Rockwell Automation has expanded its Allen-Bradley ControlLogix family of controllers to enable faster system performance and support the growing use of smart devices in manufacturing and industrial operations. The new ControlLogix 5580 controller provides up to 45% more application capacity and includes an embedded 1-gigabyte Ethernet port to support high-performance communications, I/O and applications with up to 256 axes of motion.

“With this new controller, users can meet future capacity and throughput needs as they design smart machines and work toward building a Connected Enterprise,” said software product manager Rockwell Automation Dean Tresidder. “The new port and additional capacity cuts the amount of control and communications hardware required, reducing system complexity, costs and required panel space.”

In addition, the product selection process is easier with the ControlLogix 5580 controller because users can now select the appropriate model using the total number of Ethernet nodes required. A single ControlLogix 5580 controller can support up to 300 Ethernet nodes.

The controller also supports enhanced security as part of a defense-in-depth approach to help protect facilities, assets and intellectual property. The controller incorporates advanced security technologies and software features, such as digitally signed and encrypted firmware, change detection and audit logging.

As with other Logix controllers, engineers can use the Rockwell Software Studio 5000 design software to configure the ControlLogix 5580 controller and develop all elements of their control system. Data can be defined once, and then easily accessed and re-used across the entire Studio 5000 environment to speed system development and commissioning.