For 40 years, PC-based control has been putting the power of IT standards and Moore’s Law directly into the hands of machine and system engineers. With the bundling of PLC, motion control, and technologies such as measurement technology, robotics, and vision on a single integrated platform, users today benefit from outstanding performance combined with significant cost and space savings. When Beckhoff became among the first to elevate the industrial computer to the status of a central control system four decades ago, a paradigm shift occurred.

In the 1980s, industrial production was characterized by the classic, hardware-based PLC. The PLC was considered reliable, but on the downside, it was inflexible and expensive, with limited computing power. In 1986, Beckhoff responded to these limitations by delivering the first PC-based machine control system, which gave the target application – a double miter saw – a significant boost in productivity.

Separation of PLC and hardware

The decisive technological step was the abstraction of the PLC function from proprietary hardware to a highly flexible solution based on industrial IT components. Beckhoff ensured deterministic behavior by developing its own real-time extensions for standard operating
systems – mainly Windows initially, but also others since then, including TwinCAT/BSD and Linux®. Machine builders were thus able to benefit directly from the rapid innovation cycles in IT and increasing processor performance. In the 1980s, for example, PC-based control brought floppy disk drives directly to the machine. Later, Ethernet communication opened up new possibilities in production and for integrating production into databases, ERP systems, and IoT solutions. Today, PC-based control forms the basis for physical AI in the factory.

High-speed communication

Appropriate I/O systems were required in order to use the ever-increasing computing power of industrial PCs up to field level. Beckhoff therefore flanked PC-based control with its own communication systems. Initially, data transmission took place via Lightbus. Introduced in 2003, EtherCAT has since become a global standard that is deployed by users across all industries and markets today. In parallel, the TwinCAT automation environment – which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year – provided the basis for the software. Since its market launch, TwinCAT has developed into a holistic solution that combines all automation functions in a single integrated software platform. In addition to classic logic and motion control, the spectrum also includes safety and measurement technology, HMI, and IoT connectivity, as well as image processing, robotics, and industrial AI tools. The optimum synchronization of all processes via the PC-based controller gives users huge advantages in terms of dynamics and precision, for example.

More scalability, fewer interfaces

From today’s perspective, the concept for success that is PC-based control impresses with its exceptional scalability and significant reduction in interfaces. “A high-performance industrial PC, an equally powerful fieldbus interface with peripheral devices such as sensors and actuators connected to it, and control software with real-time capabilities for motion and logic control – that’s all it takes,” sums up company founder and Managing Director Hans Beckhoff. This approach provides the capability to consolidate all machine functions – from a simple PLC to highly complex robotics – into a single controller.

As well as saving space, time, and money, this also eliminates latency between distributed controllers.

In line with the Beckhoff philosophy, Beckhoff has been developing and manufacturing all electronic assemblies and motherboards itself in Westphalia since the 1980s, to the highest quality made in Germany standards. This not only offers users security and long-term availability, but also enables them to continue implementing the latest IT standards and processor generations in machine building.

Basis for physical AI

Four decades after the launch of PC-based control, the industry is increasingly turning away from proprietary black box solutions and focusing on the future viability of open, standardized systems. After all, PC-based control technology provides an ideal basis for the required IT/OT convergence as well as for leading technologies such as machine learning and physical AI. As it celebrates its 40th anniversary, PC-based control is credibly able to assert itself as providing a future-proof and high-performance foundation for the manufacturing industry.

Beckhoff