Maxim PLC Development Platform Announces 'Pocket IO' to Maximize Industry 4.0 Productivity
Improving traditional manufacturing with real-time intelligence, adaptive manufacturing, and distributed control.

Maxim Integrated Products Korea (CEO Kim Hyun-sik) announced the Pocket IO programmable logic controller (PLC) development platform, designed to maximize manufacturing productivity in Industry 4.0 applications. With Maxim Pocket IO, customers can achieve maximum power efficiency.

Industry 4.0, once hailed as a future trend, has now become a core strategic and research agenda for many companies. According to a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), 35% of companies adopting Industry 4.0 expect to see revenue increase by more than 20% over the next five years.

However, "productivity loss" becomes a concern when designing for Industry 4.0, which requires 24/7 operation of manufacturing lines. Furthermore, intelligent data is essential for factory operators to make informed, real-time decisions that significantly improve uptime, revenue, and gross margins. Furthermore, PLCs must operate fanless due to harsh industrial conditions, necessitating highly efficient power solutions to minimize heat dissipation.

Maxim's Pocket IO PLC development platform redefines how traditional factories operate and enables Industry 4.0 applications.

It processes data quickly and provides real-time intelligence to enable quick, effective decisions to maximize productivity. Adaptive manufacturing, which allows for real-time changes and adjustments, prevents potential downtime. Furthermore, its ultra-compact footprint of less than 10 cubic inches and smart energy consumption reduce the size of PLCs on the manufacturing line and support intelligent control redistribution and redundancy.

Pocket IO offers a 2.5x smaller form factor and 30% lower power consumption than the Micro PLC platform released two years ago. Pocket IO utilizes a patent-pending, fast, and safe magnetic removal clamp within the MAX14913, an 8-channel high-side switch/driver, eliminating 16 diodes from the previous version, resulting in a 15x space savings.

The MAX17681 isolated buck converter reduces power loss by more than 30% while achieving 90% higher power efficiency than previous versions. The MAX31913 8-channel digital-to-analog converter/deserializer operates from a 5V supply alone, accepting input signals up to 36V, and eliminates all necessary protection components on the 24V supply pin, reducing the total footprint by up to 50%.

“Maxim is paving the way for Industry 4.0 with its strong IP portfolio and long history of analog integration expertise,” said Jeff DeAngelis, director of business management at Maxim Integrated. “Pocket IO provides designers with a development platform that demonstrates Maxim’s complete industrial communications and power capabilities, including the powerful IO-Link smart sensor technology.”

The MAXREFDES150# Pocket IO PLC reference design is available for $499, including an attach board, IO-Link protocol stack, cables, and a power supply. Schematics, layout files, and firmware are available immediately and free of charge. Pocket IO consists of 30 IOs featuring powerful functionality and diagnostic capabilities, including analog I/O, digital I/O, IO-Link, and motion control. Visit the Maxim website for detailed information about Pocket IO, videos, a list of key products within the Pocket IO family, and other reference designs.

Maxim will showcase its Pocket IO PLC development platform and Industry 4.0 solutions at electronica 2016, held in Munich, Germany, from November 8th to 11th. The Maxim booth will be located at Stand 279 in Hall A4. For more information, visit the Maxim website.