Intel has embedded solution for industrial systems

The system builds on the trend for system consolidation – instead of having several devices per machine, like data acquisition, HMI, vision, motion control etc, they are now consolidated into a single computing devices. Intel has reflected this trend within its System Consolidation Series, which will be available in Q2 2014. Jim Robinson, product manager of Intel's Internet of Things solutions group, commented: "It strips out complexity. It comes pre-validated and all the engineer needs to do worry about is loading applications on top." The platform will be offered with hardware and software in development and production kits, both including industrial PC. The development kit is backed by Wind River's Workbench pre-configured software stack and the production kits include per-unit licensing. A silicon and software only production kit will be made available later in the year. Robinson continued: "This platform is application ready and it reduces BOM, allows smaller footprint for equipment, lower complexity of integration across the factory; it is secure and there are fewer devices to manage and is reliable as there are fewer points of failure." The benefits of this 'app-ready' platform, says Intel, include an estimated six to nine months development work.