Easy-to-select industrial computers cut design time

Control system designers who normally spend hours selecting, customising and integrating industrial computers and monitors into their project designs should take a look at Allen Bradley’s VersaView range. The new pre-installed Rockwell Automation software works with the hardware, offering users a single source for troubleshooting and maintenance. Computers and monitors are pre-configured with a range of features to meet the key needs of any industrial application: visualisation, control, information processing and maintenance. “We saw people were spending more time searching for and configuring computers solutions than they were using them,” says Paul Herron, product manager at Rockwell. “Our pre-configured solutions take the guesswork out of selecting industrial computers and monitors.” VersaView makes it easier for operators to monitor a single machine or an entire system, record and export manufacturing data for analysis and troubleshoot problems. And, when bundled with Rockwell’s RSView Enterprise 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. According to Rockwell, most manufacturers are used to getting information from the process but few are able to give information to the process. Used in conjunction with its RSBizware software, Rockwell’s VersaView can not only collect information about manufacturing processes and equipment, it can also upload maintenance applications and process commands. It means users of VersaView can host multiple development environments making it easier to perform machine-level maintenance. With ladder logic and online manuals at their fingertips, engineers can also quickly troubleshoot, maintain and repair machines. The new computers can be machine, rack, wall or DIN rail-mounted and come with rugged construction, shock-resistant hard drives and high resistance to airborne contaminants.