Movement controller marries Home windows with multi-axis engine
The UK controls developer Trio Movement Know-how used the latest SPS present to launch a brand new movement controller based mostly on Intel multi-core processors, which may run Microsoft Home windows alongside Trio’s personal Movement-iX core, allowing-machine builders to combine Home windows purposes with superior movement capabilities.
The PC-MCAT-2 controller provides high-speed EtherCat coordination of as much as 64 servo and robotic axes. It runs Microsoft Home windows 10 and offers a alternative of Intel processors from Celeron to Core i7, in addition to as much as 256GB of solid-state drive reminiscence. It may well combine with, and management, virtually any peripheral system, together with imaginative and prescient techniques or sensors. Ports embody HDMI, USB, serial and general-purpose digital I/O.
Three Ethernet ports permit the controller to ship high-speed hyperlinks from host machines to wider manufacturing facility networks. To reinforce community segmentation and bandwidth, every port has its personal IP deal with.
A equipped API library can be utilized in Home windows purposes, speaking with Trio’s Movement-iX movement management capabilities through a shared reminiscence interface. This offers a high-speed hyperlink to the movement engine and a versatile alternative of programming languages, permitting third-party SDKs to be built-in to ship superior machine management from a single software.
The controller can co-ordinate as much as 64 servo or robotic axes with 64-bit maths precision, EtherCat cycle occasions all the way down to 125μs, and movement command execution at speeds of as much as 500 traces/ms.
Combining Home windows-based machine management and movement coordination on the identical system removes the lag created by Ethernet connections to a separate PC.
Trio says the PC-MCAT-2 can scale back machine footprints and {hardware} prices. OEMs can reduce growth occasions by eradicating the combination and debugging wanted when utilizing separate {hardware}.
Trio’s PC-MCAT-2 controller can run Home windows alongside its personal Movement-iX core
Purposes could be written in Trio’s TrioBasic programming language, or in IEC 61131 languages with PLCopen. These languages execute on the Movement-iX core, independently of Home windows.
The one controller can improve reliability for end-users as properly, avoiding communications challenges that will develop after commissioning. The controller is protected by a rugged metallic case that improves warmth dissipation, whereas a fanless design reduces noise and upkeep necessities.
“The PC-MCAT-2 movement controller is a bonus for machine-builders who must deploy Home windows-based machine management purposes and set up IoT connectivity, alongside high-performance servo or robotic movement management,” says Trio Movement Know-how’s president, Tom Alexander. “Combining PC-MCAT-2 with our portfolio of controllers, servodrives and motors, I/O, HMI, and Scara robots, we current machine-builders with an automation answer that gives the very best efficiency movement management, with help from a single vendor.”
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