15/10/20 Unipi Patron, our new flagship product, comes with a more powerful processor made by NXP, extended warranty, and many other new features. The Patron represents a direct successor of the Axon controllers that will be discontinued this autumn.
Unipi Patron is a brand-new programmable logic controller designed for automation projects, control, regulation, and monitoring, that can be also used as a gateway. It is a direct successor to the Axon product line, introducing many new features presented below.
What is new?
More powerful computing module
Unipi Patron is powered by the i.MX 8M Mini CPU (4× Arm® Cortex®-A53) with a maximum frequency of 1.8 GHz, 8GB eMMC internal memory and 1GB RAM. Compared to the Axon line, this CPU represents an increase in computing power, making Patrons the most powerful compact solution available on the market.
A solution completely based on our hardware
After years of development, we are now independent of manufacturers of single-board computers (SBC) our previous products were based on. This change represents an important turning point, as we are now able to provide all-level support, perform various modification within the custom manufacturing programme, and offer additional options for standard development (eg. integration of new communication protocols). This custom solution is developed and manufactured solely in the European Union.
Extended warranty
Unipi Patron will have the standard 2-year warranty extended to 4 years.
Product availability
Minimal availability is guaranteed until the year 2032, including technical support and service.
More options for custom manufacturing (OEM)
As part of our OEM programme, we will offer you with more customization and extension options ranging from various wireless technologies (LTE, Wi-Fi, LoRa) to industrial communication protocols, PCIe cards/drives/modems, power through PoE/PoE+ or Secure boot.
Unipi Patron vs Unipi Axon
Inputs, outputs, and communication interfaces remain the same
Patron controllers are direct successors to specific Axon models including connectors and their placement (see the table below). The only difference, apart from the above-mentioned performance, is 1×100Mbit Ethernet replacing the 1×1Gbit and the lack of Wi-Fi connectivity. Size of all models remains the same.
Model overview
| Patron | Replaced Axon model |
| S107 | S105 |
| S117 | S115 |
| S167 LTE | - |
| S207 | S205 |
| M207 | M205 |
| M267 LTE | M265 LTE |
| M527 | M525 |
| M567 LTE | M565 LTE |
| L207 | L205 |
| L527 | L525 |
100% compatibility
Full hardware and software compatibility between the individual product lines (Patron, Axon, Neuron) is retained. That said, you do not have to worry about compatibility issues if you decide to extend your Axon-based system with a new Unipi Patron controller. The same applies to the reverse, ie. replacing an Axon controller with Patron.
Timeline
Patron controllers are scheduled to be available in the first quarter of 2021. You can already make a pre-order on our e-shop.
Discontinuation of Unipi Axon controllers
As the timeline suggests, the discontinuation of Axon controllers and launch of Patron sales is not synchronized. The reason is the computing modules used in Axon controllers were phased out by its manufacturer. Despite a large supply of the modules we created well in advance the demand for Axon controllers far exceeded our predictions. As a result, Unipi Axon PLCs will be discontinued in October 2020. At the same time, we do not want to rush the Patron’s development, as we want to launch a fully tested product we can 100 % vouch for.
As mentioned above, you do not have to worry about transfer from Unipi Axon to Unipi Patron, as the hardware compatibility between both product lines is retained (ie. the same size, inputs, and outputs), including the software openness. The same applies to the OEM programme, which also remains unchanged. Warranty and post-warranty service for Axon controllers will be available until the end of 2022.
