Product category:
Robotics and factory automation
News Release from: Telemecanique | Subject: Industrial PCs
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 17 December 2004
Box standard PCs are factory failures?
This letter to the editor from David Sutton of Telemecanique puts the argument for not using standard office-garde PCs for long-term industrial applications.
I sympathise fully with the tube management company now having to buy its IT equipment on e-Bay because spare parts are no longer available elsewhere Undoubtedly the time and money wasted on tracking down these parts will be costing them dearly
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 12 Oct 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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This situation is all too familiar in industry.
For example, standard PCs may not withstand harsh industrial environments but, just as significantly, lack the future-proofed support that promises spares for many years to come.
The fact that these PCs and therefore their components become obsolete after just a few years means their cost of ownership can be substantial.
In the industrial world, the PC's seemingly limitless memory and constantly changing technology do not count for everything.
Industrial applications rarely need the processing power required to run even the latest 'shoot 'em up' games.
What is needed, however, is for PCs that support legacy technology such as ISA bus and that give users the choice of power, screen sizes and technologies.
Even after modification, most standard PCs fail to meet the IP ratings, vibration tolerance, temperature and humidity resistance required in shop floor or process applications.
Moreover, the standard desktop or laptop formats are unsuitable for panel mounting.
e-Bay is clearly not the most appropriate means for locating critical spare parts, any more than box standard PCs should be the first choice for industry.
A properly designed, ruggedly built, future-proofed industrial model must be the selection of choice.
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