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Analog: Accuracy is expensive, Resolution is cheapOne of the most common misconceptions we see is the belief that high resolution in an analog measurement is the same as high accuracy. That is simply not so. For example, you might buy a thermistor that is accurate to ±2°C and use it ...
Copyright © 1996-2011 SPLat Controls Pty Ltd

VM = Virtual Machine. This is a technology that lets us create a virtual processor as a program running in a real processor. The virtual processor is optimized for controller applications. Because of that it is very much easier (cheaper) to write control programs than if we were programming in a general purpose language. The end result is faster results that are more reliable and cost you less. In effect we have done much of the hard work in advance, as a reusable asset.

SPLat is a controller product, maybe the only controller product, that has been developed specifically with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in mind. If you are an OEM, i.e. you make a product in some quantity (be it 5 at a time or 5,000 at a time) that needs an electronic control function, then you may find SPLat is a much better fit for your needs than any other product on the market.

One of our customers' most frequent comments is "Gee, your boards are so reliable!". We always feel a little surprised, because we don't actually know how to make bad boards. If one of our boards fails (it can happen), we always analyze the failure to find out if there is anything we can do to avoid future failures. Sometimes than means tightening up a test or inspection procedure, sometime it means stomping on a component supplier. But we always take it to heart. We make a good solid product, and that's a matter of pride for us.

There are two main reasons we don't work through distributors (with some minor exceptions).

  1. The support we provide customers can only be delivered by one of our engineers, directly to the customer. When you partner with us you will have access to one of the actual product designers.
  2. Cutting out the middle man saves you money.

NRE = Non Recurring Engineering costs

This is the one-time initial cost of getting a product going.

SPLat cuts down NRE for you in several ways:

Imagine if you are developing a new product. For your Proof of Concept and prototype units you use a convenient off the shelf control solution, maybe a regular PLC or PC104 boards. Then, when it's time to move into production you decide the initial control is going to cost far too much in volume production. So now you have to get a custom control made and you will have to pay to have it programmed from the ground up.

With SPLat that won't happen. Say you use our rapid prototyping products for your prototypes. They are quick and easy to program (do it yourself or have us do it for you). Then, when you get into production and require a custom SPLat, the prototype program will work with a few minor adjustments. The bulk of your programming investment is preserved.

SPLat assists with time to market in several ways:

Our controls are generally supplied as bare printed circuit boards, intended for "tight integration" into a your product. If you are using one of our off the shelf rapid prototyping products, we have some innovative ideas to help you make it blend seamlessly into the look and feel of your own product. If you have a custom SPLat made (which is surprisingly economical for a few hundred), the form factor and feature set will be tailored to your exact needs.

The controller illustrated is a generic HVAC controller we made as a demonstration of some of the possibilities in that field. So while it may look rather boring, it can get HVAC makers quite excited. It illustrates very well some of the seemingly simple measures that can add huge value and yet are inaccessible to users who stick to conventional off the shelf products. Specific features of this board include:

This is an example of a custom controller with a break even for the NRE investment of fewer than 50 units. It is a controller for a solar powered trash compactor. The motor that drives the compactor is available only in 24VDC (not 12V). That meant our customer was faced with having to use a 24V solar panel which would cost twice as much as necessary. What we did instead was integrate a peak power tracking 12V solar charger with a 12V to 24V DC step up inverter directly onto the controller board. The voltage boost means a 12V solar panel can be used. The peak power tracking means a lower wattage panel can be used, as the power extraction is highly efficient. The board is also used in mains powered machines.

The controller also contains:

This kind of high level functional integration can only be acheived with a control that is custom designed for the application. Our unique design approach makes this kind of customization accessible even in relatively small quantities.

One of our customers, a system integrator, had been making a particular control panel for his customer for many years, using a regular PLC. Then his end-customer switched to a new model of core mechanism in his product. That mechanism came with a proprietary sensor and a controller that was a huge over-kill but could accept the special sensor. Our customer was at risk of losing the business, because he had no way of interfacing the sensor to a regular PLC.

He approached us for a solution. We obtained a sample of the sensor and in 2-3 hours analyzed its proprietary communications protocol. Subsequently we designed a custom SPLat controller, including the special sensor interface

We saved our customer's business.

A custom SPLat will save you money in many ways:

For example, one of our customers was paying $60 each for 3 holding current limiters for high power solenoids. We integrated them into his custom SPLat controller at a cost (to him) of about $10 total. That saved him $170 per controller. His NRE cost was more than amortised over the first batch of 50 controllers (not even counting the labour saving of not mounting and wiring 150 current limiters!)

One custom controller we made for Carrier air conditioning actually saves its total cost just in reduced final assembly and testing time, with a bonus of a significant reduction in warranty call-outs.

When we design a custom SPLat controller we are really just integrating a bunch of pre-designed circuit elements. The process is fast, giving you a quick time to market. The amount of labor required is low, and so we can keep the Non Recurring Engineering (NRE) costs to you low. This results in an NRE that is easily amortised out of the saving on production units.

As an additional benefit, the risk factor is very low because we are working in familiar territory. We never have failed designs.

For example, one of our customers was paying $60 each for 3 holding current limiters for high power solenoids. We integrated them into his custom SPLat controller at a cost (to him) of about $10 total. That saved him $170 per controller, a significant proportion of the controller cost! (Not to mention the labour saving from not having to mount and wire 3 extra devices per control system)

One custom controller we made for Carrier air conditioning actually saves its total cost just in reduced final assembly and testing time, with a bonus of a significant reduction in warranty call-outs.

A custom SPLat strengthens your Intellectual Property (IP) because:

SPLat is easy to program compared to say C or ladder logic based control systems. Even if you have no previous programming experience you can learn to program SPLat. If you chose you can do your own programming. You may also chose to have us do your initial programming for you. Either way, you wind up owning your application program (which we call SPLatWare). You will never be hostage to an outside design house with a set of arcane, hard to learn skills.

A custom SPLat has a faster time to market than other custom solutions because we never start a design with a blank CAD screen. Designing a custom SPLat is a mature process which we have been through untold times before. We have standard reusable hardware design elements. The core firmware is tried and proven, and is easily adapted to variant hardware configurations. We often spend more time communicating with you to accurately establish your needs than we spend designing the resulting circuit.

We sell controllers to a great number of customer. Naturally our customers don't all tell us what they are using the controllers for. The examples below are all real, and only some of those we do know of.

We pioneered the concept of building a controller with an integral user interface with our MMi88 in 1997. We also, simultaneously, devised the idea of a membrane overlay that the user could easily customize by placing paper labels behind clear windows in the overlay.

Most inputs and outputs on machine controllers are digital, i.e. either ON or OFF, like a light switch, with nothing in between. Sometimes you may need many steps between all or nothing, like in a light dimmer. That is called analog. Analog inputs are used to quantities things like temperature or weight. Analog outputs are used to control things smoothly, like the speed of a motor.

SPice is another of our simple but powerful original concepts. Most SPLat controllers, be they custom or rapid prototyping, have a SPice connector. Onto the SPice connector you can plug a small daughter board (SPice board) which provides some special purpose functionality. Examples are water level switching or AC current measurement.

SPice is a simple way of providing some added functionality inexpensively. What's more, it is relatively easy for us (hence inexpensive for you) to make a up a batch of 15 to 20 custom SPice boards as a one-off exercise. That means you can now access a custom function for your product at a fraction of what it used to cost to have a "special" made.

Xwire is our proprietary system for interconnecting a number of SPLat controllers and/or peripheral boards. It has been designed to be very inexpensive to implement in hardware (cents) and very simple to program.

Illustrated: HIO16 expansion board. Eight relays, each rated 20A motor load (80A inrush) and eight optically isolated digital inputs capable of accepting AC or DC from 24V to 240V. Real grunt!

This custom environmental controller represents something that was close to impossible for our customer before they came to us. It runs off 24VAC (most unusual). It has an onboard temperature and humidity sensor (to buy an RH/T transmitter alone would cost more than this whole controller). It has the exact relays needed to drive an external contactor and a solenoid valve. It has a DIP switch for installation settings. External wiring is via push-in terminals to save time. The board is conformally coated. It costs an estimated 68% less than the same functionality using off the shelf PLC products. The NRE was amortised over 62 production units, based on these savings.

This all started when we were approached with the question "could we interface a so-and-so brand sensor to our controllers?" 3 days later we had sourced a sample sensor, wired it up to one of our Rapid Prototype controllers, written a driver and shipped it out of our Boston office to the customer. So a week from making the inquiry the customer had a proof of concept controller working.

It's not world shattering rocket science. It simply interfaces some potentiometers to a SPLat controller. Surprisingly, such a simple, basic function is hardly catered for by any of our competitors. More importantly, not being able to do something like this could be a show-stopper for your project.

Simple AC current measurement is fundamental to many applications involving motors and other high powered AC loads. This SPLat add-on board endows a SPLat controller with a 5A current transformer and converts it to a regular analog input.

To you it may seem like in insurmountable problem. To us it might be just another day at the office. Designing and building electronic circuits is what we do. That capability is available to our customers to help solve their problems. Sure, there's a price, but it may not be anywhere near as high as you might think. Some challenges are drop- dead easy, so you may only have to pay for a few hours of effort. Others may be harder. It point is, we are always willing to listen. All you have to do is ask!

This map gives a general idea of where SPLat fits into the electronic controls space.

Traditional industrial PLCs

These are designed and optimized for factory automation. Hardware cost is secondary to total implementation cost. Good PLCs are built like a brick outhouse, and typically cost like a marble palace.

Single board computers

Board level products. Usually huge computing power and memory, but pathetic real- world I/O like relay drivers or industrial sensor inputs. Usually programmed in C and require a Real Time Operating System (RTOS). Sub-category: "stamp" products designed for hobbyists.

Full custom controllers

You get a design house to design a dedicated controller from the ground up. A good choice if you're making many thousand per year, providing you can find a good designer and you are prepared to take a high risk on things going badly wrong (many of our customers are refugees from such situations).

... and SPLat?

SPLat fits in the neglected middle ground. Ideal for equipment makers who make up to 5,000 units per year and need friendly, competent service and support. These people, maybe like you (?) know their own product but are not control system experts. Their products are frequently highly innovative and need innovative control solutions.