Emerson PAC Machine Edition 10.6 development environment

Emerson has announced the release of PAC Machine Edition (PME) 10.6, an integrated development environment software used to configure and manage control system devices, including PACSystems PLCs and QuickPanel HMIs. Emerson says the update offers a significant leap forward in capabilities, including simulation, data monitoring enhancements, optimised connectivity, and programming efficiency.

PACSystems Simulator is a newly incorporated component, empowering users to easily write, test and troubleshoot control logic on a PLC emulator. This can be done before purchasing new control hardware to speed development and ensure the correct selections are made.

A data monitor component helps to quickly diagnose and resolve logic issues using plotted data, whether the data is sourced from a physical PLC or the Simulator. With advanced configuration options for visualising and analysing data in a modernised display, and the ability to save and retrieve monitor configurations, users can gain insights into system dynamics, detect root causes of anomalies rapidly and uncover trending conditions.

A high-performance OPC-UA PAC Server accelerates PLC communication performance for visualisation and other client applications, with double the tag count capacity, faster start-up speeds, and improved processing efficiency. Similarly, Profinet enhancements provide more efficient configuration and operation for communication with intelligent field devices, such as I/O, sensors and variable frequency drives.

PME 10.6 also incorporates improvements for data handling. Enhanced User-Defined Types (UDTs) now propagate data element descriptions across all application instances, helping to ensure consistency while saving configuration time.