Re: Motion Controllers

Scott Seidman wrote:

Tim Wescott <tim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in news:cO6dnWhYod3tCuzenZ2dnUVZ_tWdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxx:


All of the work I've done to date has involved writing custom code for custom boards -- and it works pretty well.

Now I've got a customer who may be best served with an off-the-shelf motion controller. My problem is that there are just too dang many of them! It seems like everyone and their brother make these things!

My technical needs are pretty basic -- an analog command input and an analog feedback need to be subtracted, with PID applied to the error signal and an output of either a PWM or analog drive to an amplifier

(an

on-board amplifier would be nice, but not necessary). Because the command and feedback are both velocities, the ability to monitor a position signal for limiting the drive would be nice but probably not necessary.

This would be for an OEM product, so just a board should be sufficient. If I'm not mistaken size won't be a problem unless the thing is implemented with 5881s (and they'd have trouble with 12V anyway). What _is_ important is that I have some flexibility in tuning it, the things are easy for my customer to configure once I find the right tuning,

that

I don't have to spend a bunch of time writing custom software for the thing, and that the product won't be obsoleted (or the company fold) before my customer is ready to move on to bigger and better things.

Anyone have any suggestions? I can google as fast as you can, what I'm really looking for are companies or products that you have direct experience with and can recommend with confidence.



Tim-

http://www.ni.com/motion/

I've generally been pretty happy about NI products. The question w/ their stuff will be how much of an off the shelf solution can they offer you, and how much of their software will you be tied to. That said, the product won't obsolete--NI has always been good with backwards compatiblity for their hardware. There's a pretty big user base, and lot's of sources of help when you need it. Also, the system is likely to meet all of your customer's needs for some time to come-- very flexible stuff.

The downer is the expense--there will likely be a computer in your loop somewhere.

The great thing about NI is their sales force. Contact your local rep with your specs, and see what he can wrap up for you. Your time commitment to look down this path will be minimal.

Thanks Scott. The thought of an NI-type solution running on PC-104 boards did cross my mind -- it's absurd overkill for what the customer needs at the moment, but it does put a PC in their product right where they'll need it in a few years.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com
.

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