Joysticks smooth out servo control
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Quicksilver Controls product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
May 26, 2006
Controller/drivers for servo control of NEMA 17, 23 and 34 frame stepmotors accommodate a simple analogue joystick input to control position, velocity or torque.
QuickSilver Controls' line of controller/drivers for servo control of NEMA 17, 23 and 34 frame stepmotors accommodates a simple analogue joystick input to control position, velocity or torque.
Joysticks are useful for augmenting complex motion control systems for such things as computerised microscopes and vision systems.
On the fly, the controller can switch from joystick control to automated control.
An example would be using the joystick to pan around a product, pressing the button at several "interesting" points.
The controller would be able to memorise these points and move back to them latter for a more detailed inspection.
The addition of this simple feature requires more sophistication from the controller than you might expect.
The command from a joystick is anything but smooth.
Not only is the analogue signal noisy, but so is the hand controlling it.
The ends of travel are often nonlinear.
To inhibit motor movement when the joystick is released, the centre position needs a definable dead band.
The ratio of joystick movement to output needs to be configurable to allow for such things as fast and slow speed jogging.
QuickSilver's joystick command allows the user to filter, clip and scale incoming analogue joystick signal to create a smooth, well behaved output.
For example, let us say the user wants to use a joystick to command the servo to go from -2000 counts to +2000 counts.
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