The “Voyager” RTU Family

To provide maximum performance for extremely large, time-critical RTU applications; Applitech developed its “Voyager” flagship product line.  Based on the powerful PLC, a single Voyager RTU is capable of supporting a total of 64,000 I/O points and provides a selection of more than 80 types of special I/O modules.

As all RTU’s in our Satellite series, the Voyager utilizes a scalable, modular PLC architecture; which can be easily configured to meet the most rigorous performance requirements of any monitoring/control system application.  With Modbus, Modbus Plus, Ethernet and more than 11 other types of widely used serial and fieldbus communications the Voyager can interface with virtually any type of real-time measurement equipment, control device, or field instrument.  Although, Modbus RTU serial communications has been universally recognized as the most common interface protocols between different types of PLC’s and other control equipment, Applitech offers numerous hardware/software protocol converters to support the installation of the Voyager RTU in large existing installations.  Our non-proprietary equipment design insures that your RTU will always utilize the latest in state-of-the-art SCADA equipment.

Since the need for the “Voyager” & “Mariner” RTU’s came from several large electrical distribution/transmission and oil & gas production/transport projects, the system design engineers at Applitech were keenly aware of the unique features required by each of these applications.   For this reason the “Mariner” RTU offers AGA approved gas flow computers, as well as NOA and SWD calculations in loadable software modules.  To support large scale Electrical Transmission, Distribution, and Substation monitoring requirements, the “Voyager” RTU offers 1ms Sequence of Events Recording, DNP3.0 protocol emulation, Report-by-Exception capability, and Wireless Ethernet connectivity. 

In addition, because of our modular PLC-based architecture, we are able to provide many other special features for critical monitoring/control applications, such as a seamless Hot-Standby backup processor.  Our redundant “Voyager” RTU maintains two (2) identical CPU processors & power supplies; one active and one in stand-by mode (but actively receiving all of the current I/O status).  In the event of a failure of the primary processor (for any reason), the hot-standby unit already has the latest process data information and instantly assumes control as the active primary processor. 

If you have an environment subject to explosive gas emission; our “Safe-Voyager” RTU series has two unique solutions:

1. For RTU’s which must be located in a potentially explosive atmosphere, the “Safe-Voyager” can be manufactured in a purged NEMA 4X enclosure, specifically designed to meet all the NFPA requirements of that hazardous location.
2. For RTU’s located in a “safe” location, intrinsically safe I/O modules can be used to service field instruments or control devices in a Class I, Groups A, B, C, and D hazardous locations.

Obviously, purged enclosures are an excellent solution for those applications where the RTU’s must be located within an explosive gas environment.  By utilizing sealed, purged enclosures the “Safe Voyager” RTU can be located much closer to the actual application; thereby minimizing field wiring and initial installation costs.  Conversely, the availability of approved intrinsically safe I/O modules allows the “Safe-Voyager” RTU to be located outside of the explosive gas environment; without the need for any additional intrinsically safe conditioning equipment installed on the attached field wiring. This alternative RTU design can significantly improve ease of maintenance and reduce the mean-time-to-repair for all of the control system equipment; since the RTU enclosure can be routinely opened to conduct field testing, modification, and/or repair.  The intrinsically safe design permits the customer to access the internal RTU circuitry without shutting down the main process equipment and ventilating the local explosive gas area. 

One final key feature of the “Voyager” RTU product line is that all of the advanced CPU diagnostic and troubleshooting routines are shipped from the factory fully web-enabled.  Each of these state-of-the-art RTU packages can be quickly interrogated with a standard web browser to quickly determine the source of any processing or I/O handling hardware problems.