A communications link between man and machine must above all be expedient, uncomplicated and flexible. In this field, ABB offer indicating and operating devices for convenient man/machine communication. The range consists of the tried-and-tested devices MT 40 and MT 60.

These have been joined recently by the operating devices TC 50 and MT 91 with VFRD graphic display.

All these devices are used to observe the running of machinery, for data exchange and for the display of data.

TC 50

They act via the serial interface on the controls of the decentralised ABB automation systems Procontic T200 and Advant Controller 31. With higher-order communications structures, data exchange can alternatively also take place via the MODBUS in the case of MT 60 and MT 91 via the ARCNET protocol.

The indicating and operating devices are also eminently suitable for the safety-oriented decentralised automation variants AC31-S and ABB Procontic T200-S. The storage capacity of the indicating and operating devices is prepared for the most varied applications and ranges from 128 texts with single-line representation in the case of the new TC 50 to the MT 91 with its 512-Kbyte flash EPROM and its VFD graphic display for the representation of process mimics with a resolution of 256 x 64 pixels.

The operator guidance has been tried out in practice and is ergonomic. Systematic colouring of the operating buttons/keys permits reliable handling.

This is aided by the fact that all the operating devices are compatible with each other in their functionality.

MT 91