Localization of PC Control - Sinsegye's Industrial Control "Expanding Xinjiang" Path
CEC Interview with Li Xiaoning, Senior Product Director and General Manager of Shanghai Company, and Head of Automation at Sinsegye
At the 23rd China International Industrial Fair (referred to as "CIIE"), the booth of Sinsegye was bustling with people, and everyone showed great interest in the domestically produced industrial intelligence machines displayed on site, as well as the PC based industrial control solutions provided by Sinsegye.
What unique value can "AI machines" provide to users? What technological research and development has Sinsegye done to ignite customers' enthusiasm for domestic industrial control substitution? To answer these questions, Control Engineering China interviewed Li Xiaoning, Senior Product Director and General Manager of Shanghai Company, as well as Automation Manager of Sinegye.
The prospect of domestic substitution is unlimited, where is the value of differentiation?
In the entire field of industrial automation, the adaptation of technological evolution to market demand is a slow and spiraling process. Li Xiaoning stated that in recent years, China has made rapid and significant breakthroughs in IT and software, such as emerging technologies represented by artificial intelligence, as well as in areas such as human-computer interaction, I/O modules, various sensors, motors, and servo drives. However, the exploration of the core PLC central control processor is actually just beginning.
In the global manufacturing industry, the large size of the Chinese market and the comprehensive range of industrial application scenarios are unique. After a three-year hiatus from the Industrial Fair, Sinsegye also seized the opportunity to have zero distance technical exchanges with excellent friends and users, showcasing its flagship products and full line solutions in the field of "industrial intelligence machines". Li Xiaoning sighed and said that many domestic and foreign manufacturers have brought revolutionary products that have been launched for many years. He was also pleased to observe that domestic independent brands are developing rapidly, and more and more local manufacturers are relying on more agile market response capabilities to achieve rapid business growth.
How to demonstrate differentiated value by competing with top industry brands on the same stage? Li Xiaoning stated that in addition to meeting most of the user's functional scenarios, the completion of specially segmented or missing functions will also become a bonus for the brand. In addition, unlike consumer electronics, in industrial automation scenarios, customers have a strong demand for on-site technical services and support. In order to enable users to repurchase in bulk and avoid being eliminated by the market, in addition to product performance and technological innovation, the construction of a talent team and service supply are crucial, and these are also Sinsegye's advantages.
Dual domain isolation, hard power eliminates user concerns
As is well known, industrial automation has extremely high requirements for real-time performance, stability, and reliability. Continuous and stable operation for 7 × 24 hours is essential, and equipment crashes and freezes are even more taboo. Li Xiaoning stated that in response to this, based on a profound understanding of industrial automation, the research and development team of Sinsegye has implemented a dual domain system sharing and interaction mechanism using real-time domain and non real time domain at the task scheduling level of the CPU core, ensuring low latency, real-time performance, and high reliability of transmission control.
Simply put, Sinsegye virtualizes the non real time domain, while the real-time domain is equipped with various real-time buses and I/O modules related to operational control. Customers can develop and package various control algorithm packages based on platform interfaces to enable real-time calling on the control end. At the same time, various desktop applications can be deployed in non real time domain systems to achieve human-computer interaction. This special design of "dual domain isolation" cleverly solves users' concerns about crashes and blue screens. Even if non real time domains restart or freeze due to accidental installation of virus plugins, it will not affect the operation of the real-time domain.
Sinsegye MetaFacture System Architecture
Of course, the differentiated value embodied by the Sinsegye solution is not limited to this. Unlike traditional PLC controller "black boxes", PC based controllers allow all functions to run synchronously on the same PC platform, and can integrate advanced applications such as databases and AI vision systems with the open advantages of the PC platform. Users do not need to purchase any additional subsystems for measurement, analysis, or detection, and can achieve true "integration of calculation and control".
When it comes to the development secrets of Sinsegye, Li Xiaoning said that in recent years, users' understanding and acceptance of PC control have been increasing, which has enabled Sinsegye's technical expertise to quickly attract customers. In order to better dispel customers' concerns, in addition to excellent product performance, Li Xiaoning added that deep cooperation with customers, stable on-site verification, and comprehensive technical support and after-sales service are all the "golden keys" that Sinsegye has won favor with.
PC control platform construction, making it applicable to all users
It is worth mentioning that although Sinsegye has only been established for two years, it has already accumulated a good reputation among its customer base. During the 2023 Industrial Fair, Sinsegye's SX series embedded controllers for industrial intelligence machines stood out among numerous products due to their outstanding performance, powerful functions, and wide range of applications. They were awarded the 2023 Editor's Recommendation Award in the Control Engineering China 2023 (19th) Annual Best Product Awards. At the same time as the exhibition, Sinsegye also released the latest embedded artificial intelligence machine SX20, and Li Xiaoning also shared the advantages of this self-developed product with great interest in the interview.
Sinsegye's new standard type industrial intelligence machine SX2 series industrial intelligence machine
In addition to its exquisite design and appearance, over 90% of the electrical components on the SX20 motherboard are domestically produced, including the use of Haiguang CPU chips and Cambrian graphics cards to achieve artificial intelligence processing, creating the "strong heart" of the product. At the level of supply chain management, all localized production also gives its products a price advantage over some international brands.
Of course, this is only a part. Li Xiaoning said that unlike the old model of traditional PLC "patching", Sinsegye is based on a powerful IT gene and uses a modular, multi-core and multi task approach to rebuild industrial automation applications, which can adapt faster to the ever-changing pace of IT technology today. While meeting the current application needs of customers, the R&D team of Sinsegye is also actively integrating future human-computer interaction, AI speech recognition and other functions with a forward-looking perspective.
Li Xiaoning emphasized that from hardware and I/O buses, to software, development tools and environments, to industry solutions, Sinsegye has always focused on the construction of PC control platformization, and the products planned and developed are suitable for the vast majority of industrial scenarios. Any customer can enjoy the openness advantage brought by PC architecture, freely call various functional block algorithms, and easily achieve "foolproof" project development with the help of tools. In addition, Sinsegye's R&D teams in Beijing and Shanghai can also provide customers with faster access to and expansion of module functions.
Accumulate and develop gradually with the development of IT technology
Indeed, in today's rapidly iterating IT technology, Sinsegye's decision to "take down" the hard bone of PLC industrial control localization requires determination and courage, but this is not an unprepared battle. Li Xiaoning introduced that Sinsegye relies on the successful incubation of PC computers, chips, intelligent operating systems and other enterprises by the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. At the beginning of its establishment, its vision was to achieve deep integration of computer technology and industrial automation. It also invested a lot of research and development funds, time and energy in the early stage to meet the strict requirements of the industrial control industry, and continuously polished its products according to specific scenarios.
When it comes to the company's future prospects, Li Xiaoning said that Sinsegye has always kept up with the development of cutting-edge IT technology. In the past 1-2 years, Sinsegye has not only made plans for platform based and standardized product research and development, but also focused on the integration of new products and technologies while opening up co creation and empowerment with more industry customers in the future. From the recent popularity of digital twins Chat GPT， Sinsegye will always remain sharp and explore more possibilities in cloud development, cloud computing, and advanced programming languages.
Looking at the current situation, with the increasing introduction of visual inspection functions in industrial application scenarios, users' demand for control system computing power is unprecedentedly high, which coincides with the "integrated computing and control" concept that Sinsegye has always emphasized. Li Xiaoning stated that Sinsegye hopes to continuously improve its automation product ecosystem through the flourishing development of IT and chip technology, defining the path of automation with software, and integrating its own advantageous resources. Starting from the track of PC controlled localization, Sinsegye has already created an excellent model for domestic independent brands. Let's look forward to the future where Sinsegye will use independent innovation to create value for more industry users.