TimothyMoulder
Member
Greetings all!
Disclaimer - I don't work for Unitronics, I'm just a fan of their products
For those who don't know, Unitronics makes low-cost PLCs with integrated HMIs, a raft of communication methods (canbus and serial and ethernet modbus), and free programming software and support.
A few months ago, Unitronics released their new color model, the Vision 570, coinciding with the release of Visilogic 5.0. I just got my first one, and here is the review!
Up until now, I've always used the Vision 280 series, with a 4-inch black and white touchscreen and a full numerical keypad. You could do custom bitmaps, variables on the screen, alot of fancy stuff, but one thing you could not do was good animation, because the update rate of the screen was a little slow.
The new V570 has a 5" color touchscreen, no keypad (virtual now, called up when you pick a variable) and a ton of new features. For instance, the V280 required a separate adapter to do RS485 on it's two serial ports - no more. The 570 is dip-switch selectable. Also, the Canbus port now supports the CanOpen protocol, so there are three protocols natively available.
But what I'm writing about, what completely blew me away, was the animation. I plugged in the V570 for the first time expecting to see the Unitronics logo appear (in living color), and was treated to this high-quality animated mini-movie of cranes assmebling the company trademark.
The animation was FLAWLESS, no pixelation, no update delay, playing right there in brilliant color. All of my HMI standards that I used with the 280 just went right out the window, the quality of these graphics blows them completely away.
I'm always telling people to download the software or check out the website, but I gotta say, the website is not doing this thing justice. When you know (as we do) how these types of controls operate, something like this is a thing of beauty, and you really just have to see it to appreciate it.
If you're curious, visit Unitronics.com for some background info, or contact them to find a local distributor, and have them bring a unit out for you to see.
Jeez, I just don't know what else to say... you just gotta see this...
TM
Disclaimer - I don't work for Unitronics, I'm just a fan of their products
For those who don't know, Unitronics makes low-cost PLCs with integrated HMIs, a raft of communication methods (canbus and serial and ethernet modbus), and free programming software and support.A few months ago, Unitronics released their new color model, the Vision 570, coinciding with the release of Visilogic 5.0. I just got my first one, and here is the review!
Up until now, I've always used the Vision 280 series, with a 4-inch black and white touchscreen and a full numerical keypad. You could do custom bitmaps, variables on the screen, alot of fancy stuff, but one thing you could not do was good animation, because the update rate of the screen was a little slow.
The new V570 has a 5" color touchscreen, no keypad (virtual now, called up when you pick a variable) and a ton of new features. For instance, the V280 required a separate adapter to do RS485 on it's two serial ports - no more. The 570 is dip-switch selectable. Also, the Canbus port now supports the CanOpen protocol, so there are three protocols natively available.
But what I'm writing about, what completely blew me away, was the animation. I plugged in the V570 for the first time expecting to see the Unitronics logo appear (in living color), and was treated to this high-quality animated mini-movie of cranes assmebling the company trademark.
The animation was FLAWLESS, no pixelation, no update delay, playing right there in brilliant color. All of my HMI standards that I used with the 280 just went right out the window, the quality of these graphics blows them completely away.
I'm always telling people to download the software or check out the website, but I gotta say, the website is not doing this thing justice. When you know (as we do) how these types of controls operate, something like this is a thing of beauty, and you really just have to see it to appreciate it.
If you're curious, visit Unitronics.com for some background info, or contact them to find a local distributor, and have them bring a unit out for you to see.
Jeez, I just don't know what else to say... you just gotta see this...
TM
