:LinuxPlanet: Automating Manufacturing Processes with Ethernet-Enabled I/O Modules, Linux
LinuxPlanet: Automating Manufacturing Processes with Ethernet-Enabled I/O Modules, Linux Oct 10, 2002, 17 :30 UTC (1 Talkback[s]) (12393 reads) (Other stories by Rob Reilly)
"Traditional control of industrial processes has been carried out by small special purpose-built microprocessor based systems called PLCs, also known as programmable logic controllers. They have very fast cycle times and essentially run in an endless loop looking at inputs, making decisions and controlling outputs. PLCs are programmed with an industry standard language known as ladder logic. They can respond, in real time, to hundreds of inputs and can control all types of motors, relays and actuators. PLCs are the quick thinking brains of the industrial automation world.
"As the old hot rodding saying goes, 'Speed costs money, how fast do you want to spend?' PLC systems are plenty fast and plenty pricey. In the case of PLCs all that speed also needs to be protected from the industrial environment. The control computer (PLC) and I/O modules have always been located physically near the industrial machine in a metal cabinet, right out there on the shop floor. Putting the cabinet next to the machine being controlled made sense because all the switches, sensors, motors and relays had to be connected by heavy wires back to the I/O modules..."
