Company: Beckhoff Automation

Website: www.beckhoff.com

Technology Snapshot: Beckhoff Automation has announced the release of new CP6x00 Control Panels and Panel PCs with 10.1-inch widescreen displays. The expanded line of entry-level panels from Beckhoff, first launched with 7-inch displays, has been expanded by three new cabinet-mounted devices, each with a 10.1-inch widescreen display. PC-based control technology in the cost-sensitive, lower to middle performance range can now be scaled even more precisely in line with individual application requirements.

The new widescreen variants have a Thin Film Transistor (TFT) touch display with a resolution of 1024 x 600 WSVGA, which paves the way for comprehensive operator interface and visualization options. Added to this is superior display quality with 16.7 million available colors on the 10.1-inch diagonal screen. The latest additions to the entry-level class from Beckhoff include two fanless Panel PCs and a purely passive Control Panel. These devices permit the cost-effective implementation of control and visualization tasks for small and medium-sized machines, production systems and buildings.

The three new widescreen TFT touch Panel PCs from Beckhoff are:

• CP6600 Panel PC with 1 GHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU and 1 GB DDR3 RAM memory
• CP6700 Panel PC with Intel Atom processor (up to 1.91 GHz, four cores) and 2 GB DDR3L RAM (optionally extended up to 8 GB)
• CP6900 Control Panel with DVI/USB Extended technology for operation at a distance of up to 50 m from the Industrial PC or Embedded PC

Equipped with a robust metal housing consisting of an aluminum front bezel and a sheet steel rear cover, the panels offer significantly higher quality and durability than the plastic panels typically offered in the low-cost, entry-level segment. In addition, the high-quality materials and a rounded front bezel lend a modern and appealing look to the panels, which can be used in the most diverse production and building environments at operating temperatures from 0 to 55 °C.