Hot motion controller uses Firewire

A combination of high speed processors, advanced software and the use of Firewire has enabled Aerotech to develop a fully digital servo motion solution that runs straight from a desktop PC

Aerotech's new motion control solution, the Automation 3200, controls up to 32 axes simultaneously and, according to the company, represents the future of control of motion, vision and I/O networks.

Hardware has been significantly reduced, as there is no specific motion controller hardware required. With Firewire not requiring expensive cabling, the number of cables has also been dramatically reduced. The PC does everything and installation is both quick and simple.

The key to the development of Automation 3200 lies in Firewire (IEEE-1 394), which transmits at up to 3.2Gb per second over fibre cable and is therefore anything from 30 to 1 000 times faster than any other motion network. The most significant feature of Firewire however, is its deterministic characteristic that enables commands to be sent to all nodes on the network and hence all servo loops simultaneously.

Motion engine

Aerotech's software development has resulted in a new motion engine (called nMotion) that gives features such as point-to-point motion, linear and circular interpolation, velocity profiling, lookahead, electronic gearing, cutter compensation and CNC functions for the machine tool industry, electronic cam profiling and position synchronised output. The software also allows fast position capture, dual loop control, axis calibration, orthogonal correction, 3D error mapping and other beneficial motion control features.

The Microsoft Windows based software is intuitive enough for first time users, but the tools have not been simplified to the detriment of experienced motion and vision engineers. The software has add-on modules for complete flexibility when specifying the system. There is a software programmable logic control (called nLogic PLC) that can be used to provide PLC functions with built in I/O, or to enable easy integration with other hardwired PLCs. Also for system integration, there are vision system control tools (called nVision VCM) and a software development kit for OEMs (called nControl SDK). A Man Machine Interface package (called nView MMI) is also available to turn the computer screen into an easy-to-use, customisable machine control panel.

The hardware consists only of the PC, compact digital servo amplifiers, Firewire cable and the motor/feedback. The amplifiers, which use a fast 80MHz DSP, are available as either standalone or in a high-density rack which contains up to six axes.

The single axis (called nDrive) gives a flexible distributed approach to the motion network and the Multi-Axis rack (called nPaq) saves valuable panel space. Processing is fast 64bit, with on-board 65536 times encoder multiplication per axis. Velocity, current and position loops are closed at 20kHz. Amplifiers are available from 5A continuous 10A peak up to 50A continuous and 100A peak, in both single or three phase versions for input voltages from 28VAC to 240VAC.

Aerotech
h148@industrialnetworking.co.uk