Industrial Engineer · phase 7 of 16
PAC
Programmable Automation Controller, an industry term for a PLC-class controller with broad integration, motion, networking, or computing capabilities.
The Explain card
- Plain English
- A programmable automation controller is what vendors call a PLC that has grown up. It runs the same kind of scan logic and adds motion, more networking, more memory, and often a general purpose language on the side.
- Example
- A ControlLogix or a Siemens S7 1500 is marketed as a PAC. It coordinates twenty servo axes, talks to the MES, and still solves ladder for the conveyors.
- Why it matters
- The word is mostly marketing, and the hardware is real. Knowing that a PAC is still a PLC underneath keeps you from expecting it to behave like a PC, and from being surprised when its scan and its I/O follow the same rules.
- Hook
- A PLC with a bigger business card.
Where it sits in the deck
Phase 7: PLC Related Automation Systems
The neighbours a PLC lives beside on a plant floor, from operator panels and SCADA up to the motion and batch systems it hands work to.
