Mr. Rottmayr, what was the motivation for the collaboration with Sybera?

Rottmayr: Many of our customers use our Spectra industrial PC systems for their automation tasks - and the majority of them use a Windows operating system for this. It is therefore obvious that we also want to offer real-time automation under Windows. Sybera is the ideal partner for this.

Why is a reorientation necessary?

Rottmayr: There are various real-time hypervisor solutions on the market. However, it is very important that all components are coordinated with each other. The previous motto - one provides the hardware, the other the software - can no longer be maintained due to the complexity of modern PC hardware platforms, the UEFI BIOS and the Windows kernel. In order to meet the requirements of a reliable PC-based control system, precise coordination of all components is absolutely essential.

How is real-time control implemented technologically?

Rottmayr: With the PC-based master stacks for Windows for 32- and 64-bit and the X-Realtime Engine from Sybera, there is no need for separate controller hardware. The master control is implemented directly by a Spectra computer system such as the 'Mini-PC PowerBox-RTE' or the 'Panel-PC PowerTwin-RTE' with the available standard Ethernet interfaces.

Depending on how the user wants to design his real-time control system, we offer two different approaches - programming libraries or graphical controller software with PLC programming and interface design.

If they opt for the programming library, they can use the 'Visual Studio' development environment, for example, to design complex controllers and have the entire Windows interface world at their disposal. If, on the other hand, he opts for the graphical controller software 'X-GO Flex Logic Control', he can implement his control system very quickly and easily.

Our ready-to-use pre-installation offers a decisive advantage: the customer no longer has to worry about installation issues. The initial installation in particular is often an important support factor, which is no longer necessary thanks to the collaboration between Spectra and Sybera. The customer no longer receives a single product, but rather a solution, including know-how transfer through the Sybera training center.

What applications is the solution suitable for?

Rottmayr: In principle, we are already serving the same customers today. Good examples of the successful use of a Spectra-Sybera solution are applications in the fields of mechanical engineering, automotive, measurement technology, assembly and packaging, as well as in stamping and welding technology, for example.

In the field of motion control in particular, cycle times of 500 microseconds to 2 milliseconds are typically used. With isochronous motion control, however, jitter is of crucial importance. Jitter below 50 microseconds on a PC basis can only be achieved with dedicated PC hardware and appropriate jitter reduction processes. This is where we work closely together as hardware and software manufacturers.