An industrial PC is a computer intended for industrial purposes (

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

goods In economics, goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods which are transferable, and services, which are not ...

and

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...

), with a

form factor Form factor or form-factor may refer to: Manufacturing * Form factor (design), an aspect of design which defines and prescribes the size, shape, and other physical specifications of hardware components, particularly in electronics and electroni ...

between a

nettop A nettop (or miniature PC, Mini PC or Smart Micro PC) is a small-sized, inexpensive, low-power, legacy-free desktop computer designed for basic tasks such as web browsing, accessing web-based applications, document processing, and audio/vide ...

and a server rack. Industrial PCs have higher

dependability In systems engineering, dependability is a measure of a system's availability, reliability, maintainability, and in some cases, other characteristics such as durability, safety and security. In real-time computing, dependability is the ability to ...

and precision standards, and are generally more expensive than

consumer electronics Consumer electronics or home electronics are Electronics, electronic (Analogue electronics, analog or digital electronics, digital) equipment intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for ...

. They often use complex instruction sets, such as x86, where reduced instruction sets such as

ARM In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between t ...

would otherwise be used.

History

IBM released the 5531 Industrial Computer in 1984, arguably the first "industrial PC". The IBM 7531, an industrial version of the IBM AT PC was released May 21, 1985. Industrial Computer Source first offered the 6531 Industrial Computer in 1985. This was a proprietary 4U

rackmount A 19-inch rack is a standardized frame or enclosure for mounting multiple electronic equipment modules. Each module has a front panel that is wide. The 19 inch dimension includes the edges or "ears" that protrude from each side of the equ ...

industrial computer based on a clone IBM PC motherboard.

Applications

Industrial PCs are primarily used for process control and/or data acquisition. In some cases, an industrial PC is simply used as a front-end to another control computer in a

distributed processing A distributed system is a system whose components are located on different networked computers, which communicate and coordinate their actions by passing messages to one another from any system. Distributed computing is a field of computer sci ...

environment. Software can be custom written for a particular application or an off-the-shelf package such as TwinCAT, Wonder Ware, Labtech Notebook or

LabView Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench (LabVIEW) is a system-design platform and development environment for a visual programming language from National Instruments. The graphical language is named "G"; not to be confused with G- ...

can be used to provide a base level of programming. Analog Devices got exclusive sales for OEM European industrial market and provided MACSYM 120 combined IBM 5531 and MACBASIC a multitasking basic running on C/CPM from Digital Research. Analog and digital I/O cards plugged inside PC and/or extension rack made MAC120 as one of the most powerful and easy to use controller for plant applications at this date. An application may simply require the I/O such as the

serial port In computing, a serial port is a serial communication interface through which information transfers in or out sequentially one bit at a time. This is in contrast to a parallel port, which communicates multiple bits simultaneously in paralle ...

offered by the motherboard. In other cases,

expansion card In computing, an expansion card (also called an expansion board, adapter card, peripheral card or accessory card) is a printed circuit board that can be inserted into an electrical connector, or expansion slot (also referred to as a bus sl ...

s are installed to provide analog and digital I/O, specific machine interface, expanded communications ports, and so forth, as required by the application. Industrial PCs offer different features than consumer PCs in terms of reliability, compatibility, expansion options and long-term supply. Industrial PCs are typically characterized by being manufactured in lower volumes than home or office PCs. A common category of industrial PC is the

19-inch rack A 19-inch rack is a standardized frame or enclosure for mounting multiple electronic equipment modules. Each module has a front panel that is wide. The 19 inch dimension includes the edges or "ears" that protrude from each side of the equ ...

mount form factor. Industrial PCs typically cost considerably more than comparable office style computers with similar performance.

Single-board computer A single-board computer (SBC) is a complete computer built on a single circuit board, with microprocessor(s), memory, input/output (I/O) and other features required of a functional computer. Single-board computers are commonly made as demonstrat ...

s and

back plane A backplane (or "backplane system") is a group of electrical connectors in parallel with each other, so that each pin of each connector is linked to the same relative pin of all the other connectors, forming a computer bus. It is used as a backbo ...

s are used primarily in industrial PC systems. However, the majority of industrial PCs are manufactured with COTS motherboards. A subset of industrial PCs is the

Panel PC A panel PC is a personal computer built into a flat-screen display so that the entire computer can be mounted in any manner available for mounting a display alone. It eliminates the need for a separate space for the computer. A panel PC is typical ...

where a display, typically an LCD, is incorporated into the same enclosure as the motherboard and other electronics. These are typically panel mounted and often incorporate touch screens for user interaction. They are offered in low cost versions with no environmental sealing, heavier duty models sealed to

IP67 The IP code or ingress protection code indicates how well a device is protected against water and dust. It defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) under the international standard IEC 60529 which classifies and pr ...

standards to be waterproof at the front panel and including models which are explosion proof for installation into hazardous environments.

Construction and features

Virtually all industrial PCs share an underlying design philosophy of providing a controlled environment for the installed electronics to survive the rigors of the plant floor. The electronic components themselves may be selected for their ability to withstand higher and lower operating temperatures than typical commercial components. * Heavier metal construction as compared to the typical office non-rugged computer * Enclosure form factor that includes provision for mounting into the surrounding environment (19" rack, wall mount, panel mount, etc.) * Additional cooling with air filtering * Wider operating temperature range than normal PCs, with the widest temperature ranges being -40 to 75°C * Alternative cooling methods such as forced air, liquid, and conduction * Expansion card retention and support * Enhanced

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 2012, ...

filtering and gasket * Enhanced environmental protection such as dust proof, water spray or immersion proof, etc. * Sealed MIL-SPEC or Circular-MIL connectors * More robust controls and features * Higher grade power supply * Controlled access to the controls through the use of locking doors * Controlled access to the I/O through the use of access covers * Inclusion of a

watchdog timer A watchdog timer (sometimes called a ''computer operating properly'' or ''COP'' timer, or simply a ''watchdog'') is an electronic or software timer that is used to detect and recover from computer malfunctions. Watchdog timers are widely used in ...

to reset the system automatically in case of software lock-up

References

{{Reflist, 30em Classes of computers Industrial computing Personal computers

History

Applications

Construction and features

See also

References