In this post, we will see the overview of Rockwell PLC. This post is divided into two parts. The first part discusses the overview of the PLCs used for smaller and medium applications. The second part discusses an overview of the PLCs used for higher-level applications.
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Rockwell is a very big brand in industrial automation. It has very products and innovative technologies in industrial automation, residential and small business, low voltage products and systems, solar and energy storage, medium voltage distribution and grid automation, etc. If we consider the industrial automation part, it has a very wide range of PLCs.
Rockwell Automation Allen Bradley PLC
In this post, we will have a look at various ranges of Rockwell PLCs. For your information, Allen Bradley is nothing but the automation brand owned by Rockwell Automation. So, Rockwell PLCs are also termed as Allen Bradley PLCs.
This range of PLCs is divided into three parts –
- Micro,
- Small and
- Large
Let us have a look at all of them.
Micro Range PLCs
Micro 870 PLC
This PLC supports up to eight expansion modules with an IO capability of 304 points; including high-speed inputs, PTO, and interrupts.
From a communication point of view, it has an embedded Ethernet port, USB programming port, and two serial ports (RS-232 and RS-485).
Also, it supports external SD cards for program transfer, data log, and recipe management. If you use this PLC in motion applications, it supports up to 2 axes of operation.
The software used for programming is Connected Components Workbench.
Micro 850 PLC
This PLC supports up to four expansion modules with an IO capability of 192 points; including high-speed inputs, PTO, and interrupts. From a communication point of view, it has an embedded Ethernet port, USB programming port, and two serial ports (RS-232 and RS-485).
Also, it supports an external SD card for program transfer, data log, and recipe management. If you use this PLC in motion applications, it supports up to 3 axes of operation. The software used for programming is Connected Components Workbench.
Micro 830 PLC
This PLC has an IO capability of 88 points; including high-speed inputs, PTO, and interrupts. From a communication point of view, it has a USB programming port and two serial ports (RS-232 and RS-485).
Also, it supports external SD cards for program transfer, data log, and recipe management. If you use this PLC in motion applications, it supports up to 3 axes of operation. The software used for programming is Connected Components Workbench.
Micro 820 PLC
This PLC has an IO capability of 36 points; including an embedded 0-10V 4 channel analog input and a 1 channel analog output. From a communication point of view, it has a USB programming port, an embedded Ethernet port, and two serial ports (RS-232 and RS-485).
Also, it supports external SD card for program transfer, data log, and recipe management. The software used for programming is Connected Components Workbench.
Micrologix 1400 PLC
This PLC has an embedded IO capability of digital 32 points or digital 32 points with 6 analog points; including six high-speed counters.
You can connect up to seven expansion modules.
From a communication point of view, it has a DF1 port, DH-485 port, and also supports Modbus RTU, DNP3, and ASCII protocols. It has an embedded Ethernet port which provides web server capability and email capability.
Also, it supports an external SD cards for program transfer, data log, and recipe management. One standing point of this controller is the LCD display. It allows you to view controller status and IO status.
The software used for programming is RS Logix 500.
Small Range PLCs
Compact Logix 5480
This PLC is a real-time controller with Windows 10 IoT Enterprise running in parallel to the Logix control engine. So, it supports embedded Windows applications like analytics, data gathering, and predictive computations.
It has three embedded Ethernet ports which provide high-speed communication and motion control. It has one additional Ethernet port which is dedicated to the commercial OS network interface. It also has two USB ports embedded in it.
The PLC supports up to 31 expansion modules. You can also connect additional Ethernet nodes (expansion buses) which will support more IO modules in them.
The software used for programming is Studio 5000.
Compact Logix 5380
This PLC family has Compact Logix and Compact Guard Logix 5380 controllers. The Guard Logix is a safety PLC that provides safety solutions up to the SIL3 level.
The motion control program supports up to 32 axes.
The PLC supports up to 31 expansion modules. You can also connect additional Ethernet nodes (expansion buses) which will support more IO modules in them.
It has one Ethernet port and also includes dual configurable ports where you can assign different IP addresses. The software used for programming is Studio 5000.
This PLC won Oil and Gas Engineering Product of the Year in 2021 for its remarkable contribution to the oil and gas industry.
Apart from Compact Logix 5380, there is also Compact Logic 5370 and works on a similar line to it, with only a few additional functions.
In the next post, we will see PLCs used for higher-level applications.
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