Solution

APQ C6 Ultra Multi-LAN Ultra-Compact Embedded Industrial PC in Laser Cutting Equipment

As a core process in modern industrial manufacturing, laser cutting is widely used in high-end manufacturing fields such as sheet-metal processing, automotive manufacturing, aerospace, and 3C electronics. As laser power continues to increase, cutting precision requirements become more stringent, and smart manufacturing places growing demands on equipment networking, the complexity of laser cutting control systems has risen significantly. High-power laser cutting equipment must simultaneously connect to multiple types of devices, including laser controllers, motion control cards, vision positioning cameras, I/O modules, safety light curtains, gas pressure sensors, and factory MES systems.

After multiple rounds of model selection and rigorous field validation, the customer ultimately chose the APQ C6 Ultra Multi-LAN Ultra-Compact Embedded Industrial PC as the core control and data communication platform for its next-generation high-power laser cutting equipment.

Customer Challenge

High-speed communication with multiple devices: The laser cutting equipment must simultaneously connect to the laser controller, motion control card, cutting-head sensors, auxiliary gas valve assemblies, cooling system controller, dust extraction system, and other devices. This requires the core controller to provide multiple independent network interfaces so that data traffic can be separated without congestion.
Ultra-compact space constraints: Space inside the laser cutting equipment control cabinet is extremely limited. Especially under the design trend of “compact electrical control cabinets,” the controller must have an extremely compact footprint for flexible deployment in narrow spaces.
Real-time edge-side data processing: Real-time adjustment of cutting parameters, as well as process data acquisition and pre-processing, must be completed on the equipment side. This requires the controller to deliver sufficient computing performance while maintaining low power consumption so that it can adapt to the thermal conditions of an enclosed control cabinet.
Flexible deployment and expansion capability: Laser cutting equipment of different power classes and model types has varying requirements for controller mounting methods and functional expansion, making support for multiple installation options and modular expansion essential.
Adaptability to industrial site environments: Laser cutting workshops commonly involve temperature fluctuations, equipment vibration, and electromagnetic interference, so the controller must offer industrial-grade reliability, including wide-temperature operation and vibration/shock resistance.

APQ Solution

Four Gigabit Ethernet Ports for Parallel Multi-Device Communication:Laser cutting equipment must maintain real-time communication with multiple devices, including the laser source, motion control card, cutting-head sensors, and auxiliary systems. The C6 Ultra integrates four Intel® i210-AT Gigabit Ethernet controllers and provides four independent RJ45 LAN ports. In actual laser cutting deployments, these four LAN ports can realize physical isolation and data separation across four channels—for laser control, motion-system communication, sensor data acquisition, and host-computer monitoring—completely avoiding communication delays or packet loss caused by congestion on a single network path and ensuring efficient coordination among all subsystems during the cutting process.
Ultra-Compact Chassis for Flexible Integration in Limited Space:The C6 Ultra measures only 150.7 × 114.5 × 45 mm—only slightly larger than a smartphone. It adopts an aluminum-alloy heat sink with a zinc-coated steel chassis and supports three mounting methods: wall mounting, DIN-rail mounting, and desktop installation. As laser cutting equipment increasingly pursues “compact electrical control cabinet” design, the C6 Ultra’s ultra-compact size can be flexibly embedded into limited control-cabinet space, freeing up more installation room for other core components such as laser power supplies and servo drives.
Ultra Processor Combining Low Power Consumption and High Performance:The C6 Ultra is powered by an Intel® Core™ Ultra 5 125U processor with a TDP of only 15 W. It adopts a heterogeneous architecture consisting of 2P + 8E + 2LPE cores, for a total of 12 cores and 14 threads, with a maximum turbo frequency of up to 4.3 GHz. Equipped with one DDR5 SO-DIMM slot supporting up to 32 GB of memory, it delivers excellent multitasking capability under low-power conditions and can simultaneously handle laser control, motion control, vision positioning, data acquisition, and other tasks.
Rich Interfaces and Flexible Expansion for On-Demand Customization:The C6 Ultra provides four USB 5 Gbps Type-A ports and one HDMI display interface, making it convenient for connecting peripherals and for local debugging. For industrial communications, it supports optional configuration with one RS232/485 port and one RS232 serial port, enabling flexible access to sensors or industrial controllers. In terms of expandability, it includes one M.2 Key-M slot for NVMe SSD storage, one Mini PCIe slot, and one M.2 Key-E slot for expansion modules such as 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and CAN. More importantly, the C6 Ultra supports barebone-system delivery, allowing customers to select memory, storage, and expansion modules according to actual application scenarios, truly enabling “on-demand customization and efficient integration.”
Industrial-Grade Reliability for Demanding Laser Workshop Environments:Supports wide-temperature operation from 0 to 60°C and storage from -40 to 80°C, making it suitable for high summer temperatures and seasonal temperature variation in laser cutting workshops;Passed 3 Grms vibration testing and 30 G shock testing, ensuring continuous and stable operation under conditions such as cutting-head motion and auxiliary-system vibration;Supports 24 VDC power input, matching the common power-supply environment of laser cutting equipment control cabinets;Uses a PWM-controlled intelligent fan for active cooling, balancing cooling efficiency with power-consumption control.

Value Achievements:

Efficient coordination of multi-device communication: Four independent Gigabit Ethernet ports enable physical isolation and data traffic separation for laser control, motion-system communication, sensor acquisition, and host-computer monitoring. This completely resolves communication delays caused by network congestion in conventional single-port solutions and ensures efficient coordination among all subsystems during high-power laser cutting.
Significant savings in control-cabinet space: With its ultra-compact 150.7 × 114.5 × 45 mm chassis—only slightly larger than a smartphone—the C6 Ultra can be flexibly embedded into limited laser cutting control spaces, freeing more room for core components such as laser power supplies and servo drives and helping enable equipment miniaturization.
Low-power and highly reliable operation: The Ultra processor with a TDP of only 15 W, combined with PWM smart-fan cooling, supports long-term stable operation in enclosed control cabinets. Its 0–60°C wide-temperature operation and 3G anti-vibration design ensure continuous and reliable performance under conditions such as high summer workshop temperatures and equipment vibration.
Flexible configuration reduces overall cost: The barebone delivery model allows customers to select memory, storage, and expansion modules on demand. With flexible configuration based on a single hardware platform, it can cover the control requirements of laser cutting equipment across different power classes, significantly reducing inventory variety and overall cost.
Edge-side data pre-processing: The 12-core, 14-thread heterogeneous architecture provides ample multitasking capability, enabling cutting-process data acquisition, pre-processing, and protocol conversion on the equipment side, reducing the communication burden on the host computer and laying the foundation for subsequent remote equipment O&M and data-to-cloud deployment.