Machinery Update July / August 2020

42 MACHINERY UPDATE JULY/AUGUST 2020 www.machineryupdate.co.uk
Feature: Name Automation, here robotics & vision systems
It’s ideal for flow wrapping, cartoning and FFS
New linear motion
control system
is more flexible
Control platform
for tomorrow…
Phoenix Contact’s PLCnext has unlocked the
door to the beneficial Linux operating system
To meet the needs of food and beverage
manufacturers to handle ever more types
and varieties of products at increased
throughputs, Rockwell Automation has
introduced the iTrak 5730 small-frame In the last 30 years, deterministic
intelligent track system.
PLC Programming within a PLC CPU
Rockwell says the system uses
has largely been at the mercy of
independent cart technology to support IEC 61131-3 programming language.
smart, flexible and efficient machines.
This is not to say that other languages
Independent cart technology is
and techniques (C++, C#, Opensource,
designed to offer many benefits over etc) cannot and have not been utilised
traditional gear, chain and belt conveyors, in control systems, but this has had
including unlimited machine flexibility, to involve separate compilers and the
better traceability and increased uptime. arduous management of separate CPU
By using magnetic propulsion, the
resources to achieve true determinism
individually controlled carts can quickly within a system.
start and stop with high precision, which However, Phoenix Contact’s latest
reduces machine wear and is energy control platform, PLCnext, has unlocked
efficient. Changeovers are also managed the door to this with its Linux operating
quickly at the touch of a button.
system. The PLCnext Runtime runs on
This new system has the smallest the Linux operating system, but,
footprint within the company’s
importantly, the PLCnext Runtime has
independent cart portfolio. It has a 50 mm access to the Linux operating system.
minimum pitch that makes it ideal for This means PLCnext allows high
primary packaging applications.
level languages (for example C++, C#,
T 0870 242 5004
Phython, Rust as well as Opensource) to
Simmatic MU W www.rockwellautomation.co.uk
N-D 2017.qxp_MU 19/10/2017 13:29 Page 1be
combined with traditional IEC 61131-3
languages (FBD, STL, SFC, Ladder) and
compiled on a common compiler.
As a result, traditional IEC-61131-3 PLC
code and high-level language programs
can be run deterministically on the same
CPU and even combined in the same task.
PREWRITTEN APP DOWNLOAD
It also allows the ability to download
prewritten ‘Apps’ from the PLCnext
AppStore to the controller, either as
an entire complete application solution
or as a service for the application program.
This means end user companies,
system integrators and machine builders
can now future proof their businesses for
years to come by having the traditionally
trained IEC-61131-3 engineers of the
present passing their knowledge and
practical commissioning skills to the next
generation of programmers, says Phoenix.
T 0845 881 2222
W www.phoenixcontact.co.uk/plcnext
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T: +44 (0) 1299 877770 www.simmatic.co.uk E: sales@simmatic.co.uk