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GE Workmaster = IBM Portable PC?

vwestlife

vwestlife

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General Electric Workmaster (Fanuc)

I came across this computer on the web and it didn't take long for me to recognize it as an IBM 5155 Portable PC, painted black and with different drives and a different keyboard... but evidently the same hardware inside, as evidenced by the IBM Cassette BASIC screen.

Anybody have any more information on this oddity, besides what is posted on the web page? It's the first time I've heard of a General Electric-branded computer. A quick Google search indicates that the Workmaster was used for "industrial automation." So is this the IBM equivalent of the Bell & Howell black Apple ][ Plus?

system.jpg
 
The GE Workmaster was a PC that GE Fanuc (Charlottesville VA) sold to run GE Logicmaster 90 Software. LM90 is used to program GE Series 90-30 and 90-70 PLCs (programmable logic controllers.) Although LM90 runs fine on any other dos PC also, many people were used to buying the PLC programming workstation from GE (as is the case for Series Six PLCs).

The Workmaster is just a tightly packaged PC.

I have a GE 90-30 and use LM90 on a 486. The 90-30 (and I think 90-70) are still sold, however GE has introduced a new line called PAC3 and PAC7 that are much more advanced and cannot be programmed with LM90.

Lou
 
The Workmaster was introduced around 1986 as a programming tool for GE Fanuc Programmable Controllers. Prior to that, you needed a dedicated prgrammer. GE was among the first to introduce software for PLCs that could run under DOS. At first, they weren't willing to completely abandon proprietary hardware. As you've noted, the machine featured a different keyboard than the standard XT. What you can't see is that there is also a proprietary interface card that connected to the PLC. The interface card used two ISA slots. Initially GE only sold the programming software pre-installed on the Workmaster. A few years later they introduced an unbundled version of their programming software that could communicate with the PLC through a serial port.

The Workmaster shown weighed in at about 65 pounds which was a significant improvement over its predecessor, the Program Development Terminal. The PDT tipped the scales at just under 100 pounds. Because of stats like that I have to laugh when young whippersnappers today complain about having to "lug" their laptops out onto the shop floor to connect to their PLCs.

The Workmaster was superseded by the Workmaster II around 1990. The WM II was an IBM PS2 Model 70 with a 386 CPU. I still have one of those. It keeps me at the leading edge of obsolete technology.
 
I found this video showing one booting up, it says 286 so I wonder if the cpu is upgraded, if it’s an xt how does it say 286
 
286 processor does not guarantee AT architecture. Many 286 upgrade cards existed, and 286-powered XT class systems also existed, see some of the Tandy 286 models, or the IBM PC XT 286.
 
A-ko said:
286 processor does not guarantee AT architecture. Many 286 upgrade cards existed, and 286-powered XT class systems also existed, see some of the Tandy 286 models, or the IBM PC XT 286.
Click to expand...
The XT 286 had the AT architecture including 16-bit slots. The lower case height did prevent some AT cards from being installed.
 
saifbadri said:
I found this video showing one booting up, it says 286 so I wonder if the cpu is upgraded, if it’s an xt how does it say 286
Click to expand...

The Award Modular BIOS makes me think this unit had its motherboard swapped out. Baby AT motherboards that can replace a 5155/5160 motherboard were a dime a dozen in the late 80's.
 
The motherboard was replaced, but it still has the original IBM PC/XT keyboard -- although the colors of the key caps are reversed; the modifier keys are white and the normal keys are gray, rather than the other way around.

I thought maybe it used the key caps from the IBM Industrial keyboard, but no -- the colors on that are normal, not reversed.

001.jpg
 
As far as I am aware, the stock GE Fanuc Workmaster has a normal 5155 motherboard in it. It's been a while since I've opened it up.

GE_Fanuc_Workmaster (Large).jpg


vwestlife said:
I thought maybe it used the key caps from the IBM Industrial keyboard, but no -- the colors on that are normal, not reversed.
Click to expand...

For those who don't know these keyboards, the IBM Industrial XT keyboard is the same as the GE Fanuc keyboard and neither of them use the normal Model F type key switches. They use Oak full travel membrane (FTM) key switches. I am guessing in industrial settings it was thought the Model F keys were too fragile with dust and such. Later IBM Industrial keyboards used the normal Model M key switch like the consumer counterparts.

GE_Fanuc_Workmaster keyboard (Large).jpg

Santo
 
modem7 said:
Although, the IBM XT/286 (XT Model 286) is AT class.

(A gorilla dressed up in a chimpanzee costume.)
Click to expand...

Wow, didn't realize that. Learned something new today! the Tandy TL with the 8-bit slots but 286 processors are still technically XT though, correct?
 
A-ko said:
Wow, didn't realize that. Learned something new today! the Tandy TL with the 8-bit slots but 286 processors are still technically XT though, correct?
Click to expand...
The Tandy 1000s with a 286 processor are all XT-class machines. Even the 1000RLX, which has a high-density floppy drive, VGA graphics, PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports, and can support HIMEM.SYS and extended RAM, is still an XT-class machine, with no high IRQs or high DMAs, an XT keyboard interface, an 8-bit ISA slot, and an IDE-XT hard drive interface.
 
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