High speed and high performance

The FBs-PLC’s design incorporates a “System on Chips”(SoC) developed in-house by Fatek Corporation. The chip consists of over 120,000 gates which integrates powerful features such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), hardware logic processor, five high-speed communication ports, four sets of hardware high-speed counter / timers, four axes of high speed pulse outputs for NC positioning control (with linear interpolation or dynamic tracking) high speed interrupts, and high speed captured inputs. The FBs represents high functionally and reliability with exceptional value compared to other PLC’s in its class.

User friendly and powerful instruction sets

The FBs-PLC has more than 300 instructions which adopts a user friendly and readable multi-input multi-output function structure. As shown, in the left figure, with one instruction three inputs can derive three types of output functions which other brands of PLC’s may require the use of many instructions to achieve this. Also the operation result can be directly sent to internal or external outputs. To increase the program readability, the inputs or outputs for each function instruction have their own mnemonic symbol attached and the content of each operand is also displayed. For high-end applications, such as PLC networking (LINK), PID control and NC positioning etc, the FBs-PLC provides dedicated convenient instructions to assist in program development.

Communication function (up to 5 ports including RS232, RS485, USB & Ethernet )

Via the five high-speed communication ports included in the SoC, the FBs-PlC’s communication capability is outstanding with all five ports operating at a maximum speed of 921.6Kbps. Communication can be achieved using ASCII code or the double-speed binary code. Along with FATEK’s standard protocol, Modbus ASCII/RTU/TCP or user-definable protocol are also available. The FBs-PLC also provides the option of six different communication boards and eight different communication modules for various types of communication applications. With their high speed and functionality the FBs-PLC has the greatest number of communication ports than any other PLC in its class. Each communication port comes standard with LED indicators for transmission (TX) and reception (Rx) to enable the user to monitor the operation.

Integrated high-speed counters with counting frequency up to 920 KHz

The FBs-PLC as standard has up to 4 sets of hardware high-speed counters (HHSC) and 4 sets of software high-speed counters (SHSC). The highest counting frequency of a HHSC is 120KHz (MC) or 920KHz (MN). Each HHSC also has a clear and mask function. There are 8 counting modes including U/D, U/Dx2, K/R, K/Rx2, A/B, A/Bx2, A/Bx3 and A/Bx4 which makes the HHSC very powerful and efficient. For example, if the encoder, running at 200 pulses per revolution, adopts A/Bx4 mode the FBs PLC can achieve the same result that a 800 pulses per revolution encoder can provide. The counter is implemented in the hardware so as not to occupy CPU processing time.

NC Control & PLC in one and special NC Position Language

NC Position Control is incorporated into the SoC of the FBs-PLC which integrates PLC+NC control into one unit in order for resources sharing and reducing the need of data exchange. The NC position control adopts special positioning command language, which allows programming by mechanical or electrical units and changing control parameters during execution. One single unit has up to four axes outputs with a maximum frequency of 120KHz (MC) or 920KHz (MN) and equipped with multi-axial linear interpolation and dynamic tracking. If combined with the four sets of built-in HHSC, it can achieve positioning control with closed loop precision.

Up to 4 sets of high-speed pulse width modulation (HSPWM) output

The SoC inside the FBs-PLC incorporates four sets of hardware high-speed pulse width modulation outputs with a maximum frequency of 184.32KHz and 18.432KHz with resolutions of 1% and 0.1%, respectively. Different from the PWM function operated by software alone in other brands of PLC, the hardware driven high-speed PWM in the FBs-PLC operates with high precision and stability which provides the user easy control with precise accuracy.

High speed timers (HST)

The FBs-PLC is the only PLC in this class providing 0.1mS high-speed timers (the FBs-PLC having one 16-bit and 4 sets of 32-bit HST). Currently, the fastest time base of high speed timers used in other brands of PLC’s is 1mS. By incorporating the interrupt function of the FBs PLC the accuracy of 0.1mS time base high-speed timer of FBs-PLC is further enhanced and can easily achieve more precise speed detection or can be used as a frequency meter. In most cases, expensive speed detection equipment can be replaced by the economical FBs PLC.

Single unit with 16 points of high-speed interrupts

The FBs-PLC provides 16 points of external interrupts. The interrupt is edge driven and the user can define which edge triggers the interrupt and can be positive, negative or both edges. The interrupts can perform high speed, emergency processing which can withstand the time jilter caused by the delay and deviation of the scan time and can be used precision high speed positioning, machine home and high speed RPM measurement applications.

Up to 36 point captured inputs

The SoC in the FBs-PLC has a capture input function, which captures and stores the external pulse of an input shorter than the scanning time of the CPU. Compared to PLC’s in this class that either lack this capability or require highly sophisticated interrupt functions (which increase the CPU processing time), the FBs-PLC can handle this task easily as a general input, easily configured with high efficiency and no detriment to the CPU scan time.

Complete range of peripherals

In addition to the 204 models of main CPU units, the FBs-PLC also provides 65 models of expansion I/O for selection. The expansion I/O modules include basic DI/O and AI/O, 7/16-segment LED display module, 8 types (J,K,R,S,E,T,B,N) thermocouple, Pt100, Pt1000 RTD temperature measurement modules. The FBs-PLC also provides a FB-DAP LCD data access panel which can be linked together with a single RS485 bus. The FB-DAP can be a simple Timer/Counter editor or it can also be used as a simple human machine interface through the function of user definable keys and message display. The FB-DAP can be equipped with a wireless RFID sensing module and can be applied to such applications as entrance control, parking equipment and elevator control amongst others.

Open communication driver

The open communication protocol of the FBs-PLC is supported by all major brands of graphic supervisory software (SCADA) and leading brands of human-machine interfaces and can be directly connected with the FBs-PLC via serial and Ethernet interface. FATEK also provides Modbus protocol and FATEK DDE standard communication server software for the user to easily connect the FBs-PLC to various control or supervisory systems.

User-friendly operating environment

“WinProladder” is the Windows-based ladder diagram programming software for the FBs-PLC. It provides a user-friendly operating environment with editing, monitoring and debugging functions, which allows the user to become familiar with the operation of the software in a very short time. The powerful editing function of WinProladder, assisted with Keyboard, mouse and on-line help (of ladder instructions and operating guide) greatly reduces programming development time. Features which can displays the data registers directly in the ladder diagram and provide multiple status pages for monitoring gives the users the ability to monitor and debug easily.