Rockwell Automation
From SCADApedia
Rockwell Automation is a manufacturer of programmable controllers, management software and other applications and devices used in control systems. They are most famous for their Allen Bradley line of controllers.
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Corporate Information
Rockwell Automation is a NYSE listed company with 2006 annual sales exceeding US$5.5 billion and a corporate headquarters in Milwaukee Wisconsin. They are most famous for their Allen Bradley line of controllers which were first shipped in 1904.
The company has evolved through mergers, acquisitions and spin-offs. Rockwell International bought Allen-Bradley in 1985, and in 2001 Rockwell Automation was spun off as an independent company.
Over 80% of Rockwell Automation sales come from the Control Systems operating segment with the remainder coming from the Power System operating segment. The Control Systems operating segment is further divided in two groups:
- Components and Packaged Applications Group (CPAG) - Condition sensors, timers, relays, motor starters, and other instruments.
- Automation Control and Information Group (ACIG) - This is the group that is responsible for the Logix controllers and management software that is commonly seen in SCADA and DCS.
Rockwell Automation lists competitors for the ACIG as Emerson, Mitsubishi, Omron, Schneider Electric and Siemens as competitors for services and solution offerings.
Allen Bradley Controllers
The Allen Bradley line is broad and includes drives, sensing switches, motors, relays, voltage controls and a variety of other devices found in control systems. Allen Bradley model programmable controllers have been available for over thirty years and are widely deployed.
The older models are labeled as Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC's) and include:
- PLC-5
- SLC
- MicroLogix
- Pico
The newer models of programmable controllers are called Programmable Automation Controllers (PAC's) and are sold as the Logix family of products.
- ControlLogix
- CompactLogix
- DriveLogix
- FlexLogix
- SoftLogix
Rockwell Software
The Rockwell Software line of software applications includes simple applications to manage a single Allen Bradley controller to sophisticated asset and performance management systems. Below is an incomplete list and description of some of the more popular Rockwell Software applications.
- RSLinx is a communication application used by many of the other Rockwell Software applications, such as RSLogix, to communicate with Allen Bradley controllers.
- RSLogix is used to program and manage the Logix family of controllers as well as some of the older PLC and SLC families of controllers.
- FactoryTalk AssetCentre, formerly called RSMACC, is a centralized management solution for a system of deployed controllers. FactoryTalk AssetCentre provides granular authorization controls, asset management, configuration backup, change management, and detailed logging.
- FactoryTalk Security, formerly called RSAsset Security, offers a subset of FactoryTalk AssetCentre with the granular authorization controls and detailed logging but without the asset and change management.
The software listed above are not mutually exclusive. For example, the FactoryTalk AssetCentre contains code from RSLinx, RSLogix, FactoryTalk Security.
Rockwell Automation is in the process of renaming a lot of the products under the FactoryTalk brand so many of the product names could change in 2007.
