All connections at the front

New from Efco Electronics, one of the leading manufacturers of fanless industrial PCs for machine vision, automation and AI, are two industrial computers designed for direct DIN rail mounting. All connections of the IPCs, which are based on the proven Eagle Eyes platform, are located on the front of the device. While the high-end AIHD version is primarily designed for demanding vision applications, the smaller AIMD version is aimed at HMI and industrial automation. Both models offer the proven 16 digital IOs as well as an extended temperature range of -25 to 50° C; optionally up to +70° C.

"All connections, access to the backup battery for the real-time clock and the hard disk slot are easily accessible on the front of the low-maintenance industrial PCs," explains Helmut Artmeier, Managing Director of Efco Electronics GmbH, based in Deggendorf. As the cabling is purely from the front, the computers can be easily installed on the top-hat rail.

The design is fanless; the side parts of the housing made of a special aluminum alloy function as additional heat sinks. Equipped with a wide-range input, the Eagle-Eyes top-hat rail IPCs can cope with supply voltages from 9 to 36 VDC. The integrated overvoltage protection effectively protects the computers from interference pulses on the supply network.

Designed for long-term availability, the computers offer a wide range of industrial interfaces (e.g. also RS-485), numerous USB3.0 and GbE interfaces with PoE as well as 16 digital I/Os. These can be integrated directly into high-level language programming via API; a fully documented example with source code is included with every computer. The function assignment of the indicator LEDs and the small display can also be set via API.

Disk RAID 0/1/5 is also supported, as is Multi-Stream Transport (MST): up to three monitors with different image content can be operated on one display port. In this case, the cable is simply looped through, which significantly simplifies internal cabling in compact devices or complex machines. The hardware can be expanded according to customer requirements via PCIe / Mini-PCIe / mSATA and two SIM push-push slots.

A Windows 11 operating system is usually used on the Eagle-Eyes IPCs. Efco can also take care of licensing or install an image provided by the customer on delivery to shorten or simplify commissioning at a later date. Customer-specific configurations or housing solutions can also be implemented.