What Is an Industrial Computer?
An industrial computer is a specialized computing device tailored for specific tasks or purposes in various industrial fields, including factory operations, equipment control, and medical equipment. Unlike general-purpose personal computers, industrial computers are built for high durability and reliability, essential for long hours of operation in challenging environments.
These computers offer long-term stable supply and maintenance, making them vital in advancing industrial development.
Uses of Industrial Computers
Industrial computers serve a wide range of functions:
1. Manufacturing Industry
They are crucial in controlling manufacturing lines, ensuring quality control, and managing production planning and inventory. In the automotive and semiconductor industries, they operate robots and machinery with precision and detect product defects.
2. Medical and Welfare
These computers process data for medical equipment, generating and analyzing high-speed, high-precision images in diagnostic imaging tools like MRI and CT scanners. They also monitor patient vitals and manage treatment in life-support devices.
3. Transportation and Logistics
Industrial computers streamline operations in public transportation and logistics facilities, handling tasks from scheduling to safety assurance and optimizing warehouse management.
Principles of Industrial Computers
Industrial computers are designed to endure harsh conditions like high temperatures, vibration, and dust. They emphasize reliability and maintainability for long-term stable operation. They consist of both hardware and software components designed for industrial environments:
1. Hardware
Their hardware features high durability, reliability, expandability, and environmental performance.
2. Software
Software aspects focus on reliability, resistance to bugs and viruses, ease of maintenance, and usability.
Other Information on Industrial Computers
Price of Industrial Computers
As industrial computers become more integrated into IoT and M2M technologies, their application fields are expanding. However, the cost of implementation can be a concern. Here, we provide reference prices for different types of industrial computers, but actual prices can vary based on specific applications.
Examples include high-performance PCs for medical image viewing (~1,000,000 Yen), simulation PCs (~ ¥800,000) with significant memory and CPU capacity, and servers/data registration machines (~400,000 Yen) for factory networks.