Many industrial automation control systems have extremely high responsiveness requirements or need to process large amounts of data, which ordinary PLCs struggle to handle. To meet system demands, continuous upgrades to the control platform are necessary, leading to escalating system costs. Using embedded technology, however, presents several drawbacks, including high skill requirements for technical personnel, long development cycles, system instability, and difficulties in project upgrades and changes.
A general-purpose PLC combined with special function modules effectively solves these problems. The PLC handles basic logic control, fully leveraging its advantages of simple development, short development cycles, easy adaptation to changing requirements, and reliable and stable products. For core functions and high-speed data requirements, embedded technology (ARM, DSP, FPGA) is used to develop dedicated special function modules with fixed functions and superior performance. This leverages the advantages of strong core technology confidentiality, difficulty in imitation, fast processing speed, and timely response. Furthermore, because embedded technology is used only for the development of specific control functions, it has lower complexity, shorter development cycles, and easier reliability assurance.