Horner originally developed the line for a contract with the Postal Service for conveyors in bulk mail facilities. The spec called for a relatively low I/O count, simple OI, and global data transfer among multiple CPUs.
They use the CAN chip for networking. That's the same chip that DeviceNet and SDS uses. They call their network CsCAN. When I asked Horner Engineering why they felt the need to develop another CAN protocol, the response was: "Because with our protocol, you can upload and download programs over the network".
GEFanuc offers the same product under the OCS name.
My impression of the product is good, but I have only played with it on the bench, never in a real-world application. I've become a little nervous about Horner's thoroughness. They have a history of being able to get a new product to market in a hurry, but there always seem to be nagging problems that take too long to correct.
Horner's manuals have never been models of clarity, either.
I will say this about their CScape programming software, though. While GE Fanuc was internally dithering about how to get a Windows programming software package to replace Logicmaster, Horner just sat down and did it. What's more, you can download it from their website for free. Not a trial copy that only runs for four days unless you register it. Not a reduced functionality version. The whole enchilada.
