"Industry 4.0" is a term that describes the fourth industrial revolution, which involves the mass introduction of automation and information technology, including artificial intelligence, into the production and business processes of enterprises. Productivity growth is due to robotization, and continuous big data analysis of information about the state of production for operational decision-making. 

If we are not talking about building a new plant or a complete change of equipment, but about the modernization of production lines, the manager needs to plan a step-by-step transition with the lowest possible costs. In any case, the updated solution architecture will include hardware and software elements such as SCADA, PLCs, Industrial PCs (IPCs), smart sensors (IoT), gateways supporting Real-Time-Ethernet (RTE), and PROFINET protocols. One of the most popular real-time PC-based control protocols is EtherCAT (Ethernet for Control Automation Technology). This Ethernet-based protocol is standardized according to IEC 61158. Read more about EtherCAT in the article here. The Taiwanese company Advantech offers the AMAX-5580 industrial PC for machine control via EtherCAT.

The AMAX-5580 is characterized by its compact size (only 10 cm in height), the speed provided by Intel® Core™ processors and expandability through modules. 
Compact size helps to solve the issue of placement not only in the rack cabinet on standard DIN rails but also in the machines themselves in conditions of limited space. The weight of the controller AMAX-5580 executed in a fanless aluminium housing is only 1.3 kg.
There is a choice of models with different CPU performance (Celeron / i5 / i7) and different amounts of RAM (4 GB or 8 GB DDR4). Power consumption is 15W (typical) or 42W (maximum). Operating system: Microsoft® Windows 7 32/64-bit version or Windows 10 64-bit version.

The standard interfaces of the AMAX-5580 include two Gigabit Ethernet-enabled ports (Intel i210 GbE) for EtherCAT integration. Four USB 3.0 ports and two RS-232/422/485 ports for communication with peripherals. VGA and HDMI ports for audiovisual components complete the interface set.

Expansion options

The AMAX-5580 is equipped with a standard high-speed PCI Express interface and EtherCAT communication protocol on the sides of the chassis. This allows the connection of EtherCAT expansion units and a 4-slot iDAQ-964 chassis for iDAQ-series I/O modules. 
On the left side, the AMAX-5580 can be expanded with four AMAX-54XX series modules. Wireless modules (3G/LTE/Wi-Fi/GPS) can be connected via mPCIe. On the right side of the AMAX-5580 there are options for connecting an intelligent power input terminal for slice I/O EtherCAT with the AMAX-5001. 

For the AMAX-5580, Advantech also offers an application development environment for programmable logic controllers called CODESYS.

For data acquisition can be used DAQNavi -software bundle.

 

 

Specifications

Download AMAX-5580 Control IPC Specification [PDF /ENG /Size: 2,4 Mb]

Download AMAX-5001 and AMAX5079 Modules Specification [PDF /ENG /Size: 0,5 Mb]

General

• Certification CE, FCC, UL
• Dimensions (W x H x D) 139 x 100 x 80 mm
• Form Factor Fanless and passive cooling
• Enclosure Aluminum housing
• Mounting DIN-rail
• Weight (Net) 1.3 kg
• Power Requirement 24 VDC ± 20%
• Power Consumption 15 W (Typical), 42 W (Max)
• OS Support Windows 7 32/64 bit, Windows 10 64bit, UbuntuLinux

System Hardware

• BIOS AMI EFI 128Mbit Flash BIOS
• Watchdog Timer Programmable 255 levels timer interval, from 1 to 255 sec
• Processor
  • Intel® Core™ i7-6600U 2.6GHz Dual Core, 4MB L2
  • Intel® Core™ i5-6300U 2.4GHz Dual Core, 3MB L2
  • Intel® Celeron 3955U 2.0GHz Dual Core, 2MB L2
• System Chip Integrated PCH-LP
• Memory Dual DDR4, default 4G*1 for Celeron and 4G*2 for i5/i7
• Graphics Engine Intel® Gen 9 LP GT2
• Ethernet Intel® i210-IT GbE, 802.1Qav, IEEE1588/802.1AS, 802.3az
• LED Indicators Power, Storage, Battery, and 2x programmable LEDs
• Storage 1 x M.2 2280 M-Key slot (SATA Signal only)
• Expansion 1 x Full-size mPCIe Slot (USB2 or PCIe Signal) AMAX-5400 function modules from left side (max. 4) AMAX-5000 EtherCAT Slice IO from right side (necessary add 1 x AMAX-5001 power module)

I/O Interfaces

• Serial Ports 2 x RS-232/422/485, DB9, 50 ~ 115.2kbps
• LAN Ports 2 x RJ45, 10/100/1000 Mbps
• USB Ports 4 x USB ports (4 x USB 3.0 compliant ) 1 x internal USB
• Display 1 x VGA, support up to 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz 24 bpp 1 x HDMI, support up to 4096 x 2160 @ 24Hz 24bpp
• Power Connector Dual power input with alarm output
• Grounding Protection Chassis ground isolation

Environment

• Storage Temperature -40 ~ 85°C (-40 ~ 185°F)
• Operating Temperature -10 ~ 60°C (-4 ~ 140°F) @ 5 ~ 85% RH with 0.7m/s
• Relative Humidity 95% RH @ 40°C, non-condensing
• Shock Protection Operating, IEC 60068-2-27, 10G, half sine, 11 ms
• Vibration Protection Operating, IEC 60068-2-64, 1 Grms, random, 5 ~ 500 Hz, 1hr/axis (M.2)

 

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