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InsideMachines:PCversusPLC:Comparingcontroloptions
TochoosebetweenaPLCorPC,analyzeandcomparecharacteristicsthatcoulddifferentiatethetwotechnologies,suchas
operation,robustness,serviceability,hardwareintegration,security,safety,programming,andcost.Graphicsillustratesomekey
considerations.
PhillipLipson,GeertvanderZalm,BoschRexrothCorp.

05/11/2011

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Oneofthemostcrucialdecisionsintheinitialdesignphaseofamachineisthe
selectionofthecontrolsystem.Sinceprogrammablelogiccontrollers(PLCs)were
firstintroducedinthe1970s,theyhavedominatedtheprocessandautomation
markets.Foryears,thePLChasledthewayforadvancesinmachineautomation
control.Fromsmallcontrolsusedintheautomotiveindustrytolargescale
controllersrunningentirefactories,thePLCwastheprimarycontrollerofchoice.
However,startingfromtheearly1990s,thePChasbeensuccessfullyworkingits
wayintothosemarketsasprocessorspeedandrangeincreases,andthecostof
thosecomponentsdecreases.ThenumberofapplicationsusingaPCisonthe
rise,causinganaccelerateddevelopmentthatblursthelinebetweenthetwo
technologies.Tenyearsago,decidingwhattypeofcontrollertousemighthave
beenaclearchoicetoday,thatisnolongerthecase.
ThePLCwasdevelopedasamorestreamlined,flexible,andreliablealternativeto
switchboxesandrelaypanels.Itwasdedicatedonlytospecifictasksinthefactory,and
itslanguageandstructureweremodeledaroundtheswitchesandrelaypanelcircuitsit
wasreplacing.Furthermore,ithadtomaintainitsrobustnessandconsistent
performanceinchallengingenvironmentsthatcontainedrelativelyhighlevelsof
electromagneticinterference(EMI),contamination,andvibration.Astimepassed,the
PLCevolvedtoincludethecapabilitiesofmotioncontrol,advancedproportionalintegral
derivativePIDprocesscontrol,andintegratedsafety,whilealsoadoptingsomePC
features,suchasawebserverandnetworkingutilities.
ThePC,ontheotherhand,servedahigherlevelroleinthescopeofthemachine.Itwas
usedprimarilyforcomplexcalculations,monitoring,measuring,andfactorynetworking
aswellasauserinterfacetothePLC.Itwasusuallyhousedinamoreenvironmentally
controlledlocationbecauseitcouldntoperateasreliablyasaPLCinharshfactory
conditions.
ThePCeventuallyevolvedtoincludePLCfunctionality,whilestillcontainingitscore
capabilities.Also,thePChasbecomeamorerobustcontroller,allowingittooperatein
theharshenvironmentswhereonceonlyPLCscouldoperate.Furtherconvergenceof
thetechnologiesisevidentinananalysisoftheircontrolarchitectures.Withtheaddition
ofaPCIcard,hardwaredrivers,andsoftware,aPCcanserveasaPLC.Furthermore,
theadditionofarealtimekernelcanenablethePCtosupportmorecriticaltaskingand
controlalgorithms.Ontheotherhand,therearePLCswithabuiltinPCthatonlyrequire
akeyboardandmousetogetstarted.
So,howdoesonechoosebetweenPLCorPCbasedarchitecture?Tosimplifythedecisionmakingprocess,itisimportantto
firstanalyzeandcomparedifferentiatingcharacteristics.Sevenmajorareastoconsiderare:
Operation
Robustness
Serviceability
Hardwareintegration
Security
Safety
Programming
Operation
Whenanalyzingsystemoperation,focusonhowthesystemwillrunandhowinstructionsandtasksareprocessed.The
standardPLChasanembeddedrealtimeoperatingsystem(RTOS)withadedicatedprocessorthatensuresahighdegreeof
controlsystemreliability.Furthermore,sincethePLChandlesonlyautomationand/oraprocess,itdoesnotneedtorunother
utilities,suchasantivirusprogramsorsystemupdates.
APCwitharealtimekernelorrealtimeoperatingsystem(OS)canaccomplishthesamereliabilityofcontrolasaPLC.From
earlierexperienceswithPCsathomeandintheoffice,usersmightbewaryoflockupsofthePC(thesocalledblue
screens).However,theselockupscouldoccuronanyOS,includingaPLC,iftheOSsoftwareisnothandlingpriorities
properly.Forindustrialuse,thesoftwarerunningthePCisdedicatedtoautomationandwillthereforehaveaminimalchanceof
lockups.Evenifalockupwouldoccur,therealtimekernelisnotaffectedandcontinuesoperation.

Realtimeoperationisarelativeconceptthatmeansanytaskisguaranteedtobehandledwithinacertaintime.Synchronized
motionand/oradvancedPIDcontrolrequiresahighlevelofrealtimedeterminism,whilenoncriticalsupervisorycontroller
operations,suchasmonitoringerrormessagesorsendingnoncriticalcontrollercommandsorqueries,wouldnot.
Robustness
Robustnessofthecontrollerreferstoitsdurabilityinvariousenvironments.ThestandardofftheshelfPLChasnomoving
parts,soitcanwithstandharshenvironmentsformillionsofcycles.AstandardPCcontainsmovingparts,suchasfansorhard
diskdrives,andislesssuitableforenvironmentswithhighvibrationlevels.
However,industrialPCs(IPCs)offeroptionssuchassolidstatedrives,fanlesscooling,andincabinetmounting.These
optionsmakeaPCjustasdurableasaPLC,abletowithstandthetoughestindustrialorenvironmentalconditions.PLCsand
PCshaveconvergedinthisarea,butthePCrequiresadditionaloptionstoequalastandardPLC.
Serviceability
Anotherfactortoconsideristheeaseandcostofserviceability,whichcanbemeasuredbytherepairandreplacementcosts
overthelifeofthecontroller.ForaPLC,externaldevicescanbereplacedwitheasewhilethesystemisinoperation.Moreover,
thePLCscompactmodulardesignmakesreplacingtheactualcontrolleraneasyjob.Thissavescostbecauseitreduces
machinedowntime.ItsalsopossibletoperformahotswapwithaPC,butonlyforUSBorotherexternalperipheraldevices.If
thePChasamoremodulardesign,suchasarackorpanelmountsystem,replacementtimeisclosertothatofaPLC.
Itishelpfultobeabletoeffortlesslychangeoutasystemoritscomponentsandhavearesourcepoolofreplacementparts
withlongtermavailability.Insomeindustries,copyexactpoliciesrequirethislongtermavailability.Itiseasiertoimplement
copyexactwithaPLCsincethehardwareandfirmwaredontchangeasrapidlyasforaPC.TryingtofindpartsforaPC(even
afterayearortwo)canbemorechallengingthanforaPLC.(Askthevendoraboutsuchpolicies,availabilities,andcosts.)
Hardwareintegration
Everyengineerappreciatesawidechoiceofoptionswhenselectingcontrolsystemhardware,sincethereisalwaysaneedfor
itemssuchasadditionalperipherals,memory,andauserinterface.BoththePLCandPChavetheabilitytocontrolamultitude
ofdevicesusingindustrialcommunicationnetworks.SomeofthewellknownnetworksareSERCOS,Profibus,DeviceNet,and
CANbus,aswellastheirEthernetbasedcounterpartssuchasSERCOSIII,Profinet,EtherNet/IP,andEtherCAT.
AlthoughthePLCandPCcanofferanarrayoffieldbusoptions,thePLChasmanyoftheseoptionsbuiltin,whereasPCsand
someIPCsneedadditionalcardsanddriverstoprovideacomparableoffering.However,besidesthetypicalfieldbusnetworks,
thePCisequippedwithamoreopenandflexiblearrayofinterfaces,suchasUSB,FireWire,serial,wirelessEthernet,etc.
ThisgivestheuseraccesstomoreofftheshelfdevicestohandletasksthataPLCusuallycouldnothandle,suchasan
advancedhighresolutionimagingsystem,wheretheimageswouldbestored,analyzed,compared,andpossiblyarchived.A
PCwouldbewellsuitedforthisadvancedtaskbecauseoftheamountofmemoryrequiredaPLCwouldhavelimitedstorage
andprocessingcapabilities.
Forsomeapplications,theuserinterfaceisacrucialmachinecomponent.ThePChasabuiltinuserinterface,whilethePLC
wouldneedoneorallofthefollowingforprimaryoperation:switches,operatorpanel(s),oranindustrialPC.SowhilethePLC
caninterfacewithdevicesoverfieldbusandperformcomplexoperations,itstillneedsaPCtohandlememorydemanding
tasksandmakeconnectionstootherdevicesinthesystem.
Security
Securitymainlydealswithprotectingthefilesystemandapplication.Thishastwoaspects:preventingunauthorizedaccess
fromtheoutsideworld(suchasvirusattacks,malware,etc.)andlimitinguseraccess(suchasrestrictinguserrights,hiding
files,etc.).
Traditionally,aPLCislessexposedtounauthorizedaccessfromtheoutsideworld.BecauseofitsdedicatedOS,thereare
veryfewknowninstancesofvirusattacksonPLCs.However,thisdoesnotmeanthatPLCsareimmunetoviruses.Since
PLCshaveenjoyedavirusfreestatusforyears,therearenostandardwaysofdetectingandeliminatingavirusifitwereto
occur.AlthoughthePCisfarmoresusceptibletovirusattacksthanaPLC,strictsecuritymeasurescanbeinvokedto
significantlyreducepotentialthreats,andstandardsoftwareisavailabletodetectandremoveviruses.PLCsandPCsoffer
differentlevelsofuseraccesstokeepthecontentsassecureorasopenasdesired.
Safety
Dependingontheoperatingenvironment,safetycanbeamajorconcernfortheuser.Itisvitalincaseswherehuman
interactionwiththemachinecouldbepotentiallydangerousandwhensafetystandardsinasemiconductorfabricationfacility
orotherfactoryarecrucialtomachineacceptance.
ThePLChasalonghistoryinmachineautomation,designatedcommunicationchannelstoslavedevicestotightlymonitor
operation,andoptionalintegratedcircuitsforredundancies.IntegratedsafetyhasonlyrecentlybecomeavailableonsomePC
basedplatforms.
Programming
Devicefunctionalityisonlyasgoodastheprogramrunningonit.Therefore,theprogrammingenvironmentandlanguageare
crucialtooptimalmachineperformance.OnemaindifferencebetweenPLCandPCbasedsolutionsishowthecodeis
executed.APLCmixesscanbasedandeventdrivenprogramexecution,whereasPCsoftwareistypicallyeventdriven.The
scanbasedexecutionofaPLCprogrammighttakelongerbecausethesystemneedstocompletethehigherpriorityactionsin
thecyclefirst.Thedifferenceinexecutionstylerequiresadifferentprogrammingphilosophy,andoftenusersarecommittedto
eitheroneortheother.
Thesameholdsfortheprogramminglanguage:PLCsareprogrammedusinglanguagesspecifiedinIEC611313(ladder
logic,instructionlist,etc.),orproprietaryvendorlanguages.PCbasedcontrolscanuseprogramminglanguagessuchas
C/C++/.NET.
Costdiscussions
Afteranalyzingthetechnicalrequirementsandcomparingthedesignoptionsforyourmachine,onemoretopicneedstobe
considered:cost.ManyapplicationscanbesolvedbyeitheraPCbasedorPLCbasedsolution,butforsomeapplications,the
costofthosesolutionscandifferwidely.AcomparisonoftherelativecostofPCandPLCbasedarchitecturescentersonfour
areas:performance,expandability,environment,anddevelopmenteffort.

Whenacontrolsystemmustfulfilldemandingcalculations,handlecomplexnetworkloads,andprocessalotofdata,aPC
basedsolutionmaybemorecosteffective.TheinitialcostofaPCmightbehigher,butitprovidesaverypowerfulsystemand
thecostonlyincreasesincrementallywhenmoreperformanceisrequired.PLCs,however,typicallystartatalowerpricepoint
andcangetmoreexpensivethanaPCwhenhighperformanceisneeded(Figure1).

Expandabilityisthecapabilityofyourcontrolsystemtoaddperipherals,increasecalculationpower,oradddatastorage.
Whennoadditionalfunctionsareneededandexpandabilityislow,PCstendtohaveahighercostthanPLCs,butPCcost
doesnotincreasemuchwhenincreasingexpandability.ThecostofaPLCistypicallylowerforapplicationswheretheseitems
arenotimportantbecauseoftheoptimizednatureofPLCs,butthecostrampsupsteeplywhenalotofadditionaldevicesare
needed(Figure2).

ThestandardPLCwasdesignedtowithstandtheharshoperatingenvironmentinanindustrialfactorysetting.Itisnosurprise
thatthestandardPLCcostsmuchlesstooperateinroughenvironmentscomparedtothePC.Addingcomponentstomakea
PCmorerobustsignificantlyincreasesthecost(Figure3).

Softwaredevelopmenttimecanaddsignificantcosttoamachinedesignproject,butitoftenremainshiddenwheninitially
selectingthecontrolsystem.Ifthisisthefirsttimetheparticularcontrolsystemisapplied,onecaneithertakethetimetolearn
thenewproductorhireathirdpartywithknowledgeoftheproducttohelpintegratethenewsystem.
WithaPLCthatusesacommonformatsuchasIEC611313,chancesarethatevenifoneisnotfamiliarwiththelanguage
used,thereisalargeresourcepoolofthosewhoare.Moreover,thisplatformhasseveralbuiltinfunctionsthatarereadyto
integrateandsolvecertainproblemsquickly.Therefore,thePLCcansometimesbealessexpensiveoptionthanaPCbased
controllerforthosewhoarefirsttimeorintermediateusers:thedevelopmenttime(orcost)decreasesastheleveland
knowledgebaseoftheuserincreases(Figure4).
Withextensiveexpertiseandintimateknowledgeofthesystem,therewillbelittleornocostdifferencebetweenaPCorPLC
basedsolution.
PhillipLipsonandGeertvanderZalmareapplicationsengineersatBoschRexrothCorp.,HoffmanEstates,IL.
Lookingformoreinformationoncontroloptions?ReadthesefeaturesfromControlEngineering:

COVERSTORY:BalancingPLCs,PACs,IPCs
HowtoChooseaController
IEC611313,CoDeSysstandardizelogicprogramming
IntegratedControllersGrowinPower
DNAlevelmachinedesign
UsePCbasedcontrol,notPLCshere'swhy
Upgrade:PLCintegrationengineeringimprovesmachinebuilderoptions

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