Pacific Laser Equipment C-400 - Manual (Page 4)

Motor controller 4ch User manual
C-400
November 19, 2002 Release: 1.30 2002 by
Pacific Laser Equipment
PLEquipment, 3941 S. Bristol St. Unit D-122, Santa Ana, CA. 92704,
( 509-355-5155, Fax: 509-355-5155, Email: [email protected]
Page 4 of 21
1.2. Labels.
Rear panel labels indicate the functions for every connector, the unit serial number and display the
power requirements.
1.3. Operation.
Controller operates only controlled by a host PC via the serial cable provided with the unit.
The operating voltage for the DC motors may change in the range from –12V to +12 V.
Serial communication is set by factory to 9600 baud, 8 data, 1 stop, no parity. Internal buffers are used,
so there is no handshake required. Use a null modem cable for connection.
Setting Motion Control Parameters
Prior to commanding the connected motor or stage to move, the servo-control as well as the velocity
and acceleration values have to be set. If you are using host software with valid configuration files or
the C-400
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is set up to default to correct parameter settings, then you may skip this section.
Each stage could require its own set of parameters for proper operation.
They can be modified as appropriate for the actual setup. The settings are not particularly critical, so
you can vary parameters by +/- 50% to achieve better settling performance.
Operating Motors and Stages
Type MN<return>. C-400
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is now on-line and ready for motion. If the motor oscillates or begins to "run
away" when the MN command is given, remove power and read further before continuing.
Enter MR1000 <return>. The motor should move 1000 encoder counts in the positive direction. When it
stops, enter TP <return>. The position should be very close to 1000. Now enter TT,TE <return> in order
to read the target and the position error. This reports where the motor should be (1000) and the
distance of the actual position from this target. If the reported position was 998, then the reported error
will be 2. If the reported position was 1002, the reported error will be -2.
To read all values at the same time, enter TT,TP,TE <return>. Now all three values are reported.
Now enter MR-1000 <return>. The motor should return to zero, or home, position.
Press <return> again. The motor should move another 1000 counts in the negative direction. Press it
again and again. The motor should move each time.
Now try GH <return>. The motor should return to the position it occupied when power was applied.
Now for advanced programming: enter MR1000,WS100,TE <return>.
The motor should move 1000 counts positive. When it arrives at this position, it should report how close
it came to the target.
For a longer move, enter MR100000<return> and verify that the motor has moved that distance. Press
the <return> key again and see that the motor moves the same amount in the same direction. Press it
again and again. A GH<return> command will return to the previously defined HOME position.
While in motion, we could have entered TV and pressed the <return> key
as often as desired to read the actual number of encoder counts moved during the last 0.4 seconds.
Set the acceleration to a lower value, such as SA10000 <return> and see the velocity increase and
decrease over a longer period. Set the velocity to various values and issue commands to move to
various positions using either MA or MR commands.
Move the stage some distance away from the end, say 100,000 counts, and try this:
MR50000,WS100,WA500,MR-50000,WS100,WA500,RP9 <return>.
The stage should cycle back and forth 50,000 counts with a delay of a half-second at each end.
It should do this ten times—once by command followed by nine repetitions.