Launch of iC9226 controller for the "iCube Control" automation platform

Yaskawa is continuing its expansion of its "iCube Control" automation platform: The iC9226 range, the first controllers in the control portfolio, is now available.

The iC9226 controller works with Yaskawa's TRITON industrial chip and can address up to 64 servo axes synchronously. The iC9226 controller can be programmed using the "‘iCube Engineer"‘ software tool and optionally equipped with an integrated FSoE Safety Master. 

"iCube Engineer" is based on Linux and operates on the Phoenix Contact PLCnext platform.  

The new feature is that you can now use EtherCAT to control not only servo drives and frequency converters, but also Delta and Scara robots, customer-specific kinematics and other third-party devices. Thanks to its modular design, the iC9226's has features that can be activated to configure it to suit specific applications, reducing layout and implementation costs. For ease of implementation, the controller can be programmed in a wide range of programming languages. These not only include the international standards as defined in IEC 61131 but also languages such as C#, C++, Python or Mathlab Simulink. 

iCube Control automation platform

Yaskawa's iCube Control automation platform has technically complementary elements and provides a holistic solution for industry-specific control applications, ranging from engineering software through controller hardware to integrated chip technology. Looking into the future: iCube Control, whose design makes it a modern motion concept, is also being extended, step-by-step, to create a comprehensive movement control and automation system that complies with the international IEC62443-4-1 safety standard from its product development to its implementation. 

The aim is to create a universal platform which mechanical engineers can use to access a complete range of functions, from controlling frequency converters to motion control and safety, up to programming and controlling robots, all in the same environment. The openness, flexibility and scalability provided by the Linux-based iCube Engineer software results in an operating system which encompasses all the other products. 

Technology partnership with Phoenix Contact

Yaskawa has been basing the development if its own products on Phoenix Contact's open PLCnext Technology ecosystem, in the context of a technology partnership that has been running since 2020. This has led to the creation of a community and actual iCube products, and also a Store which is used to share expertise.
Phoenix Contact and Yaskawa have the common aim of moving from proprietary solutions to a future-proof open ecosystem for industrial automation. Yaskawa is currently launching the iC9226M world-wide, in its Motion and Robotics division. 

The iC9226 extends the control portfolio covered by Yaskawa's "iCube Control" automation platform.