For many decades the Rockwell Automation PanelView family has been an excellent solution for a control system Human Machine Interface (HMI). Those experienced in the industry have seen PanelView terminals go through multiple changes and upgrades, each time improving the performance and features. In a continuing effort to increase the usability and support the longevity of the PanelView Plus platform, Rockwell has completed a hardware/software refresh of the PanelView Plus 7 Performance. This refresh is being denoted as a change from Series A to Series B.
The longevity of many automation devices comes down to the ability to source the hardware components and support the software running on them. The Series A PanelView Plus 7 performance runs Windows CE 6.0 which is no longer fully supported by Microsoft. The terminals also use aging hardware with a shrinking supply chain. The new Series B has updated hardware with improved availability and long-term supply chain support. Running on the new hardware is a new operating system, as the Series B runs Windows 10 IoT Core. These changes will increase the feature set and usability of the PanelView terminals while also improving delivery time. This revision also shows a commitment that the tried-and-true PanelView HMI will continue to improve and be around for many years to come.
From a development standpoint there are no changes as the terminals still utilize FactoryTalk View Studio ME. The Series B units will continue to run applications developed on a Series A without modifications. Here is a list of items that also stay consistent with Series A terminals.
• Certifications
• Panel cutouts
• Accessories
• Catalog numbers
• List Prices
As for improvements, there are a few that stand out to us. First, is that user storage has significantly been increased from 80MB to 2GB. Anybody who has tried to load multiple copies of a large application onto one PanelView has felt the pain of running out of storage. Second, is the addition of a hardware maintenance mode button. In the past to enter this mode you had to cycle power to the terminal, press the corner of the screen, and hope you could find a USB keyboard as it was the only way to navigate those settings. Now features such as factory reset and device cloning can be reached with the simple press of a button and use of the touchscreen. Third, is that the new Series B uses ControlFlash Plus for firmware updates. Now the same feature packed, user-friendly software that you use to update your other control products can be used to update the PanelView Plus. Below is a complete list of Series B improvements:
• Enhanced product security
• Support for modern peripherals
• Intel x86, 1.46 GHz, dual core processor
• Significantly increased user storage (from 80meg to ~2GB)
• Firmware update process is consistent with other Rockwell products (ControlFlash Plus)
• Microsoft Edge Web browser, HTML5 compatible (when available)
• Hardware button to restore terminal to factory default condition
Another thing to note, with cybersecurity quickly becoming an increased point of focus for manufacturing networks, the transition to Series B has a focus on security. The new operating system has allowed many new security features to be built into the core of the PanelView and new features will continue to be added as updates roll out for the operating system. Here are a few of the security features of the Series B terminals.
As the PanelView Plus 7 Series B has been brought to market to help alleviate the production restrictions on the Series A, there are some features that will not be present upon initial release. Please note the features below that are not present in initial Series B release. These features will be added with incremental firmware updates over the next 3-12 months.
While Rockwell Automation series information is noted on packaging labels, it is not always easy to quickly spot and identify. Because of this, Rockwell is placing a large sticker on the Series B packaging - right where the box would be opened - to make sure the user knows they are receiving a Series B unit. That sticker will have a QR code linking to a website to explain the feature differences between Series A and Series B. Since this is a link to an active page, that page will be updated as the originally omitted features become available.
The Series B units are shipping now. If you have existing orders for PanelView Plus 7 Performance models, chances are they will be fulfilled with Series B terminals. If your application still requires any of the missing features, Series A units can still be obtained, but only for a limited time. Do not open the Series B package unless you are sure if will work for your application.
Please reach out to your Revere Account Manager for more information or contact us at customersupport@revereelectric.com.