PLCs suit small automation systems

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team May 14, 2007

VIPA, the leading German manufacturer of innovative PLC and PC based automation systems has introduced two low-cost, compact PLC's with fixed I/O based upon its ultra-fast SPEED7 processor technology.

Vipa has introduced two low-cost, compact PLCs with fixed I/O based upon its Speed7 processor technology.

The new System 313SC and 314SC PLCs offer an entry level solution for smaller, time critical automation systems and with up to 100,000 instructions in 2ms, offer up to 30 times the processing speeds of existing compact PLCs.

With up to 1Mbyte of scalable memory and many of the features found on the System 300S range which is used for the most complex centralised and decentralised applications, these new PLCs are fully Step7 programmable with instruction set compatibility for Siemens S7-300 and S7-400 systems.

With integrated standard MMC card slots for program and parameter file storage and up to 1Mbyte expandable processor memory available via Vipa's memory configuration card (MCC), the new 313SC and 314SC provide the user with ample system expansion potential without the need for costly hardware changes.

The use of MCCs also allows much more potential memory storage than comparable compact systems and also facilitates trouble-free multiple automation system commissioning and reduces the number of CPU's required for spares.

Both the 313SC and 314SC feature an Ethernet interface for PG/OP communication, an RS485 and MPI connection plus a real-time clock.

The fixed digital I/O count is 24/16, the analogue I/O count is 4/2 with a single pt100 analogue input.

An additional 4/4 I/O (switchable) is available for counter, PWM or stepper control.

On the 314SC model the speed of the counter is improved from 60kHz to 200kHz, making it suitable for ultra fast digital inputs and outputs for deterministic control or high-speed counters.

The 314SC also includes a 12Mbaud Profibus-DP Master interface for up to 125 slaves (switchable with the RS485 comms' port ) and 8 DIO's.

For the 313SC, work memory complement is 32Kbyte, expandable up to 512Kbyte and to handle more complex applications the memory for the 314SC is 64Kbyte expandable to 1Mbyte.