Hi folks,
I'm new to this forum and PLCs, so I'll take this opportunity to say hello now.
My company has been developing data acquisition systems for many years based on inhouse systems based on embedded controllers. I'm now currently investigating whether a system based around PLCs could present a much faster time-to-market and potentially present other advantages such as reliability, resistance to obsolescence, comprehensive built in diagnostics etc etc.
The application is for high-end simulators and thus the data reporting frequency requirements are low - 100Hz would easily be enough. When I say 100Hz, what I mean is that a PC on the end of the Ethernet cable needs to be updated at 100Hz - I appreciate that this is not necessarily how PLCs are designed to work.
One 'system' would typically have 40 - 50 digital inputs and around 20 - 30 analog inputs. we're typically measuring low voltages and certainly nothing over 24V.
Although not strictly a PLC, I did find MOXA's ioLogic E4200 system very intriguing and it seemed to tick alot of the boxes. Here is the link if anyone is interested:
http://www.moxa.com/product/ioLogik_E4200.htm
I guess my big concerns at this stage are:
Thanks,
Stuart.
I'm new to this forum and PLCs, so I'll take this opportunity to say hello now.
My company has been developing data acquisition systems for many years based on inhouse systems based on embedded controllers. I'm now currently investigating whether a system based around PLCs could present a much faster time-to-market and potentially present other advantages such as reliability, resistance to obsolescence, comprehensive built in diagnostics etc etc.
The application is for high-end simulators and thus the data reporting frequency requirements are low - 100Hz would easily be enough. When I say 100Hz, what I mean is that a PC on the end of the Ethernet cable needs to be updated at 100Hz - I appreciate that this is not necessarily how PLCs are designed to work.
One 'system' would typically have 40 - 50 digital inputs and around 20 - 30 analog inputs. we're typically measuring low voltages and certainly nothing over 24V.
Although not strictly a PLC, I did find MOXA's ioLogic E4200 system very intriguing and it seemed to tick alot of the boxes. Here is the link if anyone is interested:
http://www.moxa.com/product/ioLogik_E4200.htm
I guess my big concerns at this stage are:
- Learning the SNMP protocol which I imagine has a steep learning curve
- Whether getting the data to the PC with update rates of 100Hz wold be an issue or not
- What happens if the PLCs we choose go obsolete
Thanks,
Stuart.