Glossary · PLC and control programming
PC-based control
Also known as: Industrial PC control, IPC-based control
German: PC-basierte Steuerung
In industrial automation, PC-based control is a control architecture in which an industrial PC runs the control software, typically a soft PLC together with motion, HMI and data functions, instead of a dedicated PLC hardware platform.
- PLC programming
In one sentence
PC-based control runs PLC, motion, HMI and data functions as software on an industrial PC instead of dedicated PLC hardware.
Example
A woodworking machine uses PC-based control: one industrial PC runs the PLC logic, CNC functions and the operator interface.
How it applies
- Engineering: PC-based control uses the computing power of industrial PCs to combine functions that would otherwise need several devices. Fieldbus or industrial Ethernet connects distributed I/O and drives. Beckhoff TwinCAT is a well-known example of this architecture.
- Operation: The PC hardware must suit the environment (temperature, vibration, power supply). Storage media, fans and batteries are wear parts to consider.
- Security and lifecycle: The operating system, runtime and applications follow different update cycles. A controlled update process keeps the validated state, see Update capability.
- Documentation: Describe the software stack of the delivered system (operating system, runtime, applications, versions) and the backup and restore procedure. Service staff often need an image-based recovery description.
PC-based control vs. soft PLC
PC-based control is the architecture. A Soft PLC is the PLC runtime software used within it. A PC-based system usually runs more than just a soft PLC.