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Micro820 at Automation Fair 2013

November 18, 2013

The soon to be released Micro820 on display at Automation Fair 2013:

The Micro820 is the newest entry in Rockwell’s Micro800 family. The unit is outfitted with two communication ports. The first is Serial communications accessible via a terminal block connection. The second is a standard Ethernet port. Unlike the Micro830 and Micro850, this unit does not have a built-in USB port.

Note: You can listen to our companion podcast about the Micro820 HERE.

The 820 also has a built-in real time clock (RTC) and accepts Micro-SD cards for program back-up and datalogging. But, because of the Micro-SD card support we are told this unit does not support the plug memory module used on the 830 and 850. Also unlike the Micro830 and 850, this unit does not support Micro Motion control. Specifically, we were told it does not support PWM outputs, and only supports low speed PTO outputs.

In the below picture to the right of the Micro820 you’ll see a new four line text display being release for use with the 820. This unit connects to the Micro via serial, and displays four lines of text. This unit is more “Text display” than HMI as the text is transmitted to the display via ASCII commands. The unit also sports a handful of function keys, a four color backlight, and a USB port for programming the Micro820.

Coming out with the Micro820 is the latest version of Connected Components Workbench, CCW 6.0. This new version includes support for the new Micro as well as two new features that have been highly requested.

First, CCW 6.0 will have the ability to change the processor type of a Micro program. In the past, if you had written a program for a Micro830 and wanted to use it in a Micro850, your only option was to copy and paste the code from one project to another. But with CCW 6.0 we were told this is now a simple selection in the software.

The second highly requested feature is the ability to upload and download to the PanelView Component from CCW. Previously, the PVc project would have to be exported from CCW and then transferred using the PVc’s dashboard. However, we were told CCW 6.0 now includes an upload / download utility to automate this process.

Well, that’s all the information I was able to get about the new Micro820. At the time of Automation Fair Rockwell hadn’t yet released prices on these items, but we should see them announced before they end of the year.

If you have any comments or questions about this post please feel free to use the below “post a comment or question” link below.

Until next time, Peace ✌️

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Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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Shawn Tierney

I'm a lifelong Technology Enthusiast who started programing in the early 80's on the new Apple II and VIC-20 personal computers. After earning a degree in Electronics, I worked as a Certified Automation Specialist for 25 years before leaving to focus on teaching at The Automation School, as well as publishing industry news and product how-to’s at The Automation Blog.