Donald Engineering & Divelbiss - Your Process Partners for Embedded Programmable Logic Controllers
Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) are fixtures in industrial automation, as their hard, real-time characteristics provide embedded determinism for a variety of applications. And, as industrial machines are now expected to integrate more tightly with other business processes and technology, the versatility of PLCs has become more crucial than ever before. Today, however, cost and space pressures on the factory floor have resulted in a new iteration of PLC technology, the single-chip PLC. Single-chip PLCs are essentially programmable embedded controllers realized on an Integrated Circuit (IC). There are many benefits to using an embedded PLC as part of the design of an OEM control system, as the level of flexibility brought to a design by this technology allows for custom control solutions that fit exact system requirements, lower design and system cost, simplify software support, and increase reliability. In addition, a system utilizing an embedded PLC can meet the most demanding environmental requirements and provide a scalable platform that can support future product features.