable of controlling over 64 motion axes within a 1 millisecond cycle. The versatile communications and security capabilities of the PM595 also suit telecontrol or SCADA supervisory control and data acquisition applications, as required in areas such as power system monitoring and control. The controller's intrinsic robustness, the availability of a ruggedized variant and the easy means of integrating advanced safety also makes ABB's new PLC ideal for many of today's most difficult applications, from maintenance-free controllers in applications such as wind turbines or at remote SCADA nodes in deserts or Arctic conditions, to safety-critical applications in equipment such as cranes, mining hoists or automatic guided vehicles."
For more information contact:
ABB Inc.
1425 North Discovery Parkway
Wauwatosa, WI 53226
800-435-7365
plc.sales@de.abb.com
www.abb.com/plc