Sixnet’s IPm evaluation kit helps demonstrate ideas

Sixnet reports that it’s offering an easy way for system integrators, OEMs, and end-users to test Linux IPm technology and their unique ideas.

By Control Engineering Staff June 3, 2004

Sixnet reports that it’s offering an easy way for system integrators, OEMs, and end-users to test Linux IPm technology and their unique ideas. The company’s IPm-Demo-1 is prewired and ready to plug in. Highlights include a VersaTrak IPm RTU; ST-MIX16880 combination I/O Module; and a 60-day software license. Sixnet says the convenient demo package allows users to try “the most open and flexible automation and control system in the world.” IPm-Demo-1 also comes with full Sixnet software.

The kit’s VersaTrak IPm RTU includes ISaGRAF IEC 61131-3 and open-source programming, as well as Ethernet, four serial ports, more than 32 Megabytes of fast memory, and a Linux-based industrial PowerPC. The combination I/O module, with its pre-wired screw terminal base, has a total of 16 discrete inputs, eight discrete outputs, and eight analog inputs. The unit has a 24 V dc industrial power supply and pre-attached ac line cord, along with pre-wired analog sensors and discrete switches for simulating inputs. All these components are packaged in a rugged, 14 x 12-in, NEMA 4X fiberglass enclosure.

Meanwhile, Sixnet’s I/O Tool Kit includes all options and is ready to configure and test systems. This includes datalogging, advanced I/O transfers, and exporting I/O definitions to preferred HMI/SCADA software. The IPm-Demo-1 also includes the IPm Application Development Kit (IADK), which allows users to write their own applications to run in the IPm RTU. A remote debugger is also provided to perform diagnostics from Linux.

—Jim Montague, news editor, Control Engineering, jmontague@reedbusiness.com

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