Product category:
Stepper and Servo Drives, Motors, Controls
News Release from: Copley Controls Corp | Subject: Boston Beans
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 23 February 2006
Beans mean simpler programming
Software components library eliminates the programming problems required to develop motion sequences in the complex language of motion control systems.
Copley Controls has announced its Boston Beans software components A library of Boston Beans eliminates the programming problems required to develop motion sequences in the complex language of motion control systems
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 5 Jul 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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As demand has risen for increasingly sophisticated motion sequences, servo amplifier processing power has increased in proportion.
Servo drives have in essence become controllers.
Trajectory generation and motion sequencing, stored in the amplifier's flash memory, is the norm.
Higher level PLC or PC-based system controllers can simply select a predefined sequence and command go.
But there's a price for modern servo amplifier autonomy and sophistication.
Programming languages are complex, and involve stacks of manuals and steep learning curves.
Sophisticated applications can involve many hours of implementation.
Copley has solved this with the Boston Beans Java software components.
These versatile, platform-independent software extensions - included on Copley's setup CD and on the web - accelerate the development of motion sequences with fill-in-the-blanks simplicity.
Users select the desired functions from a library of standard beans to build a motion sequence.
The program is then compiled and stored in the servo amplifier's flash memory.
The amplifier, exploiting its virtual processor capability, executes the Boston Bean motion sequence.
As Copley adds more beans to the pot, motion system builders can simply download them from the web: they automatically appear in the library picklist.
The firm's application engineers will work with OEMs faced with difficult design tasks to create application specific beans.
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