Why Allen-Bradley/Osai?
As a programmer, I've had the opportunity to work with and learn about a number of different controllers. Of all that I have seen, by far and away the A-B 10/310 has the best implementation of programming tools available. By that I mean, the commands to allow you to loop, jump, compare, count, etc. This is of great benefit when it comes to producing maximum programs using minimum code. All the standard 'modes' are all available such as incremental, absolute, mirrored, etc. It also has multiple variable types to use as you see fit. This includes local, global, static, flags and string. Properly utilized, these elements allow you to produce some of the most efficient and productive code I have ever seen used on a CNC Router. This controller also features 'tables' to contain your tool offsets, origins, and variables. These are also accessible in the context of a program. This is quite different from most of the others I've seen. There are three levels of origins, which are hierarchal in nature, meaning you can 'stack' offsets on top of each other while maintaining all your original origins. You can build paramacros and assign G codes to them so you can 'make up your own' as you see fit. Things like axis swaps, working face changes, etc. are as simple as issuing a G310, for example. You can conditionally execute subroutines, subprograms, or turn blocks of code on or off within your programs. Combining all that I have described above, makes for a rich and flexible programming environment. It's apparent that Rockwell borrowed heavily from the PC world of programming when they wrote the specifications for this controller. I, for one, am very glad they did.