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Motion
Console - Functional Description |
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IMS Motion Console offers a new approach to motion system automation. Now, instead of spending weeks or months developing software, you can configure your system and define its motion and operation in minutes. We've achieved this with a design philosophy built not around electronics and protocols, but around you. |
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Here's what's included: Spreadsheet Interface and Automation Sequencer Motion Console's spreadsheet sequencer provides the ideal structure for entering, calculating and storing the parameters that define your system's motion. Position coordinates may be entered directly into the spreadsheet's four axis data columns, computed within the spreadsheet and copied and pasted from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Position coordinates may be augmented with speed and acceleration parameters if desired or formatted to represent distances for relative motion. Axis data cells may also be formatted to represent velocities rather than positions. Buttons provided in the user interface and on the wireless or wired control pad initiate storage of the system's current position in the spreadsheet. Motion to the position defined in a spreadsheet row may be initiated by clicking in or selecting the cell in the first (header) column of that row or by using the step and recall buttons available in the application interface and on the control pad. Run buttons are provided in the application interface and on the control pad to initiate execution of the motion sequence defined in the spreadsheet. Additional columns are available for annotation, execution flow control, pauses and timed delays. These spreadsheet features in combination radically reduce the time required to define your system's operation compared to conventional programming approaches. Four Axis Wireless or Wired Joystick Control with Optional Control Pad High quality wireless and wired control pads are available for use with Motion Console. These control pads provide four axis jog velocity control. Three button selectable full scale speed ranges, configurable linear, quadratic or cubic joystick response curves and configurable dead-band are provided. These features allow precise joystick control from the lowest to the highest speeds without adjustment. In addition, the control pad provides joystick based spreadsheet navigation and position recall. It also provides buttons for spreadsheet position storage, recall and sequence execution. Powerful and Easy to Use Configuration Capabilities Motion Console allows you to quickly and intuitively configure your system. Scaling is readily accomplished in Motion Console's configuration window either by entering a value for displacement per encoder count or by computing this value using the included resolution calculator. Radio buttons and drop down boxes are provided for hardware assignment and serial port selection respectively. Distance and time units, low, medium and high velocities, accelerations, step sizes, axis names and name fonts (standard or Greek), axis type (linear or rotary), direction sense, homing parameters, joystick response curves (linear, quadratic, cubic), joystick dead-band, backlash compensation distances and directions and serial peripheral device communication parameters are all configurable. Configurations may be stored to a configuration file or stored as part of the complete Motion Console workspace. Video Interface Motion Console includes a video interface allowing direct connection to DirectShow and DCAM compatible cameras. General Purpose Serial Communication for Peripheral Equipment Since many systems also include computer controlled electronic equipment not directly related to motion, Motion Console allows data to be written from the spreadsheet to any serial device. Data may also be retrieved from any serial device and stored in the spreadsheet. Port configuration and message formatting capabilities are included. Automatic Backlash Compensation Many motorized systems exhibit some degree of backlash or mechanical slop. When backlash is sufficiently large to degrade system performance, automatic backlash compensation may be applied to minimize its effect. When enabled, the destination position is always approached from a selected direction and from at least a specified distance. In this manner, system backlash is "taken up" during the approach, resulting in a higher degree of repeatability than otherwise achievable. Compensation may be enabled following position mode moves, velocity mode jogs or both. Workflow Optimized Point and Click Control The Motion Console user interface has been optimized to minimize the effort required to produce the motion you need. Whether you're running "on the fly" with joysticks or dual speed jog buttons, stepping over a grid using the configurable array positioning capabilities or generating a custom motion sequence for repeated execution, Motion Console gives you the features you need, where you need them to accomplish your objectives with minimal effort. Motion Controller Simulators Motion controller simulators may be used in place of actual motion controller hardware. This feature is useful for evaluating application functionality in the absence of motion controller hardware. Optional Application Programming Interface
For systems that must
be controlled by your own software, the Motion Console application
programming interface allows you to take control of your motion equipment
at a high level, without having to worry about serial communication,
position data storage, scaling or other factors that complicate software
development. Using the Motion Console API it is possible to start
Motion Console, open a workspace and execute a complex sequence of moves
with less than a half page of code. The API may be accessed with C,
C++, VBA (including Excel macros), VB6 and .NET languages. Please
request the API version when ordering.
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