Beckhoff Scales Cabinet-Free Automation With 3-Row MX-System Baseplates
Traditional control cabinets have long defined the spatial layout of factory floors, bringing with them complex wiring, bulky enclosures, and heavy thermal management demands. Challenging this conventional design paradigm, Beckhoff has significantly broadened its modular MX-System ecosystem by introducing rugged 3-row baseplates alongside larger size 3 function modules. This latest hardware evolution scales the company's established cabinet-free automation framework upward, empowering machine builders and plant engineers to deploy decentralized control architectures across larger, more complex industrial systems without relying on conventional protective enclosures.
The newly introduced 3-row baseplates serve as a powerful central node for high-power machinery, featuring expanded data slots and robust power distribution capabilities designed to handle demanding electrical loads. By acting as the primary hub in a combined star and daisy-chain topology alongside existing 1-row and 2-row configurations, these baseplates seamlessly integrate into diverse machine layouts. Furthermore, the incorporation of size 3 function modules unlocks substantial performance headroom, supporting high-capacity configurations such as power supplies up to 63 A, robust servo controllers rated at 28 A, and 600 VDC supplies at 40 A. Retaining an industrial-grade IP67 ingress rating, the modular platform allows direct machine mounting while eliminating the need for specialized cooling equipment and tedious manual panel wiring.
Written by Soren Vance, an industrial automation architect and cabinet-free systems specialist with over fourteen years of expertise streamlining machine architecture and decentralized control networks.