Open route to
plant integration
Omron has
developed a new breed of control product - the Open Network Controller
- to provide reliable, integrated networking, control and monitoring
In order to
optimise investment in business systems such as ERP and MRP, and
to truly realise the benefits that e-manufacturing
can offer, the provision of flexible and powerful interfaces between
commerce and production areas is absolutely essential. However,
many control applications never provide information to a company's
enterprise systems because they lack the capability of moving data
through their own industrial networks, and do not provide suitable
interfaces between these environments.
 The
Open Network Controller (ONC) from Omron aims to solve this problem.
The ONC industrial computer combines Omron's industrial messaging
service (FINS) and application software for integrating industrial
control systems. Its openness provides a platform for integrating
industrial automation networks into ERP/MES and SCADA systems. It
also enables web monitoring of control information and can act as
a primary controller all at the same time.
Communications
gateway
One powerful
function is that of an industrial real time data server to enterprise
applications. Combining the FINS Gateway and a real time QNX operating
system, the ONC can serve as a communications gateway for the entire
plant floor to other information systems.
The ONC should
dramatically reduce the time and cost required to establish and
maintain communications, because by using the FINS Gateway single
interface, connections between various devices in DeviceNet, serial
or Ethernet industrial automation networks can be made without programming,
regardless of which communication network is being used.
The ONC can
also host web applications running on its embedded web server, providing
for interactive remote monitoring, setting and maintenance through
a web browser, using either Java or ActiveX programming. This guarantees
reliable information exchange between industrial automation equipment
and plant information systems. In addition, the Open Network Controller
can be used as an industrial controller by installing either Omron's
SYSMAC Board PLCs into its half slot ISA bus, using a third party
Soft-Logic Controller or by writing C or C++ applications to run
on the QNX platform.
Distributed
data
Combining these
control options with the ability to gather and distribute data provides
manufacturers a new solution for solving complex control and information
problems on the plant floor. Built for harsh industrial environments,
the Open Network Controller meets noise and vibration requirements
of any typical industrial controller.
Also, because
the QNX real time operating system requires so few computer resources
to run its system, there are no parts, such as fans and disks, to
fail. Its compact size allows for installation in almost all sites
and existing control panels. The ONC features an open ISA slot that
can use both Omron and non-Omron communication cards. The Open Network
Controller is available with or without DeviceNet and with or without
a spare ISA slot. There is also a version to connect directly to
the backplane bus of the CS1 range of PLCs, providing data exchange
at very high speeds. Future built-in network support is also planned
for ControlNet and Profibus.
Omron
f101@industrialnetworking.co.uk
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