Keba’s PC-based control systems win iF product design award
February 2, 2010
By Manufacturing AUTOMATION
KeControl C3, KEBA’s newest generation of controls, which has their debut on the SPS/IPC/DRIVES fair in Nuremberg in November 2009, have been selected as a winner of the iF product design awards 2010, and thus carries the iF quality seal. The decision was made from a total of 2,486 entries from 39 different nations.
For 56 years, the iF product design award has served as an internationally recognized trademark for outstanding design. Across the globe, the iF brand, with offices in Hanover, Munich, Taiwan, Korea and Brazil, is an established symbol for exceptional design achievement.
The products of the KeControl C3 family are PC-based control systems with real time capacity, which offer top performance in combination with a minimum footprint. With their Intel Atom and Core 2 Duo processors, the devices offer differing clock frequencies in a range of 1.2 – 2.26 GHz and hence the precise adjustment of performance to differing needs. The control device is available with two different housings, the smaller of which has a volume of around 1.5 liters and therefore only requires minimal space. The larger version has two integrated PCIe slots and thus facilitates the installation of customized extension cards. In this way existing proprietary hardware may be used further and links can be established with external components via Profinet RT, Ethernet/IP or CAN.
Data can be conserved in the easily accessible internal CF or SSD memories, or be stored via an SD interface located on the front side of the housing. As a result of the use of non-rotating memory, the data is better protected than on standard hard disks. An integrated, two-line LCD facilitates the issue of messages during start-up and ongoing operation, while an on-board graphic card with DVI interface allows connection to an external display. Peripheral devices can be connected to the two USB 2.0 interfaces (high-speed) and the controls networked via the two gigabit Ethernet connections. Two real time Ethernet interfaces permit the linkage of I/Os, sensors and drives, either via SERCOS III or EtherCAT. KeControl C3 offers an especially robust aluminum housing, which is foreseen for simple DIN rail installation without screws.
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