Develop it fast, test it as one, and secure it all

摘要

With software development time and effort now representing 50% or more of the machine building cost, engineers would do well to choose their platform with care. The right software package, coupled with the right automation products, can save money, save time, and deliver machines with vastly superior performance. The development picture for machines at all levels of sophistication has changed enormously in recent years, driven by increasingly demanding end user requirements, by stringent standards in areas such safety, and of course by the increasing capabilities of the automation components used around the machine, with a willingness to embrace technologies such as servos, vision systems, robotics and motion control to their fullest potential. As a result, where the software development, programming and configuration might once have been almost an afterthought - left to the end once all the 'real engineering' of the hardware design was done - today it has become an integral part of the machine development process right from the outset of the design. And it is a great enabler, with the best packages providing an integrated and human-centric approach to separate hardware disciplines that would once each have required separate centres of expertise within the development team.