An Industrial PC (IPC) is a robust computing device designed and built to withstand challenging and harsh environments and perform reliably in industrial environments and applications. These are engineered to withstand and operate in demanding conditions such as high temperatures, humidity, dust, vibrations, and electromagnetic interference. 

The primary goal of industrial PCs is to provide stable and reliable computing solutions for industrial automation and control, ensuring unwavering performance. Standard consumer-grade computers might not be able to meet the demands of the environment.

Primarily used for process control and/or data acquisition, an IPC can also serve as a front-end to another control computer in a distributed processing environment. They can be used for controlling the entire system, monitoring important System parameters, controlling machines and machine tools or displaying important information related to the product being manufactured. 

Their ruggedness, reliability, and ability to operate in challenging environments make these as essential tools for optimising industrial processes and driving technological advancements.

IPC key features

• Durability: Industrial PCs are constructed with durable and rugged materials and enclosed in protective casings to shield against physical damage, moisture, and dust. 
• Harsh environment resilience: It can operate in varying temperatures from scorching heat to freezing cold and wider ranges. It endures machinery-induced challenges such as vibrations and shocks, and can resist electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio-frequency interference (RFI).
• Expandability and customisation: Allow application specific customization with expansion slots and ports to accommodate varied hardware components and interfaces.
• Long lifecycle support: Where changing hardware frequently is not practical, Industrial PCs have extended product lifecycles ensuring stability and consistent performance over many years.
• Fanless design: Passive cooling mechanisms or fanless designs are imperative to circumvent dust accumulation and overheating in debris-prone environments.
• Remote management and monitoring: This feature is especially useful for simplified diagnostics and maintenance to reduce downtime and operational disruptions.
• Certifications: When precision and reliability are crucial, compliance with industry-specific certifications underscoring the safety and reliability of IPCs are mandatory.
• Form factors and functionality: IPCs are available in different form factors ranging across nettop and a server rack. Rack-mounted, panel-mounted, box PCs, and embedded systems are available with various operating systems like Windows, Linux, and RTOS based on application demands.

IPC applications

Industrial PC has application in manufacturing and automation, process control (chemical, food, oil, etc), industrial robotics, SCADA systems, oil & gas, aerospace & defence, automotive manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, food & beverage, energy & utilities, water & wastewater treatment, mining & extraction, rail & transportation, medical & healthcare, and environmental monitoring.

Some of the applications include, but are not limited to, manufacturing, automation, process control, data acquisition, and more. These applications demonstrate the versatility and importance of industrial PCs across various industries. Applications requiring IPCs are limitless with the kind of benefits these products offer. With the advent of artificial intelligence and convergence of this technology with IIOT and Industry 4.0, these computers are finding extensive use in almost all industry sectors and segments, including areas of robotics and manufacturing control, where they are the brains working quietly behind the screen. IPCs play a vital role in achieving precision, consistency, and efficiency in manufacturing operations. 

Industrial PCs are key to unwavering performance and dependability in factory environment. They form the vital link between different layers of the Automation Pyramid. Durability, adaptability, and reliability are seamlessly merged empowering industries to streamline operations and drive innovation amidst the harshest conditions. They are an inseparable, integral and irreplaceable entity of the Industry Ecosystem.