PC Based Machine controls are fairly new to industrial environments, however, within the last two decades, PC based machine controls have overtaken the once standard PLC (programmable logic controllers) to run many industrial processes.

A machine control is an essential part of modern industrial processes and automation. If you have never visited a factory or assembly line, many of today’s vital components of manufacturing no longer require a human, they are instead computer controlled. While each manufacturer and sometimes each industrial process once required a special PLC with specific hardware requirements and software language to run, today industries around the world have switched to a much more open system using PC based machine controls instead of programmable logic controllers.

For a long time PC based machine controllers were dismissed by industries as being not up to par for service controlling specific machinery or factory processes. Generally speaking, PCs were deficient in performance, input and output abilities, reliability (especially due to harsh conditions that many PCs had to work under such as temperature) and programming language.

However, in recent decades PC based machine controls have overcome many of the obstacles, making them now the choice of most industries to control their machines and factory processes.

PC based machine controls usually include a standard PC, depending on the environment special structural cases to protect them, machine control software that are no longer written in rare computer languages and Ethernet I/O (input and output) systems that make them incredibly easy to hook up and interface with factory or industrial equipment.

Benefits of using PC-based machine control

PC based machine controls are now becoming the standard for controlling all types of machines and processes. There are plenty of benefits of using PC based machine controls rather than PLCs. Here are just a few;

  • The cost of using PCs is usually very affordable and in the vast majority of cases can suffice with off the shelf components
  • PCs have become much more reliable and are generally easy to maintain
  • Memory and storage are relatively cheap and easy to upgrade
  • Software to run most industrial machines and processes is widely available and for the most part cost effective
  • The ability to interface with many devices using solid state Ethernet I/O boards
  • The ability to customize menus easily
  • The ability for a human to interface with the PC is simple and easy