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Discover
the Industrial Design of UNO, the Industrial-Grade Fanless PC
The growth of PC technology has introduced embedded PC products
in a variety of industries. Based on experience with both advanced
embedded technology and industrial automation, Advantech launched
the UNO product series more than 3 years ago. The focus was, and
still is, the industrial automation market. More than just a fanless
PC, the UNO series consists of industrial-grade PCs ideal for applications
in need of a rugged controller. Today we would like to present how
UNO is different, and what values UNO brings to industrial applications.
In brief, there
are five considerations when designing an industrial embedded platform.
These are: Robust Design, Industrial Communication Design, Industrial
Control Design, Industrial Component Design, and Industrial Software
Design.
Robust Design
To meet the basic requirements of critical environments, the embedded
platform must be without a fan to avoid maintenance issues because
of the uncertain lifecycle of fans. It should support an Embedded
OS to provide an operating environment that does not rely on spinning
disks. And it should be designed with a strong mechanical design
to prevent shocks and vibrations that are common in applications
for vehicles and field sites. Moreover, a quality industrial PC
must tolerate changing environments, and offer a wide operating
temperature range. In case there is an unexpected and unavoidable
system crash, industrial PCs should have a built-in watchdog timer
to reboot the system automatically.
Industrial
Communication Design
UNO is also designed with well-protected and diverse communication
ports. The COM Ports of UNO products are designed with high-voltage
isolation protection to prevent surge damages. Furthermore, UNO
offers efficient communication handling, with auto flow control,
to speed up the request/response data on industrial RS-485 networks.
Industrial
Control Design
More than a general industrial PC platform, the UNO industrial PCs
has been designed with several special functions for superior reliability.
A battery backup function always keeps the latest system status
and data to guarantee that the process can be continued even after
a power failure or system shut down.
For factory floors, Fieldbus is usually the first choice for customers,
so UNO provides a flexible product range for customers to select
models with an onboard Fieldbus interface or to extend by PC/104
or PCI bus interface cards. For instant control requirements, UNO
can directly handle onboard and remote I/O to monitor and easily
control field equipment.
Industrial
Component Design
This factor is not easily researched by customers, but it is a key
issue for industrial PCs that need to perform with high reliability.
All key electronic components on the UNO PC board must be industrial
grade. For example, the solid electrolytic capacitor is designed
for an explosion-proofed environment to prevent surges and other
dangerous elements that can take down an industrial PC.
Industrial
Software Design
Most of the time, customers will apply UNO with an embedded OS inside.
Offering more than the standard functions of Microsoft® Windows®
CE, Advantech has added extra features to enhance control functions
and communication efficiency. In order to offer an easy-to-use environment,
UNO supports RAS (Remote Access Service, communication by modem)
and web-accessible configuration for remote monitoring and control
of systems from remote locations. The enhanced COM Port driver and
OXFORD PCI-954 driver designs also greatly improve communication
speed for onboard COM Ports.
We would like
to highlight again that UNO is not just a fanless PC. It is an industrial-grade
fanless PC. Because of its unique design, it is a great solution
for applications in factory automation, machine automation, facility
and environment monitoring, transportation management and many other
areas.
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