With the TwinCAT Runtime for Linux, Beckhoff is opening up new application possibilities for real-time control. In the future, several TwinCAT Runtimes can be executed on a single industrial PC for the first time, enabling users to combine different system parts on one large computer, for example. With this hardware consolidation, computing resources are better utilized. Furthermore, accessing a GPU (graphics card) from the real-time environment will be possible, which is used as a hardware accelerator for particularly computing-intensive applications such as vision.

TwinCAT Runtime for Linux is based on Beckhoff's own Linux distribution, which expands the choice of operating systems in addition to Windows and TwinCAT/BSD. The distribution was developed using the free Debian operating system and includes a Linux real-time kernel as standard for real-time execution of the runtime. The Debian package system also makes it easy to install additional software. Initially, the new CX82x0 and CX9240 Arm-based Embedded PCs will be offered with Linux runtime. The Beckhoff Linux distribution will then be successively rolled out for all other industrial and embedded PCs.