Industrial Automation
As goods move through the production line, strategically placed sensors collect data, feeding it to systems that monitor the entire line. The systems can then determine whether to speed up or slow down the line, or even reject a questionable part. Similar to their office-based counterparts, factory environments are increasingly integrating their operations in seamless fashion through Ethernet-based networking technologies.
However, you’ve no doubt noticed that connecting an industrial environment requires more unique considerations than does a typical office:
- Industrial Ethernet standards are varied and constantly changing, so the underlying technology must be able to adapt to these evolving standards.
- Long lifecycles are the norm for industrial products, so their technology must also perform well and accommodate business changes over the long run.
- Temperature extremes and other harsh environmental conditions mean that industrial technology must be robust and able to withstand these situations.
- Cost is always a concern, so you’ll want to be able to reuse a design, cut development time, and be more productive.
Altera FPGAs Bring Flexibility to the Industrial Market
For an industrial automation technology that addresses all of these criteria, look no farther than Altera® programmable solutions. Flexible, reliable, and able to support multiple standards, Altera FPGAs let you build adaptability and an obsolescence-proof design path into your products, from programmable logic controllers (PLCs) to I/O modules and human machine interface (HMI)/operator panels. You’ll be able to make differentiating changes while in development or even in the field, as you anticipate new market demands. And you’ll lower your costs per node, while being more productive than ever.
Interoperability is no longer a barrier when you’re designing with FPGAs. You can build into one device support for multiple industrial Ethernet standards, so different devices can smoothly interoperate. Altera devices are also fully functional in industrial temperatures, so extreme cold or heat won’t hamper performance. With all of these advantages, it’s no wonder programmable solutions are increasingly the technologies of choice in the industrial market.
Altera and Partner Products for Industrial Automation
FPGAs make a great development platform but it is the ready availability of IP—both software and hardware—that turns a platform device into a true solution. To automate an industrial system you may need some of the following components:
- The Nios® II microprocessor and example designs (see Altera's Nios II processor web page for more information)
- A standard customer programming interface such as IEC 61131-3 (see Altera's Industrial Standards web page for more information)
- Industrial Ethernet IP (see Altera's Industrial Ethernet web page for more information)
- Other industrial IP cores and reference designs
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