Hello,
An EE friend has recently claimed that STAMP-like controllers are meant only for hobbyists, and are not "meant to be reliable" in the industrial worksetting. That, for instance, they aren't designed to withstand much electromagnetic noise and interference, etc, the way a full-fledged PLC is.
I'd really like to be able to build real commercial-quality instruments using the zx24 for use in industry. Not being an EE myself, I was curious if any experts have any thoughts on using the zx24 controllers for industrial quality devices, and how difficult it is to make them "bullet proof", so-to-speak. Thanks in advance for any replies...
Steve
INDUSTRIAL CONTROL
In addition to ZBasic, a very carefully designed hardware/software combo, there are many first-cousins that demonstrate viability. Inside some black boxes one may find a module plugged into a custom host PCB with I/O interfaces.
The microprocessor modules (stamps if you will) are great for low/moderate volume products, to reduce development costs. The ZBasic compiler is, IMO, the very best structured Basic for microcontrollers, far and away. That it has both a byte-code (interpreted) and a native code version is great.
So for a product expected to have a 10K piece run-rate, then your EE friend may be right. But for a few thousand, a module makes sense, IMO.
The microprocessor modules (stamps if you will) are great for low/moderate volume products, to reduce development costs. The ZBasic compiler is, IMO, the very best structured Basic for microcontrollers, far and away. That it has both a byte-code (interpreted) and a native code version is great.
So for a product expected to have a 10K piece run-rate, then your EE friend may be right. But for a few thousand, a module makes sense, IMO.
Re: INDUSTRIAL CONTROL
In the most general sense, your EE friend is correct. However, the comparison is "apples and oranges" and is thus not very useful. The ZX (and other Stamp-format devices) should be compared to the processor and/or other logic chips inside the PLC rather than to the PLC unit as a whole. The desired level of EMI immunity is achieved by carefully designing the power supply/conditioning, the I/O circuitry and even the enclosure containing the PLC.sselver wrote:That, for instance, they aren't designed to withstand much electromagnetic noise and interference, etc, the way a full-fledged PLC is.
A rejoinder that is just as useful and informative would be "Oh yeah? Well, at least the ZX isn't susceptible to the Stuxnet virus".
- Don Kinzer