Micro PLC promises more for the same price
A
LC Automation product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Nov 17, 2005
Billed as the ultimate micro PLC, the FX3U is more than four times faster than the existing FX2n, with eight times more memory, more connectivity, faster programming and more expansion options
With over 6 million FX PLC sales, Mitsubishi Electric has rightly earned the title of largest volume producer of PLCs in the world.
And now that domination is set to continue with the launch of the new FX3U - now available from LC Automation.
The FX PLC has been an integral part of control engineering for a quarter of a century, with each new variant giving better performance and more features than the last.
Billed as the ultimate micro PLC, the FX3U is more than four times faster than the existing FX2n, with eight times more memory, more connectivity, faster programming and more expansion options - in fact, one of the only parts that has not been changed is the price.
The flexibility of the FX3U is great for system designers and engineers alike, making it suitable for a wide range of automation, positioning, process control and networking applications.
Its long list of standard features and range of additional options, provide users with the freedom to develop the right solution for their specific application.
At 65ns, it is over four times faster than the previous generation of PLCs, giving considerably faster scan times and faster responses, bringing greater than ever precision control to time critical applications.
The increased 64Kbyte memory also represents an increase of 400% over the previous FX models, making the new FX3U capable of handling even more sophisticated and more powerful applications, allowing users to exploit IEC61131-1 programming methods to the full.
The FX3U incorporates more communication options than ever with multiple serial interfaces, an optional USB interface and full 10/100Mbit Ethernet connectivity along with the added benefits of Profibus, DeviceNet, CCLink, AS-interface and built-in Mitsubishi inverter protocol.
The FX3U is also the ideal choice for high-speed positioning applications, with six built-in 100Hz counters as standard, simple three-axis positioning capabilities and new high-speed input/output modules.
Over 40,000 data registers (some five times that of many of its competitors), simplify the process of data logging and energy monitoring, and new instructions have been incorporated for easy data manipulation.
The FX3U is a huge leap forward in PLC technology, but it is still an evolution of a product.
Mitsubishi have made it backwards compatible with existing FX systems, the software is easily transported/converted to FX3U and the FX2 expansion modules are also compatible.
A new faster and simpler ADP interface is provided on the CPU, up to 80 analogue inputs and 48 analogue outputs are possible, fast high-resolution (16bit) analogues will be available shortly, 14 different analogues I/O and temperature blocks are available and up to 384 inputs/outputs are allowed between local and networked I/O.
LC Automation is also offering free breakfast launch seminars (dates and venues to be announced), where interested parties will be able to see the Mitsubishi FX3U first hand and get advice on forthcoming applications.
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Contact LC Automation
Tel +44 1254 685900
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