Industrial computers arrive ready to run

The VersaView range of industrial computers and monitors has been designed to help users keep up with the latest technology and easily select the options to best suit their needs.

To help users keep up with the latest technology and easily select the options to best suit their needs, Rockwell Automation has developed the Allen-Bradley VersaView range of industrial computers and monitors.

The range offers easy-to-configure options enabling users to get maximum and immediate benefit from their systems.

Control system designers who are used to spending hours selecting, customising and integrating industrial computers and monitors into their project designs will be delighted at the time-saving options available with the preconfigured Allen-Bradley VersaView range.

"We saw people were spending more time searching for and configuring computer solutions than they were using them", says Paul Herron, Product Manager, Rockwell Automation.

"We knew there was a better way to offer solutions to our customers.

With VersaView and our preconfigured solutions we have taken the guesswork out of selecting industrial computers and monitors".

The preinstalled Rockwell Automation software works with the hardware, making it simple to offer a single source for troubleshooting and maintenance.

The computers and monitors are preconfigured with a range of features to meet the key needs of any industrial application: visualisation, control, information processing and maintenance.

For traditional HMI visualisation, VersaView makes it easy for operators to monitor a single machine or an entire system, record and export manufacturing data for analysis and troubleshoot problems should they occur.

When bundled with RSView Enterprise Series software, users can build a screen representation of an entire plant and create a visual link to greater levels of detail, such as component status, details of a particular area of production or process tracking.

The robust VersaView industrial computers and monitors are ideal for PC based control and simplified data exchange.

The high performance control engine can pull together process control, motion, HMI and information processing, lowering total system integration costs and improving productivity.

Using VersaView allows for a more diverse range of inputs and a greater number of supported slots to allow greater customisation and easier connection between the office and the shop floor.

Most manufacturers are used to getting information from the process but few are able to give information to the process.

Used in conjunction with the RSBizware suite of software products, VersaView computers and monitors can not only collect information about manufacturing processes and equipment but also allow users to upload maintenance applications and process commands.

VersaView industrial computers can host multiple development environments, making it easier to perform machine-level maintenance.

With ladder logic and on-line manuals at their fingertips, engineers can quickly troubleshoot, maintain and repair machines.

Monitor options include 10, 12, 15 and 17in colour displays, all of which can be specified with touch sensitive and daylight-readable screens.

Computer options range from a 566MHz Celeron processor and 128Mbyte of RAM to a high performance 2GHz Pentium III processor and 512Mbyte of RAM.

Memory can be expanded to 1Gbyte of RAM and with CD-ROM and DVD drives, Ethernet ports, Flash connectors and up to 14 slots for additional PC cards available, there is a configuration to suit every requirement.

Rockwell Automation has also simplified the ordering system, creating standard catalogue numbers that reflect only the computer or monitor purchased without specifying options or components that could change as the technology changes.

To make future integration project easier, specifiers only need to track one catalogue number to ensure that they receive the product that will perform to their expectations and accommodate the latest software and technology.

VersaView offers the rugged construction for which the rest of the Allen-Bradley range is well known.

With shock-resistant hard drives and high resistance to airborne contaminants, long, reliable performance in even the toughest environments is ensured.

For maximum flexibility, VersaView computers can be machine, wall, rack, panel or DIN rail mounted.

The Allen-Bradley VersaView range of industrial computers and monitors offers the latest in computing technology in a rugged, cost effective package that makes specifying and configuring systems for almost any manufacturing or process application simple.

(This was Engineeringtalk's Top Story on 10 January 2003).

Back to top