Press Release

Although proprietary controllers have primarily been used in the shipbuilding industry until now, there is increasing demand for open, integrable controllers in view of the cost pressures in international competition.

Beckhoff offers scalable control technology for shipbuilding, ranging from Industrial PCs and Embedded PCs to the small controller with integrated interface to the I/O level. The Beckhoff Bus Terminal system enables the integration of sensors and actuators in all systems of a ship. Over 400 different Bus Terminals cover the complete range of signal types. Bus Couplers are available for all relevant bus systems for the open and bus-neutral I/O system, from Ethernet and EtherCAT to PROFIBUS.

A further advantage of the Beckhoff solution is the modular and compact design: with Beckhoff Embedded PCs and Bus Terminals, the space requirements in terminal boxes or control cabinets can be significantly reduced.

Beckhoff Control Panels, which are designed for industrial use, can be used flexibly in shipbuilding as operating and display elements: on cruise ships, e.g. for the room operation of a cabin, or in the control room or engine room as a robust operating panel.

The software basis for the PC-based controller is the TwinCAT automation suite, which integrates PLC, measuring technology and Condition Monitoring functions in one package. The connection to higher-level process control systems is ensured via communication standards such as Ethernet and OPC.