Brains

Opto 22’s introduction of brain-board technology in 1978 created a truly distributed, scalable, and intelligent I/O system. Opto 22 brains are I/O processors that connect to I/O mounting racks to form intelligent I/O units. The processor power of Opto 22's distributed I/O system grows proportionally with the addition of each I/O unit, because each brain has its own onboard microprocessor and custom multi-function ASIC chip.

Opto 22 brains communicate with a computer in a command/response mode as slave devices, and provide the local intelligence necessary to perform basic control functions such as on/off control, counting, and latching, or complex tasks such as PID control, temperature conversion, time proportional output, and emergency shutdown.

Opto 22 brains have two main distinguishing features:

1. The form factor of the racks they support

• SNAP brains easily snap into place on SNAP D-series mounting racks (for digital I/O only) or B-series racks (for digital and analog I/O on the same rack).
• Brick brain boards offer a unique packaging scheme for G4 digital or analog I/O.
• Classic brain boards support racks that use G1 (standard), G4, or some SNAP I/O modules

2. The communication links and protocols they use

• SNAP Ethernet Systems brains use pure TCP/IP over a 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet link or a wireless LAN, providing communication over a standard wired or wireless Ethernet network and over the Internet.
• Serial brains support one or both of Opto 22's open industry-standard protocols, mistic and Optomux. A serial brain that supports the Modbus protocol is also available.
• Pamux protocol brains use a parallel interface to a computer and provide very high-speed communications over distances up to 500 feet.
• ARCNET (mistic protocol) and Profibus-DP brains are also available.

Opto 22 Brains and Brain Boards

The following table shows the brains to use with specific protocols and I/O modules.