ASAP launches ASIC-300 software

A new family of scalable, distributed control object software for Windows NT and CE environments, ASIC-300, was unveiled by ASAP (Chagrin Falls, O.) during a March 17 press conference at NMW.Real-time control engines run on a variety of hardware from an embedded, diskless single-board computer with less than 4 MB of RAM to an NT workstation.

By Staff April 1, 1998

A new family of scalable, distributed control object software for Windows NT and CE environments, ASIC-300, was unveiled by ASAP (Chagrin Falls, O.) during a March 17 press conference at NMW.

Real-time control engines run on a variety of hardware from an embedded, diskless single-board computer with less than 4 MB of RAM to an NT workstation. Unlike the single application of a proprietary PLC control, ASIC-300’s control engines employ reusable control objects. Drag-and-drop editing of the objects permits users to modify control engines, adapt them for use on other machines, and distribute them via Ethernet across the plant floor.

In addition, ASAP announced its support for Phar Lap Software’s (Cambridge, Mass.) Realtime ETS Kernel, a hard real-time kernel compatible with Win32 environments, such as Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 95. ASAP uses the Realtime ETS Kernel as its embedded real-time operating system (RTOS) for the ASIC-300 line. The Phar Lap RTOS provides an alternative to Windows NT with real-time extensions. Like WinNT, the Realtime ETS Kernel is a multitasking

RTOS compatible with Win32 tools, such as Microsoft Visual C++. Unlike Windows NT, it’s hard real-time, scalable and low-cost. [See this issue’s cover story, p. 54, for more on real-time operating system strategies.]

For more information, for ASAP, for Phar Lap Software, visit www.controleng.com/info .