Product category:
Stepper and Servo Drives, Motors, Controls
News Release from: Baldor UK | Subject: NextMove PCI motion controller
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 08 February 2000
The PCI motion board with more I/O
This I/O-rich PCI motion board delivers complete machine control solutions - drives rotary/linear motors, cuts TTM for packaging, electronic, CNC, robotics - high-level language and Windows support
Baldor has launched a PCI-compatible motion controller which combines multi-axis motor control with extensive onboard I/O and machine-level networking, to deliver comprehensive machine control solutions for Windows platforms Called NextMove PCI, the compact board is based on a 32-bit floating-point DSP operating at 50MHz - providing intense number-crunching performance - and comes with analog and digital I/O, and CAN fieldbus expansion ports with support for the CANopen protocol
This allows the module to perform the most demanding multi-axis motion applications such as packaging, and in many instances to act as the central control system for machinery - eliminating the need for a separate I/O sub-system such as a PLC.
NextMove PCI comes with the unique MINT motion programming language, with its built-in hooks and API for 'C' programmers and popular PC rapid application development packages.
MINT provides a structured high-level development environment to speed designs to market.
Moreover, the MINT language is being standardised across Baldor's range of motion controllers and drives, providing OEMs and end-users with a programming standard which can increase productivity and reduce lifecycle costs for automation equipment.
Baldor's new board occupies only a 'Short PCI' slot (which means it can fit into PC-compatible VGA operator displays, for example) yet comes with eight axes of motor control, expandable to 12 via an add-on module.
Four axes may be used in closed-loop servo mode, with a 125-microsecond update capability.
The rest may be used for open-loop stepper control with a maximum step pulse frequency of over 3MHz.
The board includes enough on-board I/O to satisfy many common machine or automation tasks.
There are 20 user-configurable digital inputs - four of which can capture positions within 200nsec for ultra-fast product registration - and four 14-bit DAC outputs with incremental encoder feedback of up to 7.5MHz - providing the performance to support linear as well as rotary motors.
There are also 12 digital outputs which may be configured as PNP or NPN, and four 12-bit analog inputs.
Further I/O may be added via CAN.
The availability of the CAN fieldbus provides designers with considerable flexibility for machine design.
It supports the use of distributed intelligence for example, and/or distributed I/O.
Dual CAN channels extends flexibility even further, allowing the motion control element of the machine to be segregated from system-level and I/O communications, providing a dedicated link capable of responding fast enough for systems where axes must be tightly synchronized and interpolated.
One of NextMove PCI's CAN channels supports CANopen, an industry standard protocol for machine control, the other channel supports Baldor's own proprietary protocol which provides access to a wide range of add-ons including drives and motion control oriented operator interfaces.
The board comes with 2Mb of zero wait-state SRAM for program and data storage, plus 24kb of non-volatile RAM, and 4k of 32-bit wide dual-port RAM for communication with the host PC processor via the 32-bit, 33MHz PCI bus.
This latter memory array allows high speed memory mapping for fast update and retrieval of real-time data and control commands.
The number of axes may be extended to a maximum total of 12 using a choice of two expansion boards A termination board accessory is also available to simplify systems building.
Baldor's new MINTDrive provides the ideal complement for distributed control architectures based on NextMove PCI, by integrating a CAN-compatible single-axis brushless servo drive with a MINT motion controller and I/O, in a very compact package which offers numerous mounting options. Request a free brochure from Baldor UK ...
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