We have a situation where there is one of our customers with an IRB340 FlexPicker and PickMaster 3.10 using the Cognex 8100D board with a CDC-050 camera. The system was shipped in late 2007. The PC on the system is failing and needs to be replaced, but there seems to be a whole host of issues to deal with replacing the PC. The original PC had Win XP which is now next to impossible to come by. The vision hardware was PCI not PCI express, the licensing is of the older design. How are we to move forward with Win 7 being the only viable PC OS option? How do we handle licensing? Are we talking about an entirely new purchase for a completely brand new PickMaster system with GigE and new licenses? Anybody have any thoughts? This will put our customers line in a down condition not able to produce product! Does anyone know a way around this? I.E. does PC virtualization work on newer hardware?
Hi Rodney
It’s a pity PC’s aren’t immortal, neither are the vision systems. The fact that it’s impossible to get any replacement parts for the 8100d boards or cameras makes it even easier to suggest a total upgrade of the system.
To help you save a few nickles, I suggest you order a PickMaster Extension [42-7]. Then you just need to provide the old license and order number to your local ABB office, telling that you like to extend you current system with a new GigE Vision Ready [895-1] or GigE Color Vision Ready [895-2] and the number of cameras you need, High Resolution Camera [896-1] or Std Resolution Camera (Color) [913-1].
This will at least save you the cost for the software options.
/M