Brain vs. dumb I/O, couplers vs. terminals, the CPU family and the EtherCAT backbone that ties it together. Build your own NX I/O island and send a frame down the chain.
An NX I/O island starts with a coupler (the EtherCAT connection) and grows by clicking terminals onto it — digital in, digital out, analog, whatever the machine needs. Add a few, then run a frame.
🧠 NJ / NX CPU units — the brain, and a Machine Automation Controller: one CPU runs your Sysmac logic and a synchronised motion core together. NX adds I/O right on its own backplane; NJ is rack-mount. They span a whole ladder — see below.
🔌 Couplers & terminals — a coupler joins an NX I/O island to EtherCAT; terminals are the cheap, dumb in/out slices you snap on beside it.
💻 NY IPC & Panel PC — when you need Windows alongside control: machine HMI, vision, data — the PC and the controller in one box.
🌐 EtherCAT backbone — one frame visits every node in order, reads & writes on the fly, and returns. Deterministic to the microsecond.
Every Sysmac controller is a Machine Automation Controller — one CPU running logic and a synchronised motion core. They climb a ladder from a compact built-in-I/O box to a 256-axis powerhouse. Tap a model to match it to a machine.
Source : industrial.omron.eu
Skim the left panel for the plain-language version; dive into the right for real specs and a sizing rule. Either way you end up choosing the same box.
Every Sysmac controller is a Machine Automation Controller — one CPU that runs your logic and the motion together.
Mental model: picture a band with one conductor (the CPU) keeping every musician (axis) perfectly in time. Bigger orchestra, bigger conductor.
Pick the rung by axis count, cycle time and memory — every rung shares the same Sysmac engine.
Selection rule: count coordinated axes and your tightest cycle. A few axes → NX1P / NJ1 / NX1; many axes or sub-ms motion → NX5 / NJ5 → NX7.
Source : industrial.omron.eu
What's the job of the coupler at the head of an NX I/O island?