SNAP-PAC-R1-W OPTO 22, SNAP-PAC-R1-W Datasheet - Page 4

• Manufacturer Part Number: SNAP-PAC-R1-W
• Description: Programmable Controller Wireless
• Manufacturer: OPTO 22

Specifications of SNAP-PAC-R1-W

• Accessory Type: Programmable Automation Communication
• Signal Input Type: Ethernet, RS-232
• Rohs Compliant: Yes
• For Use With: SNAP PAC System
• Lead Free Status / RoHS Status: Lead free / RoHS Compliant

Wireless PACs and I/O in Industrial Automation
Full Range of Wireless I/O and Reduced Number
of Wireless Components
From the automation engineer’s viewpoint, a separate product line for
wireless—or a subset of the normal wired product line—is difficult to
work with. But being able to use the same I/O components in both
wired and wireless networks would save time and money during
design, implementation, and use.
•
•
•
In addition, wireless would be considerably more attractive if
manufacturers required fewer wireless components overall. Both
initial system costs and the cost for stocking spares would be lower.
Wired and Wireless Support in Controllers and I/O
For real flexibility, wireless controllers and I/O should support both
wired and wireless communication, just like a laptop computer. If they
can be used either wired or wirelessly—or, even better, both at the
same time—difficult network decisions won’t have to be made at the
beginning of a project. If an engineer designs a project using wireless
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In the design phase, the engineer could specify I/O with
confidence, knowing that he could use any I/O in the product line
and that it would work with either network.
During implementation, the same methods and costs for install-
ing I/O and wiring to field devices would apply to both networks;
there would be no need to retrain technicians. If communication is
changed from wireless to wired at any time in the project, no
additional costs would be incurred for I/O or field wiring.
During system use, just one set of spares would need to be
stocked for maintenance, even if both wireless and wired I/O
were in place.
technology and then discovers a wired network would be better, he
can still use the same hardware.
Adding a wireless interface to wired controllers and I/O also offers new
options for segmenting networks. For example, critical I/O and
controller traffic could use the wired network interface, while less
critical maintenance, troubleshooting, or local HMI tasks could be
done wirelessly with a similarly configured laptop computer.
As in a laptop computer, the functions available in the controller and
I/O should remain the same, no matter which network is being used.
Only the physical medium would be different, so all I/O features and
supported protocols would be the same.
Even software would not have to change. Because control and HMI
programs would run on wired and wireless networks with no
modification, there would be no additional cost involved for licensing,
training, programming, and maintenance.
One Manufacturer’s Response
One automation manufacturer who has incorporated
many of these solutions into its wireless offering is
Opto 22. The company recently added wireless
capability to its SNAP PAC System
distributed system suitable for industrial automation,
remote monitoring, and data acquisition—and to its
SNAP I/O
Allen-Bradley® Logix PLCs and PC-based control
systems.
•
In Opto 22’s SNAP PAC System, control is distributed
among programmable automation controllers
(PACs) and intelligent remote I/O processors (called
™
, which can also be used as remote I/O with
Support both wired
and wireless, like a
laptop computer
™
—an intelligent,