Research on the Development of Programmable Automatic Controller

Automation technology is developing rapidly. We are in an era of rapid change. From semiconductors to consumer electronics, to automobile and aviation manufacturing, light industry and logistics industries, various industrial fields are facing increasingly fierce global competition pressure. They need to further reduce costs, shorten product production cycles, and quickly complete product upgrades. The use of the latest automation technology is an effective way to solve this series of problems.

1. Characteristics and advantages of PAC technology

Because PC or PLC solutions are not very comprehensive, engineers often have to work closely with control manufacturers to develop new products for complex applications. Based on the various needs of PLC users and the information needs of manufacturing manufacturers, new controllers are designed and developed to best combine the characteristics of PLC and PC. They include the main functions and extended control capabilities of PLC, as well as the object-oriented, open data format and network capabilities given in PC-BASE control. Its notable features are multiple control tasks and centralized control stacks; inheriting the advantages of traditional PLCs (industrial grade, stability, high reliability); and integrating the flexibility and processing power of the original machines. Industrial analysts call these devices programmable automatic controllers or PACs.

The definition of PAC is as follows

(1) PAC has the functionality of multiple disciplines, and can realize functions including logic and sequence control, motion control, drive control and process control on one platform; (2) PAC has a unified development platform that can meet the control requirements of multiple disciplines, using common variable tags and a unified database; (3) PAC software can provide design tools according to processes or processing; (4) PAC has an open and modular system structure, suitable for operations from factory automation to industrial units; (5) It adopts various industrial standards such as network interfaces, programming languages, and security, so that data exchange can be achieved between heterogeneous and heterogeneous systems. Compared with traditional control technology, PAC technology has the following main advantages.

1. Use a single controller

PAC has a single controller that can be used to handle digital and analog UO, with motion vision capabilities and modular instrumentation. Therefore, users do not have to purchase additional controllers when they need functions such as vision.

2. Advanced Control

Advanced control technologies such as fuzzy logic and neural networks require not only powerful floating-point processors, but also a large amount of memory. PAC platform can meet these conditions.

3. Real-time analysis

PAC can collect data from analog or digital UO channels in real time and analyze the data in real time, so as to effectively detect fault conditions, such as performing order tracking and vibration analysis to detect the operating status of the machine.

4. Security

The data packets sent by PLC via Ethernet are not encrypted, so it is not suitable for preventing hackers from entering. The data packets sent by PAC can be encrypted. Although this is not the most important factor to consider at present, security will definitely become an important aspect in the future.

5. Deterministic applications at multiple speeds

PLC can only run at a fixed speed. So it cannot complete tasks independently at different rates. However, the operating system running on PAC has such a feature that it can perform parallel processing.

6. Flexible memory function

The PAC has a modular, upgradeable memory capability that allows the user to configure the system to meet current application requirements and allow for future expansion, whereas the PIJ II has only a fixed memory capacity.

7. Machine Vision

Due to the limitation of data transmission rate, PLC cannot provide visual function on this platform. PAC's machine vision can detect product defects and errors that are difficult to measure using traditional methods.

8. Improve productivity

A universal and lightweight control interface and integrated engineering development platform allows for rapid development, implementation and migration of project engineering; and, due to its openness and flexibility, ensures seamless connectivity between control points and operations as well as enterprise business systems. This optimizes factory processes and improves production efficiency.

9. Reduced operating costs

The use of common standard architecture and network enables users to select different system components from a cost perspective rather than proprietary products and technologies; users are only required to be trained in a unified platform and development environment without having to learn multiple dedicated environments; a seamless migration path is provided for users, protecting their investment in I/O and application development.

2. Development Trend of PAC Technology

In line with market needs, PAC technology will further develop in the following directions in the next few years.

1. Diversification of equipment specifications

In order to meet the needs of various actual production conditions, the specifications of PAC will show a diversified development trend. In its specific production environment, choosing a suitable PAC that meets the control system requirements is conducive to reducing costs.

2. More control functions

At present, PAC has integrated advanced functions such as logic, motion, and process control into a single platform. In the future, PAC will further integrate more functions, such as security considerations, batch processing, etc. When information is used more and more widely, its security will become the first factor to be considered.

3. Integration of Business Department

In order to achieve true real-time performance, automation equipment suppliers will continue to create connection channels for business systems within PAC without relying on other connection devices. PAC will embed some attributes of the Manufacturing Execution System (MES). For example, the establishment of standard interfaces will help better solve the connection problem between the control layer and the management layer.

4. Simple system maintenance

PAC will develop in the direction of being smaller and more intelligent, but at the same time it will have more outstanding data processing capabilities. Its software can monitor the operation of the machine, and the hardware can complete complex self-test work. In order to improve productivity and increase profits, enterprises must transmit data information in a timely and effective manner. The data processing capabilities of PAC can meet the needs of users to maintain data at any time in any form (such as: e-mail, web page).

5. Extend the life of the product

It is certainly important to achieve higher production efficiency by adopting new technologies, but whether the use of new technologies will significantly increase costs and training fees is also a question that manufacturers are very concerned about. The future platform of PLC will still adopt standardized design. Its vendors can continue to use the original commercial technology and standards such as Ethernet, thereby effectively reducing the cost investment.

3. Conclusion

All the components of PAC are designed to be the most flexible, convenient and cost-effective. Therefore, it spans the fields of mechanical automation, electrical automation, instrument automation, computer and other specialties. As a PAC that combines the advantages of PC and PLC, we have reason to believe that with the continuous popularization, development and price of PAC technology gradually approaching PLC, PAC technology will become the mainstream of control systems in the future industrial automation field and provide users with the most advanced technology in a wide range of fields.