Industrial PCs for semiconductor and electronics manufacturing
Cleanroom-safe fanless design, four isolated network segments, protocol-specific serial I/O, and a platform that stays in production for the life of the tool.
Four requirements come before the spec sheet
Semiconductor equipment is among the most demanding environments for industrial computing. The machines that produce, inspect and package wafers are high-value assets with service lives measured in decades, and the PC inside them has to match that expectation.
The short version
Semiconductor equipment needs a fanless box with four independent LAN ports and configurable serial I/O, kept in production for five years or more. The EPC-102B is built to that brief.
Why standard industrial PCs fall short
Cleanroom particle control, multi-network isolation, protocol-specific interfaces and long-cycle procurement all come before CPU speed or storage in the selection process.
Four requirements come before the CPU
These four decide the platform long before clock speed, memory size or storage capacity enter the conversation.
Cleanroom particle control
Fans circulate air and shed particles. Fanless passive cooling is the baseline for anything inside a wafer fab or coating tool.
Multiple isolated network segments
Machine vision, production LAN, MES and diagnostics are separate networks. Single-LAN PCs force external switches and routing complexity.
Equipment protocol interfaces
SECS/GEM over RS-232, digital I/O for motion interlocks, CAN for robotics subsystems. Fixed-I/O box PCs force adapters or the wrong configuration.
Long product lifecycle
Equipment runs 5 to 15 years. Parts and support have to be available across that whole window, not just at procurement.
One platform, two form factors
The EPC-102B runs the control loop inside the cabinet. The EPC-W15X2A is the operator interface on the tool face.
EPC-102B
- 4× Intel I210 independent GigE LAN
- 12th Gen Core up to i7-1255U, 32GB DDR5
- BlockCore modular I/O: RS232 / RS422 / RS485 / DIO / CAN
- Fanless with automatic fan-assist at peak load
- 9–36V DC, TPM 2.0, 0–50°C (extended -40–70°C)
EPC-W15X2A
- 15.6-inch FHD embedded panel PC
- IP65 front panel, fanless
- Panel-mount into the equipment front
- Operator HMI, inspection result display, recipe handling
- Same BlockCore modular I/O as the box platform
Two form factors, one platform family. The box PC sits in the equipment cabinet and runs the control loop. The panel PC replaces the operator terminal on the tool face, so HMI and control share the same I/O architecture and the same lifecycle commitment.
Where the platform fits on the line
Three stages of the semiconductor and electronics process where the same box PC appears.
Wafer inspection and AOI
Multiple GigE cameras feed image data to the control PC for real-time defect analysis. Four independent LAN ports connect up to four camera networks without a managed switch, which removes the latency and configuration overhead that affects inspection throughput.
- 4× GigE camera networks
- i7-1255U with 32GB DDR5 for real-time image processing
- Fanless cooling to meet cleanroom particle limits
Semiconductor dispensing and precision coating
Dispensing machines need precise motion timing and real-time feedback from vision systems monitoring dispense volume. The control PC has to hold consistent cycle times without thermal throttling that would introduce timing variability.
- Stable clocks under sustained load
- RS-232 add-in for SECS/GEM
- DIO for motion controller interlocks
SMT pick-and-place and reflow
The SMT controller talks to a board-level vision system, the MES tracking system and the line management network at the same time. Keeping them isolated prevents production data from sitting on management traffic.
- Three network segments plus a spare uplink
- TPM 2.0 for encrypted machine communication
- No external network hardware required
EPC-102B key specifications
The datasheet numbers that decide whether the platform fits the tool.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i3/i5/i7 12th Gen (up to i7-1255U, 4.7GHz) · 10th Gen · Celeron J6412 / J1900 |
| Memory | Up to 32GB DDR5 (12th Gen) / 32GB DDR4 (10th Gen) / 8GB DDR3L (Celeron) |
| Ethernet | 4× Intel I210 Gigabit LAN, independent, 10/100/1000M |
| USB | 4× USB 3.0 |
| Serial / I/O | Configurable via BlockCore: RS232 / RS422 / RS485 / DIO / CAN |
| Display | 1× HDMI |
| Thermal design | Intelligent hybrid: fanless passive in normal load, automatic fan-assist at peak load |
| Power input | 9–36V DC wide range · AT / ATX boot mode · SafeCore power-loss protection |
| Operating temperature | 0°C to 50°C standard · -40°C to 70°C extended (optional) |
| Security | TPM 2.0 hardware security module |
| Dimensions / weight | 337 × 160 × 47.5 mm · 2 kg |
| Certifications | CE · FCC · BIS (EN 55032 & EN 55035) |
| Lifecycle | Minimum 5-year production, EOL notice at least 12 months in advance |
Frequently asked questions
Short answers. The long versions are in the articles above.
Why do semiconductor equipment OEMs need multiple GigE LAN ports?+
Why is fanless design critical for cleanrooms?+
How does BlockCore handle different equipment protocols?+
What is the lifecycle commitment?+
Can the same platform drive the tool HMI?+
Specifying the platform
How the four requirements translate into a configuration.