CNC users have long faced challenges with the most popular hardware platforms, largely because new hardware must retain some degree of interface and hardware compatibility with legacy systems,

even as new capabilities and features are grafted on. The industrial PC platform has an inherent plug-and-play advantage in robustness and scalability. Built for life on the shop floor, the new controls have no moving parts, no fan or hard disc—the two most common failure modes in earlier controls. As you’d expect on a PC, the new controls have Ethernet ports and fully functional USB 2.0 ports to enable drip-feeding a part program from an external drive. PC control platforms are customizable, and can be user-upgraded from mild to wild as machining requirements change.

An owner who purchases a general- purpose control for standard machining can upgrade to a twin-CPU mold/die package with plug-in components. Specially-designed portals on the new controls make it easy to seamlessly integrate state-of-the-art third-party tools, such as a digital scanner or part probes and verification software.

Even the flash memory recommended for expansion works with the control’s software, which writes data in different areas of the card all the time to enhance life and reliability. The use of commercially available memory cards is a real cost advantage for mold shops where part programs are often quite large.