RoboteQ Dual Channel Digital Motor Controller AX1500 manual

AX1 50 0 Dual Chann el Digital Motor Contr oller User ’ s Manual v1 .9b, Jun e 1, 2007 visit www .ro boteq. com to d ownload th e latest revision o f this man ual ©Cop yright 2003-2007 R obote q, Inc.[...]

2 AX1 500 Motor Controll er User’ s M anual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manu al 3 Revision History The inf ormation contained in this man ual is beli ev ed to be accura te and reli able. Ho we ver , it ma y contain e rrors that w ere not no ticed at ti me of publ ication. U ser’ s are e xpected to perf orm thei r own pro duct v alidat ion and n ot rely so lely on d ata contained i[...]

4 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 5 Re vision Hi story 3 SECTION 1 Impo rt ant S af et y W arn ings 13 This produc t is inte nded for use with rec harge able ba t terie s 13 A void Sho rts when M ounting Board against Chassis 13 Do no t Con nect t o a R C Ra dio wi th a B at ter y At tac hed 13 Be ware of Motor Runa wa y in Impr operly C [...]

6 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 SECTION 5 Genera l Operat ion 39 Ba sic Oper ation 39 Inpu t Com mand Modes 39 Selec ting the Moto r Control Mo des 40 Open Loop, Sepa rate Speed Control 40 Open Loop, Mi xed Speed Cont rol 40 Closed Loop Speed Con trol 41 Close Loop P osi tion Cont rol 41 User Sel ected Cu[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 7 Recommended Encode r T ypes 68 Installi ng th e Encod er Modu le 69 Conne cting the Encode r 70 Cable Lengt h and Nois e Consider ations 71 Motor - Enco der P olarity Matc hing 72 V o lt age Le vels, Thresholds and Limit S witches 72 W iring Opti onal Limit Switc hes 73 Wiring Limit Swit c hes Withou t [...]

8 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Adjust Offset and M ax Spe ed 96 Contro l Loop Descr iption 96 PID tuning in S peed Mode 97 SECTION 10 Normal and Fault Condit ion LED Mess ages 99 Po w e r O n L E D 99 Diag nostic L ED 99 Normal O peratio n Flashing P at t ern 99 Output O f f / Fault Conditio n 10 0 SECTI[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 9 Conne ctor I/O Pi n Assignment (RS 232 Mode) 122 Cable c onfigurat ion 123 Extendi ng the RS232 Ca ble 123 Commu nica tion S et tings 124 Est ablishing Manual C ommunicati on with a P C 124 RS232 Communi cation wi th the Enco der Mod ule 125 Enterin g RS232 from R/ C or Anal og mode 126 Dat a Logging St[...]

10 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Contro ller Ident ificat ion Register 144 Current Amp s Limit Register s 14 4 RS232 Encoder Comma nd Set 145 Read Encoder Counter 145 Set/Reset E ncoder Co unters and Destin ation Regis ters 145 Rea d S pe ed 146 Read Di st ance 14 7 Re ad Speed /Distance 147 Re ad Encoder[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 11 Logging Dat a to Dis k 17 3 Conne cting a Joystic k 174 Using t he Console 174 Vie wing and Logging Da ta i n Analog and R/C Modes 176 Loading and S aving Profiles to D isk 176 Operati ng the AX 1 50 0 ov er a W ire d or Wi reless LAN 17 6 Upda ti ng the C ontr olle r ’ s Sof tware 178 Upda ting the [...]

12 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 13 SECTION 1 Impor tant S afety W arnings Read this Section First The AX1500 is a high po wer electr onics device. Ser ious damag e, includi ng fire, may occur t o the uni t, motors, wir ing and bat t er ies as a r esult of its mis use. T ransist ors ma y explode and r equire the use of s af ety gla sses [...]

Imp ortant S afety Wa rnings 14 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 15 SECTION 2 AX1 50 0 Quic k Star t Thi s sectio n will g ive you t he basic inf ormation needed to quic kly install, s et up and r un you r AX1 500 controller i n a minim al configura tion. What you will need F or a minimal installation , gather the foll owin g compon ents: • One AX1 5 00 Controlle r a[...]

AX1 50 0 Qu ic k Start 16 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 The front side (s how n in Figure 1) contains the P ow er/St at us LED and the 1 5-pin conn ector to the R/C ra dio, jo ystic k or microcomputer , as w ell as con nections to o ptional swi tc hes and senso rs. At the bac k of the controlle r (sho wn [...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 17 Connecting to the Bat teries and Moto r s Connecting to the Bat teries and Motors Connecti on to the ba t teries and m otors is sho wn in the figure bel ow a nd is done by c on- necting wires to the c ontroller ’ s terminal strip. 1 - Conn ect eac h motor to one of the two M+ and M- term inal pairs. [...]

AX1 50 0 Qu ic k Start 18 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Importa nt W arning Do not r ely on cuttin g pow er to the contr oller f or it to tur n of f if the P ower Co ntr ol is lef t floating. I f mot ors ar e spi nning because the r obot is pushed ar e pushed or because of inerti a, they will act as gener[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 19 Connecting the R/C Radio Connecting t he R/C Radio Connect the R/C adapter cable s to the controll er on one side and to two or thre e c hannels on the R/C r eceiv er on the other side . If present , the third c hannel is f or activ ating the access or y ou tputs a nd is op tion al. When opera ting the[...]

AX1 50 0 Qu ic k Start 20 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 P ow ering On the Cont ro ller Impor tant r eminder: T here is no On-Of f switc h on the controlle r . Y ou m ust insert a switc h on the controller ’ s po we r termin al as descr ibed in sectio n “ Connec ting to the Bat teries a nd Motors ” o[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 21 Connecting the contr oller to your PC using Roborun Connecti ng the contr oller to y o ur PC us ing Roboru n Connecti ng the con troller to y our PC is not nec essary for ba sic R/C op eration. Ho we ver , it is a v ery simple procedure that is us eful f or the f ollo wing pu rposes: • to R ead and S[...]

AX1 50 0 Qu ic k Start 22 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 The intuitive G raphica l Use r Inter face will l et you view an d c hange any of the c ontrol ler ’ s paramet ers. The “ Ru n ” ta b w ill pres ent a num ber of bu t tons, dials and c harts that are used f or operating a nd monito ring the mo [...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 23 SECTION 3 AX1 50 0 Motor Contr oller Ov er vie w Congrat ulations! B y selecting R oboteq ’ s A X1 5 00 you have empowered your self with the industry ’ s most v ersatile , and prog rammable DC Motor Controller f or mobile robots. This manual will gui de y ou step b y step through i ts man y po ssi[...]

AX1 50 0 Moto r Con tr olle r Ov er vie w 24 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 The motors ar e driv en using high-ef ficienc y P ow er MOSFE T transi stors con trolled us ing Pulse W idt h Modul ation (PWM) at 1 6kHz. The AX1500 power st age s can ope rate f rom 12 to 40VD C and can sustain up to 30 A of cont[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 25 T ec hnical features • User defi ned purpos e (R S232 mod e only) • 2 Extra an alog inp uts. Used as: • P otentiomete r input for po sition wh ile in a nalog co mmand mo de • User defi ned purpos e (R S232 mod e only) • One S witc h inpu t configura ble as • Emergenc y stop comman d • R e[...]

AX1 50 0 Moto r Con tr olle r Ov er vie w 26 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 • 20A e xtended • High cur rent op eration ma y b e ext ended wit h forc ed cooling • 1 25A peak Amps per c hannel • 1 6kHz Pu lse Width Modul ation (PWM) output • Au xiliary output f or brak e, clutc h or armat ure e xci[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 27 P o wer Connections SECTION 4 Connecting P o w er and Motor s to the Contr oller Thi s section des cribes the AX1 50 0 Controller ’ s co nnections to po wer s ources a nd motors. Importa nt W arning Please f ollow the instr uction s in this sectio n very car efully . An y problem due t o wir- ing er [...]

Connecting P ower and Motors to the Controller 28 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Co ntro ll er P ower The AX1 50 0 uses a flexible pow er supply sc heme that is best des cribed in Fi gure 8. In this diagram, i t can be s een that th e po wer for the Controller ’ s microcomputer is se parate from this of [...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 29 Controller P ower When po wered on ly via the P ow er Control input, the con troller w ill t urn On but motors will not be a ble to t urn until po wer is als o present on th e VMot termi nals. The P ower Cont rol in put also ser ves as th e Enab le signa l for the DC/ DC converter . W hen floating or p[...]

Connecting P ower and Motors to the Controller 30 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 All 3 grou nd (-) are connecte d to eac h other ins ide the con troller . The tw o main ba t ter y wires a re also con nected to eac h other inte rnally . How e ver , yo u must ne ver assu me that connec ting one w ire of a gi[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 31 Controller P owe ring Sc hemes The re is no n eed to inser t a separate switc h on P owe r cables, although f or saf ety reasons, it is highly recommend ed that a w ay of qu ic kly disconnecti ng the Motor P ow er be pro vided in the c ase of loss of c ontrol and a ll of the AX1 50 0 saf et y f eature [...]

Connecting P ower and Motors to the Controller 32 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Importa nt W arning Unless y ou can ensur e a st eady 12V to 4 0V volta ge in all conditions, it is r e com- mend ed th at th e battery u sed to power the c ontroll er ’ s elec tronics be separate from the one us ed to p ow [...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 33 Single Channel O peration If yo u ar e using this type of mot or , mak e sur e that it is mounte d on isolat ors and that its casi ng will not caus e a shor t cir cuit with other mot ors and cir cuits whic h ma y also be i nadv ert ently connect ed t o the sam e metal ch assis. Single Channel Operation[...]

Connecting P ower and Motors to the Controller 34 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 It will be saf e to wire in p arallel the c ontroller ’ s outputs onl y af ter you h av e ve rified that both outp uts react ide ntically to c hannel 1 comm ands. Po we r F u s e s F or low Ampera ge appli cations (be low 30[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 35 Electrical Noise Reduc tion T echn iques be ampli fied be yond the con troller ’ s capability to corre ct them. T his is partic ularly the case f or the main bat ter y po we r wires. Importa nt W arning A void us ing long ca ble lengths (be yo nd 2 f eet) from the main po wer b att ery to the contr o[...]

Connecting P ower and Motors to the Controller 36 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Please dow nload the Applicati on Note “ Understandi ng Regen eration ” from the www .roboteq .com f or an in-dep th disc ussion of this co mple x but important topic. Importa nt W arning Use the AX1500 only with a r ec ha[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 37 Using the Controlle r with a P ow er Supply • Use a p ow er sup ply that wil l not suf f er dama ge in ca se a v olt age i s applie d at its output that is higher tha n the transformer ’ s own output v oltage. T his inf ormation is seldom p ublished in comme rcial po wer su pplies, s o it is n ot a[...]

Connecting P ower and Motors to the Controller 38 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 39 Basic Operat ion SECTION 5 General Operation Thi s sectio n discusses the co ntroller ’ s normal op eration in all i ts suppor ted operating mode s. Basic Operation The AX 150 0 ’ s oper ation c an be su mmari zed as follows: • Recei ve c ommands from a radio receiv er , joy stic k or a mic rocom[...]

General O peration 40 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Selecting the Moto r Control Modes F or eac h motor , the AX1 500 supports mu ltiple mo tion control m odes. T he con troller ’ s fac- tory def ault mode is O pen L oop Speed control f or eac h motor . T he mode can be c hanged usi ng any of the meth o[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 41 Selecting the Motor Contr ol Modes Closed Loop Speed Contr ol In this mode, illu strated in Figure 1 6, an anal og tac hometer or a n optical encoder is us ed to measure the act ual moto r speed. If the sp eed c hanges beca use of c hanges in load, the controll er automa tically com pensates the po wer[...]

General O peration 42 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 User Selected Current Limit Set tings The AX1 50 0 has cu rrent sen sors at e ac h of its t wo outpu t st ages. Ever y 1 6 m s, this cu rrent is mea sured and a correcti on to the o utput po we r lev el is applied if higher than the us er preset v alue. [...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 43 Battery Cu rren t vs . Mot or Cur ren t The numb ers i n the tab le ar e the ma x Amp s allowed by the c ontr oller at a gi ven temp era- t ure poin t. If the Amps li mit is ma nually set to a lo wer v alue, then the c ontroller wil l limit the cur rent to t he lo wes t of the man ual and tem perat ure[...]

General O peration 44 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 The relation between B at ter y Cur rent and Motor cur rent is gi ven in the f ormula b elow: Motor Cu r r ent = Bat tery Cur rent / PWM R atio Example: I f the contro ller reports 1 0A of bat ter y cur rent while at 1 0% PWM, the cur rent in the motor i[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 45 Pr ogrammable Accel eration P rogrammable A cceleration When c hanging speed co mmand, th e AX1 500 will go from th e present s peed to th e desir ed one at a user s elect ab le accel erati on. This feature is ne cessar y in ord er to min imize the surge curr ent and m ec hanical stre ss during abr upt[...]

General O peration 46 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Importa nt W arning Depending on the load ’ s w eight and ine rtia , a quic k acceler ation can cause consider- able cur r ent sur ge s from the bat te r ies int o the mot or . A quic k deceler ation will ca use an equall y lar ge, or possibly larg er [...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 47 Lef t / Right T uning Adjustment The AX1500 i s deliver ed wit h the “ linear ” curves selected fo r both jo ystic k c hannels . T o select di f f erent cur ve s, the user wil l need to c hange the v alues of “ E ” (c hann el 1) an d “ F ” (c hannel 2) ac cording to the table belo w . Ref e[...]

General O peration 48 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 is f ound on a ll R/C trans mit ters, and w hic h is act ually an of fset cor rection, th e Lef t/Right A djustmen t is a tr ue multiplic ation f actor as sho wn in Fi gure 20 The curves on the lef t sho w ho w a gi ven for w ard directi on comma nd v al[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 49 Activ ating Brake Release or Separate Motor Ex cita tion Activ ating Br ak e Releas e or Separate Moto r Ex cit ation The controlle r may b e configu red so tha t the Outpu t C will t urn On whene ver o ne of the two moto rs is r unning. T his f eat ure is typica lly used to activ ate the m ec hanical [...]

General O peration 50 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Special Use of Accessory Digital Inputs The AX1 500 includes t w o genera l purpose digital input s identifi ed as Inp ut E and In put F . When an Encoder Mo dule is i nstalled, input E is disa bled. T he location o f these in puts on the DB1 5 co nnecto[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 51 AX1 50 0 Connections SECTION 6 Connecting S e nsor s and A ctuator s to Input/Outputs Thi s sectio n descri bes the v arious inputs and ou tputs and prov ides gui dance on how to conne ct senso rs, ac tuators or o ther ac cessor ies to t hem. AX1 50 0 Conn ections The AX1 500 uses a set of pow e r wire[...]

Connecting S ensor s and A ctuators to Input/Outputs 52 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 AX1 50 0 ’ s Inputs and Outp uts In addi tion to t he RS2 32 and R/C c hannel commun ication l ines, the AX1 50 0 in cludes s ev- eral inputs and o utputs for v arious sensors and act uators. Depend ing on the selec te[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 53 AX1 50 0 ’ s Inputs and Outputs When the controller operates i n modes that do not use the se I/O , these s ignals b ecome av ailable f or use r applicat ion. Belo w is a summary of the av ailable sign als an d the mode s in whic h the y are used b y the controller or av ailable to the use r . T ABLE[...]

Connecting S ensor s and A ctuators to Input/Outputs 54 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 I/O List an d Pin Assi gnment The figure and table b elow lists all the i nputs and o utputs that a re av ailable on the AX1 500. T ABLE 8. DB15 conne ctor pin assignmen t Pin Numbe r Input or Output Signal depending on [...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 55 Connecting devic es to Output C **T hese con nections should only be d one in R S232 mo de or R/C m ode with rad io po w- ered from the con troller . Connecti ng devi ces to Output C Output C is a buf f ered, Open Drain MOSFE T output capable of drivin g ov er 2A at up to 24V . The diagrams o n Figure [...]

Connecting S ensor s and A ctuators to Input/Outputs 56 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Importa nt w arning: Ov ervoltag e spik es induce d by s witch ing inductiv e loads, s uch a s solenoid s or r ela ys, will destr oy the tr ansis tor unles s a pr ot ection diode is used. Connecting S witc hes or Devices[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 57 Connecting S witc hes or De vices to EStop/In vert Input The status of Input F ca n be read in the RS 232 mode with the ?i comma nd string. The co n- troller w ill resp ond with three sets o f 2 dig it numbers . Th e status of In put F is contained in the second set o f num bers and may be 0 0 to indi [...]

Connecting S ensor s and A ctuators to Input/Outputs 58 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 The stat us of the ES top/In v can be read at all times in the R S232 mod e with the ?i com- mand s tring. The con troller wil l respond w ith three se ts of 2 dig it numbers. The s tatus of the ES/In v Input is containe[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 59 Connecting T ac hometer to Analog Inputs Connecti ng the pote ntiomet er to the co ntroller is as simple as sho wn in the diagr am on Figur e 28. The potentiom eter must be at tac hed to the motor fra me so th at its body does no t mov e in relation ship wit h the motor . The potentiom eter axle must b[...]

Connecting S ensor s and A ctuators to Input/Outputs 60 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Since th e controll er only acc epts a 0 to 5V positiv e voltage as its i nput, the ci rcuit sho wn in Figure 29 mus t be used between the controlle r and the tac home ter: a 1 0kOhm poten tiom- eter i s used to sc ale t[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 61 Connecting External Thermistor to Analog Inputs Connecti ng External Thermi stor to An alog Input s Using e xternal thermist ors, the AX1 50 0 can be made to su pervise the motor ’ s tempera- t ure and adjust the pow er ou tput in case of ov erheating. Connectin g thermisto rs is done accord ing to t[...]

Connecting S ensor s and A ctuators to Input/Outputs 62 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 T o read the tem pera ture, us e the ?p command to ha ve t he controller return the A/D con- ve rter ’ s value. T he value is a si gned 8-bi t hex adecima l valu e. Use th e c hart data to con ve rt the ra w reading in[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 63 Connecting User De vices to Analog Inputs Meas ur ed volts = ((contr oller r e ading + 128) * 0 .255) -5 Note: The A/D con ver ter ’ s reading is retu rned b y the ?p comma nd and is a signe d 8-bit hex adecim al v alue. Y ou mu st add 1 28 to bring its ra nge from -1 27/+1 27 to 0/255. Connecting Us[...]

Connecting S ensor s and A ctuators to Input/Outputs 64 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 The se sensors are used to automatic ally reduce the maximum Amps that the controlle r can de live r as it o verheats. H ow e ve r , the temp erat ure can b e read usi ng the R S232 port using th e ?m quer y , or during [...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 65 Internal Heats ink T emperature S ensors else { LoTemp =i*5-4 0 ; HiTemp = LoTemp + 5; lobound = TempTable[i]; hibound = TempTable[i+1]; temp = LoTemp + (5 * ((AnaValue - lobound) *100/ (hibound - lobound)))/100; return temp; } }[...]

Connecting S ensor s and A ctuators to Input/Outputs 66 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 67 Optical Increm ental Encoders Overview SECTION 7 Installing, Connecting and Using the Encoder Module Thi s sectio n descri bes the En coder input mo dule t hat ma y be added to the AX1 500. Optical Incremental Encoder s Overview Optic al incre ment al enc oder s are a mea ns for capturin g speed and tr[...]

Installing, Connecting and Using the E ncoder Mod- 68 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 The figure bel ow s how s the typical co nstr uction of a quadra ture e ncoder . As the disk rotates in front o f the stationary mask, it shut ters light from the LED . The lig ht that passe s through the mask is recei ved[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 69 Installing the Encoder Module Specifi cally , the encod er module can proc ess 250, 00 0 coun ts per sec onds. A s discu ssed in the pre vious secti on, a cou nt is generate d for e ac h transition o n the Channel A and Channel B . The refore the module will w ork with encod ers output ting up to 62,50[...]

Installing, Connecting and Using the E ncoder Mod- 70 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 2- Car efully insert the encod er module on top of the two hea ders present o n the contro l- ler ’ s main board and sho wn in Fi gure 38. B ew are that the tw o mat ting con nectors are p re- cisel y aligne d. 3- T he e[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 71 Cable Length and Noise Considerations Cable Length and Noise Considerations Cable shou ld not ex ceed one 3 ’ (one meter) to a v oid electric al noise to be capt ured by th e wiring. A f errite co re filter mus t be used f or le ngth be yo nd 2 ’ (60 cm). F or lo nger cable length u se an os cillos[...]

Installing, Connecting and Using the E ncoder Mod- 72 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Importa nt W arning Exc essive cable le ngth will caus e electr ical noise t o be captu r ed by the contr oller and cause e r ratic fun ctioning that ma y lead to f ailur e. In such situat ion, st op oper ation immed iatel[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 73 Wiring Optional Limit S witc hes In Figure 42, the encoder and swit c hes are w ired to the enco der module using a se t of resis tors desig ned to create a mult i-level sig nal com bini ng bot h piec es of i nformati on. Details on the ne cessary wiring i s pro vided in the ne xt secti on. Since th e [...]

Installing, Connecting and Using the E ncoder Mod- 74 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Using thi s circuit w hen the sw itc h is open, a 0V (low -le vel ) output from the encod er goes through a 1k an d 4.7k v olt age di vider , thus crea ting a v oltage that will ne ver be belo w 0.8V at the en coder mod ul[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 75 Wiring Limit S witc hes Without Encoders Wiring Li mit Switc hes Wi thout En coder s If no enc oder is u sed, the En coder Mod ule ’ s input s can be used t o wire limit switches dire ctly wit h sole ly a pul l-up re sistor as shown in t he diag ram bel ow . Ef f ect of Limit Switc hes Eac h pair of [...]

Installing, Connecting and Using the E ncoder Mod- 76 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 In Singl e Channel Mode, limit sw itc hes 3 and 4 are use d. Th is is to a llow direct c onnection of an e nco der on t he inp uts for c han nel 1 an d dir ect co nnect ion of swit c h es on t he inp uts f or c hannel 2 Us[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 77 Using the Encoder to T rac k P osition A simpl e procedu re is in cluded i n the R obor un PC utili t y to easily determine and se t these paramet ers. F or informat ion, the e xact f ormula is sho wn belo w: M eas ur ed Sp ee d V alu e = RP M * P PR * 4 * ( Ti me Ba se +1 ) * 25 6 / (6 0 * 1 000000) o[...]

Installing, Connecting and Using the E ncoder Mod- 78 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Th e a ctu al fo r mu la is a s fo l low s : Dis tance = (Des tination - Count er value) / Divider Where: di vider is a configu rable parame ter of v alue 1, 2, 4, 8, 1 6, 32, 64 or 1 27 If compu ted distance i s less tha [...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 79 Encoder T esting and Set ting Using the PC Utility Encoder T esting and S et tin g Using t he PC Utility Extensi ve di agnostic , calibrati on, set ting and testin g support is pro vided in the R obor un PC utili t y . Basi c inst ruc tions on ho w to install a nd r un the PC utili ty can be f ound in [...]

Installing, Connecting and Using the E ncoder Mod- 80 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 81 Mode Description SECTION 8 Closed Loop P osition Mode Thi s section des cribes the AX1 500 P o siti on mode, ho w to wire the moto r and position sen- sor assem bly and how to tu ne and op erate the contro ller in th is mode. Mode Desc ription In this mode, the axle o f a geare d-dow n motor i s coupl [...]

Closed Loop P osition Mode 82 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 P osition S ensor S election The AX1 500 may b e used w ith the f ollo wing ki nd of sen sors: • P otentiometers • Hall ef f ect a ngular se nsors • Optical Encoders (w ith Encode r Module) The first two a re used to generate an an alog vo [...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 83 Feedba c k Potentiometer wiring The m ec hanical coupling between the motor an d the sen sor must b e as tigh t as poss ible. If the gear bo x is loose, th e position ing will not be accu rate and w ill be unstable , potential ly causing the motor to os cillate. Some sens or , suc h as potent iometers,[...]

Closed Loop P osition Mode 84 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Feedbac k P otentiometer wiring in Analog Mode When the c ontroller is config ured in Ana log mode , the anal og inputs 1 and 2 are used f o r comman ds whil e the analog inputs 3 and 4 are used f or f eedbac k. Analog in puts 3 an d 4 have dif f[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 85 Analog F eedbac k on Single Channel Controllers Analog F eedbac k on Single Channel Contr ollers On Sing le Channe l controllers (SC V ersion - not to be confus ed with Dua l Channe l control- lers o f which only on e c h annel is used for posit ion co ntrol - See “ Single Cha nnel Oper a- tion ” o[...]

Closed Loop P osition Mode 86 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Thi s wiring is also the one to use when the contro ller is in Ana log mode but switc hed to R S232 af ter reset us ing the me thod disc ussed i n “ Entering RS232 from R/C or Ana log mode ” on page 1 26 Using Optical En coder s in P osi tion[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 87 Encoder Err or Detection and Pr otection 10 . If the motor t urns in th e direction a wa y from the sen sor , then the polari t y is rev ersed. T he wire pol arity on the mot ors shoul d be e xc han ged. If using a potent i- ometer as sensor , the GND and +5V wires on the potentiometer may be swapped i[...]

Closed Loop P osition Mode 88 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 The diode pola rity depends on the pa rticular wi ring and moto r orientation used in the appl i- cation. If the diod e is mounted bac kwards , the moto r will not stop once the limit sw itc h lev er is pressed . If this is the case, r ev erse th[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 89 Using Current Limiting as Pr otection Importa nt W arning Limit switc hes must be use d when oper ating the controll er in P osition Mode. Thi s will sign ificantly r educe the r isk of mec hanical damag e and/or injury in c ase of dam- age to the position s ensor or sensor wir ing. Using Cur rent Limi[...]

Closed Loop P osition Mode 90 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 A higher P roportional Gain will cause t he algorit hm to appl y a higher l ev el of po wer f or a giv en measur ed error , thus making the motor mo ve qui c ke r . B ecause of inertia , how ever , a f aster mo ving motor wi ll hav e more dif fic[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 91 PID tuning in P osition Mode The Rob orun PC utility mak es this e x peri mentation easy by pro viding one scre en for c han g- ing t he Pro portional, Integral and Dif fe rential ga ins and another scre en fo r r unning a nd monitori ng the moto rs. When t uning the motor , first start with the Integ [...]

Closed Loop P osition Mode 92 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 93 Mode Description SECTION 9 Closed Loop Speed Mode This s ection disc usses the AX1500 C lose Loop S peed mode . Mode Desc ription In this mode, an analog or digital sp eed sens or meas ures the a ctu al motor speed a nd com- pares i t to the desi red sp eed. If the spe ed c hanges b ecause of c han ges[...]

Closed Loop Speed Mode 94 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Detailed i nforma tion on ho w to install and w ire optical encoders is pro vided at “ Inst al ling , Connecti ng and U sing the Enc oder Modul e ” on pa ge 67. If using optical encoders , omit the An alog T ac homete r discus sion in th is secti[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 95 Speed Sens or and Motor P olarity Speed S ensor and Mot or P olarity The tac hometer o r enco der polari t y (i .e. whic h rotation dire ction prod uces a pos itive of negativ e speed inf ormation ) is related to the motor ’ s ro t ation sp eed a nd the d irect ion t he motor t urns when po we r is a[...]

Closed Loop Speed Mode 96 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 A djust Offset and Max Speed F or proper opera tion, the c ontroller mu st see a 0 analog s peed v alue (2 .5V v oltage on the analog input). T o adjust th e 0 v alue when th e motors ar e stopped , use the Robor un utility to vie w the analog in put[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 97 PID tuning in Speed Mode The Dif fere ntial com ponent of the a lgorithm c omputes the c hanges to the er ror from one 1 6 ms time peri od to the ne xt. Thi s c hange will be a relativ ely la rge number ev er y time an abr upt c hange o ccurs on the desi red speed v alue or the me asured spee d va lue.[...]

Closed Loop Speed Mode 98 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 In Speed Mo de, the Integra l compone nt of the PID is the most important and mus t be set first. T he P roportio nal and Dif feren tial compone nt will hel p impro ve th e respons e time and loop stability . In the ca se where the load mo ved b y th[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 99 Pow e r O n L E D SECTION 10 Normal and F ault Condition LED Messages Thi s sectio n discus ses the meaning of the v arious message s and code s that m ay be dis- pla yed on the LED d ispla y during normal operation and f ault cond itions. P ow er On LED The AX1 500 feat ures an LED th at comes on when[...]

Normal and F ault Condition LED Messages 10 0 AX1 5 00 Motor Contr oller User ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. Ju ne 1, 2007 Output Of f / F ault Conditio n The contr oller LE D will tun On so lid to si gnal th at the ou tput st age i s of f as a r esult of a any of the recov erable conditio ns listed be lo w . • Over temp erature • Over V o ltag e[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 101 Mode Description SECTION 1 1 R/C Operation Thi s section describes the c ontroller ’ s wiring and functio ns specific to the R/C radio control mode. Mode Des cription The AX1 500 can be directl y connected to an R/C rec eiver . In this m ode, the spee d or po si- tion inf ormation is co ntained in p[...]

R/C Oper ati on 10 2 AX1 500 Motor Controll er User ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b . Ju ne 1, 2007 S electing the R/C Input Mode The R/C Input Mo de is the f actor y def ault set ting. If the con troller ha s been pre viously set to a dif fer ent Inpu t Mode, it w ill be nece ssary to reset it to the R/C mode us ing the s erial port and the PC util it[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 10 3 R/C Input Circuit Description R/C Inpu t Circuit Description The AX1 500 R/C inputs are di rectly co nnected to the MCU logi c. Figure 63 sho ws an elec- trical repre sentation of the R/C i nput circuit. Supplie d Cable Descrip tion The AX1500 is de livere d with a cu stom c able wi th the following [...]

R/C Oper ati on 10 4 AX1 500 Motor Controll er User ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b . Ju ne 1, 2007 . P ow ering the Radio fro m the controller The 5V po w er and gro und signal s that are av ailable on the controlle r ’ s conne ctor ma y be used to pow er the R/C radio. T he wire loop is used to b ring the c ontroller ’ s pow er to the the radio a[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 10 5 P o wering the Radio fr om the contr oller Importa nt W arning Do not conne ct a bat t ery to the rad io when in thi s mode. The bat tery v oltag e will flow dir ectly int o the contr oller and cause per mane nt damag e if i ts v oltag e is h igher than 5. 5V . This mode of op erati on is t he mos t [...]

R/C Oper ati on 10 6 AX1 500 Motor Controll er User ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b . Ju ne 1, 2007 Connecting t o a Separat ely P o we red Radio Thi s wiring option must be used w hen the contro ller is u sed with a R C receiv er that is pow ered b y its o wn separa te bat tery . The red wire in t he loop mu st be cut so that the 5V out from th e cont[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 10 7 Reception W atc hdog ond ind icates th e minimum joy stic k position a nd 2.0 mi llisecon ds indic ates the maximum joy stic k position. When the jo ystic k is i n the cente r positio n, the pulse s hould be 1 .5ms. Note that the real pulse -length to joy stic k-position numbe rs that are gene rated [...]

R/C Oper ati on 10 8 AX1 500 Motor Controll er User ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b . Ju ne 1, 2007 Simila rly , if the pulse tra in is lost w hile the motors w ere enabled, the controller will wait a short pre set amoun t of time be fore i t disable s the moto rs. If the pu lses rea ppear duri ng that time , the contro ller conti nues wit hout an y br[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 10 9 Command Control Curves The deadban d is mea sured as a percen t age of total normal joy stic k tra ve l. F or example , a 1 6% deadban d means tha t the first 1 6% of jo ystic k motion in either dire ction wi ll ha ve no ef fec t on the mo tors. Note tha t the dead band onl y af f ects the start posi[...]

R/C Oper ati on 11 0 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Lef t/Right T uning A d justment When ope rating in m ixe d mode wi th one moto r on eac h side of the robot, it ma y happen that one motor is s pinning f aster than the o ther one at identic ally appl ied po we r , caus ing the v ehicle to pull to the le[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 111 Data Logging in R/C Mode Output C is a buf f ered output capable of drivin g a 2A devi ce at up to 24V . Details on ho w to wire thi s output to us er access ories can b e foun d at “ Conn ecting Se nsors an d A ctu ators to Input /Outputs ” on page 51. The output is activa ted b y pushing th e jo[...]

R/C Oper ati on 11 2 AX1 500 Motor Controll er User ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b . Ju ne 1, 2007 T o read the outpu t string wh ile opera ting the c ontroller w ith the R/C radio , yo u must mod - ify the R/C cable to add an R S232 out put wire and co nnector that w ill be conne cted to the PC ’ s commu nication port. Figure 7 4 and belo w show s [...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 11 3 Mode Description SECTION 12 Analog Control and Operation Thi s sectio n descri bes ho w the mo tors ma y be op erated us ing anal og v oltage comma nds. Mode Desc ription The AX1 500 can be co nfigured to use a 0 to 5V analo g vo ltage, typically produced us ing a potentiom eter , to control eac h of[...]

Analog Control and O peration 11 4 AX1 500 Motor Controll er User ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b . Ju ne 1, 2007 Connector I/O Pin Assi gnment (Anal og Mode) When use d in the An alog mod e, the pins on the contro ller ’ s DB1 5 con nector are mapped as des cribed in the table belo w T ABLE 1 8. DB15 Connec tor pin assi gnment in Anal og mode Pin Nu[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 11 5 Connecting to a V oltage S ource Connecting to a V oltage Source The analog inputs e xpect a DC v olt age o f 0 to 5V w hic h can be so urced b y an y cust om cir- cuitr y (po tent iomet er , Di git al to Analo g converter ). The controlle r consid ers 2.5V to be the z ero positi on (Mot or Of f). 0V[...]

Analog Control and O peration 11 6 AX1 500 Motor Controll er User ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b . Ju ne 1, 2007 The controlle r incl udes two 47K ohm re sistors p ulling the input to a mid-v oltage point of 2.5V . Whe n configur ed in the Anal og Input mo de, this wil l cause the motors to b e at the Of f state if the con troller is po wered with not[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 11 7 Analog Deadband A djustment Analog D eadband A djustment The controlle r may b e configu red so that some amoun t of potentio meter or jo ystic k trav el of f its center position is requi red befo re the motors activ ate. The dead band parameter can be one o f 8 v alues, ra nging from 0 to 7 , whic h[...]

Analog Control and O peration 11 8 AX1 50 0 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manu al V ersion 1 .9b. Ju ne 1, 2007 Importa nt Notice Some analo g jo ystic ks do not c ause the pot entiomete r to reac h either extr eme. This may cau se the a nalo g volta ge r an ge to be above 0V an d bel ow 5V when the s tick is mov ed to the extr eme, and ther efor e [...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 11 9 Data Logging in Analog Mode Data in Analog a nd R/C Modes ” o n page 1 7 6). It ma y also b e stored in a PD A that can be placed in the mo bile robot. The string a nd data fo rmat is de scribed in “ Analog and R/ C Mod es Dat a Logg ing St ring For- mat ” on page 1 56. Th e serial port ’ s o[...]

Analog Control and O peration 12 0 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 12 1 Use and benefits of RS232 SECTION 13 Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation Thi s sectio n descri bes the co mmunica tion set tings and the c ommands accepted b y the AX1 500 in the R S232 mode of operati ons. T his inf ormation is useful if y ou plan to write yo ur ow n controll ing sof tware on a [...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 12 2 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Connector I/O Pin Assi gnment (RS232 Mode) When use d in the R S232 mode, the pins on the control ler ’ s DB1 5 connec tor are ma pped as des cribed in the table belo w T ABLE 20. DB15 Connector pin assignmen t in RS232 mod e Pin[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 12 3 Cable configuration Cabl e conf ig uration The R S232 con nection re quires the s pecial cabling as descri bed in the figure be low . T he 9- pin f emale co nnector pl ugs into th e PC (or othe r microco ntroller). T he 1 5-pin male co nnec- tor plugs into the AX 1 5 00. It is cri tical tha t you do [...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 12 4 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Commu nicat ion Set tings The AX1500 ser ial co mmuni catio n port i s set as follows: 960 0 bits/s, 7 -bit data, 1 Star t bit, 1 St op bit, Ev en P ar ity Communi cation is done wi thout flo w contro l, meani ng that the controlle[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 12 5 Establishing Manual Communica tion with a PC COM1port. Y ou can easily c hange this set ting to a dif f erent port from the program ’ s menu s. Note that s tarting with v ersion 1 .9, the Ro boru n PC utility al so includes a T erminal Emula- tion Cons ole f or commun icating with the c ontroller u[...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 12 6 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Af ter this inf ormatio n is sent, the Encoder ’ s MCU wi ll “ liste n ” for ap proxima tely 1 0 0ms and will enter the In Sy stem Programm ing mode (ISP) if the let ter “ Z ” is s e nt to it . W h il e i n the ISP mo de,[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 12 7 Commands A c know ledge and Error Mess ages RS232 Mode if default If the con troller is configure d in R S232 mo de, it will a utomatic ally be in t he R S232 mod e upon res et or po we r up. In this case, th e “ OK ” message is sent autom atically , indicating that the controller is read y to ac[...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 12 8 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 RS-232 W atc hdog F or applications demand ing the hig hest operatin g saf et y , the contro ller may be confi gured to autom atically stop the moto rs (but otherw ise remain fully a ctiv e) if it f ails to receive a c haracter on [...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 12 9 Controller Commands and Q ueries S et Motor Command V alue Descrip tion: Send a spe ed of positio n value from 0 to 1 27 in the forward or re vers e direction f or a given c hannel. In mixed mode, c hanne l 1 val ue sets th e common forward and rev erse v alue for both moto rs, while c hannel 2 sets [...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 13 0 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Query P o wer Appli ed to Motor s Descrip tion: Thi s query will cause the co ntroller to re turn the act ual amou nt of po wer tha t is bein g applie d to the motors at that tim e. The num ber is a he xadeci mal number rangi ng fr[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 13 1 Controller Commands and Q ueries Query Analog Inputs Descrip tion: Thi s query will cause the controlle r to ret urn the values of the si gnals pre sent at its tw o analog inputs. I f the co ntroller is used in close-lo op speed mode wi th analog f eedbac k, the va lues repre sent the a ctu al speed [...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 13 2 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 ages: the fir st is th e Main Batter y volt age pr esent at the thi c k red and b lack wires. The se c- ond is the interna l 1 2V s upply neede d f or the contr oller ’ s mic rocomputer and MOSFE T driv ers. T he v alues are unsi[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 13 3 Acc essing & Changing Configuration P arameter in Flash R eply: None. Controller w ill reset and disp lay pro mpt messa ge A ccessing & Changing Conf iguration P arameter in Flash It is po ssible t o use R S232 comman ds to e xamin e and c hange th e controll er ’ s parameters stored i n Fl[...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 13 4 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Syn t a x: ^FF R eply: + Succ ess, c hanged parameters are no w active - if erro r T abl e 22 be low lists t he compl ete set of conf igurat ion pa rameter s that m ay be access ed and c hanged using R S232 commands. Flash Configur[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 13 5 Acc essing & Changing Configuration P arameter in Flash The se param eters are st ored in th e controller ’ s Flash memor y and a re not intended to be c hanged a t runt ime. Importa nt Notice The abo ve p arameters are st ored in the MCU ’ s configura tion flas h. Th eir stor age is p erma- [...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 13 6 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Thi s paramete rs selects the vari ous open loo p and close d loop operati ng modes as well as the f eedbac k method. Amps Limit A ddre ss: ^02 Access: R ead/Write Eff ective: Aft er Reset or ^FF Thi s parameter c onfigures the con[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 13 7 Acc essing & Changing Configuration P arameter in Flash A cceleration A ddre ss: ^03 Access: R ead/Write Eff ective: Aft er Reset or ^FF Thi s param eter confi gures the rate at whi c h the controll er internal ly c hanges t he comma nd va lue from th e one it w as to the one ju st receiv ed. Inp[...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 13 8 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 RC Jo ystic k or Analog Deadband A ddre ss: ^06 Access: R ead/Write Eff ective: Aft er Reset or ^FF Thi s parame ter configu res the am ount of jo ystic k or potenti ometer moti on can take place around th e center p osition with o[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 13 9 Acc essing & Changing Configuration P arameter in Flash Thi s parameter c onfigures the transf er cur ve that is a pplied the input comma nd. Lef t/Right Adjust A ddre ss: ^0B Access: R ead/Write Eff ective: Aft er Reset or ^FF Thi s param eter config ures the c ompensatio n curve when motors ar [...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 14 0 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Default Encoder Distance Divider A ddre ss: ^0E Access: R ead/Write Eff ective: Aft er Reset or ^FF Thi s parameters is the Encoder ’ s Distance Divider that is loa ded af ter the controller is reset or po wer ed on. T he En code[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 14 1 Reading & Changing Operating P arameters at Runtime ^1C - J oystic k Max 2 MS ^1D - J oy stick Max 2 LS Ef f ectiv e: Instan tly The se param eters are t he Gain s valu es that a re load ed af ter the co ntroller is reset or po w- ered o n. The se Gains a pply to both c hannels. Gai ns can be c h[...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 14 2 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Importa nt Notice: Do not wr ite i n the locations ma r k ed as Read Only . Doing so m y cause Contr oller malfunction . Operating Modes Registers A ddre ss: ^80 - Chann el 1 ^81 - Chann el 2 Access: R ead/Write Ef f ectiv e: Insta[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 14 3 Reading & Changing Operating P arameters at Runtime ^86 - I2 ^87 - D2 Access: R ead/Write Ef f ectiv e: Instan tly The Pro portional, Integral and Deri vati ve ga in for eac h cha nnel can be read and c hanged on- the-fly . This function al so pro vides a mean fo r set ting di f f erent PID valu [...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 14 4 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Control ler Identification Regist er A ddre ss: ^8A Access: Read Only Ef f ectiv e: Instan tly Thi s registe r may be used to q uer y the Co ntroller ’ s model an d some of its option al hard- ware conf igur atio ns. Current Amps[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 14 5 RS232 Encoder Command S et RS232 Encoder Co mmand Set When pres ent, the En coder mod ule respon ds to a d edicated set of comma nds and que- ries. The serial p ort set ting and ba sic com mand f ormat is identical to this f or all o ther functio ns of the co ntroller as described in “ Serial (R S-[...]

14 6 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 While res et ting is a sing le step com mand, set ting th e counters to a non-z ero value req uires two step s: 1 - load a 4 byte bu f fe r (32-bit) w ith the desire d va lue. 2- T ransf er the bu f f er ’ s content t o the coun ter(s). L oading the buf f er can be don[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 14 7 RS232 Encoder Command S et Read Distance Descrip tion: Thi s query will caus e the controll er to ret urn the distance betwe en the cur rent posi tion and the v alue in the desti nation register . The val ues are s igned H exa decimal numbers r anging from -1 27 to + 1 27 . Th e -1 27 va lue represen[...]

14 8 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 R eply: 0 n Where: n = switc h st atus The relation ship betwee n the valu e of n and the switc h status is sho wn in the t able belo w . Extracti ng the stat us of a g iven switc h from this num ber is easil y accompli shed in so f t wa re usi ng mask ing . Note tha t t[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 14 9 RS232 Encoder Command S et Exampl e: *84 Read value of parame ter at address hex 84 01 Controller r eplies, v alue is 0 1 Modify par ameter Syn t a x: * mm n n R eply: + if c omman d wa s ex ecuted su ccessfu lly - if erro r Where mm = p arameter addr ess nn = n ew para meter va lue Exampl es: *84 03[...]

15 0 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Importa nt W arning Do not alt e r an y other ar ea locations, as this m ay c ause pr ogram exe cution f a ilur e inside the encoder mod ule. Regist er Descri ption Encoder Hardw are ID code Address: *84 R eturn s a 4-bi t number identify ing the en coder mod ule hardw a[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 15 1 Reg ister Descr ipt ion The se two reg isters c ontain eithe r the meas ured spee d or the me asured di stance. Whether s peed or distance inf ormation is ret urned depend s on t he set tings contained in the Mode register described at. T his inf ormat ion is ret urned using th e ?p query (see “ Qu[...]

15 2 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 *9A *9B - Least Sign ificant Byt e The se two 32 -bit (4- bytes ) register s are use d to store th e desired destinat ion when the controll er is used in positi on mode. T hese regist ers shoul d alwa ys be set using the mailb ox mec hanism describ ed abo ve . See “ Us[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 15 3 Counter Read Data Format Counter Read Data Format When r eceiving a counte r read query , the encod er module will outpu t the v alue of i ts 32-bit counter . If all 3 2-bit are s ent, this w ould re quire 8 A SCII digits to repres ent the v alue. A 32-bit c ounter ca n store o ver 2 billion counts i[...]

15 4 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 15 5 Automatic S w itc hing from RS232 to RC Mode Automatic Switc hing from RS23 2 to RC Mod e In man y computer contr olled app lication s, it ma y be u seful to a llow the controll er to switc h bac k to the R C mode. T his would typically al low a us er to take o ver the contr ol of a rob otic ve hicle[...]

15 6 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Controlle r is on, Rad io is t urned Of f (or Radio On w ith RC c h3 Of f) • Rel ay deactiv ates. RS 232 is now connect ed to shar ed inpu t. • String of Car riage R et urns no w receiv ed b y controller . • Computer looks f or OK prom pt to de tect that the RS232 [...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 15 7 Decimal to He xadecimal Con version T able logging purposes . Thi s cable has a 1 5-pin m ale conn ector and 3 1 5-pi n connectors . The male c onnector p lugs into the controlle r . Th e applic ation cabl e that w ould no rmally p lug into the c ontroller may no w be plugge d into one of the adapte [...]

15 8 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 5 0 5 3 72 56 9 4 51 0 1 6 5 6 0 6 3 82 67 0 4 61 0 2 6 6 7 0 7 3 92 77 1 4 71 0 3 6 7 8 0 8 4 02 87 2 4 81 0 4 6 8 9 0 9 4 12 97 3 4 91 0 5 6 9 1 0 0 A 42 2A 7 4 4A 1 06 6A 1 1 0B 43 2B 75 4B 1 07 6 B 1 2 0C 44 2C 7 6 4C 1 08 6 C 1 3 0D 45 2D 77 4D 1 09 6 D 1 4 0E 46 2E[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 15 9 Decimal to He xadecimal Con version T able -1 21 1 35 87 -89 1 67 A7 -57 1 99 C7 -25 231 E7 -1 20 1 36 88 -88 1 68 A8 -56 200 C8 -24 232 E8 -1 1 9 1 37 89 -87 1 69 A9 -55 20 1 C9 -23 233 E9 -1 18 1 38 8A -86 1 70 AA -54 202 CA -22 234 EA -1 1 7 1 39 8B -85 1 71 AB -53 20 3 CB -21 235 EB -1 1 6 1 40 8[...]

16 0 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 16 1 SECTION 14 Using the Roborun Conf iguration Utility A PC-base d Configurat ion Utility is av ailabl e, free of c harge, from R oboteq. This pro- gram makes configuri ng and op erating the AX1 500 muc h more int uitive b y using pull-do wn menus, but tons and s liders. T he uti lity can als o be used [...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 16 2 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 • af ter the insta lla tion is complete, r un the program from your Start Menu > Pro grams > R oboteq The controlle r does not nee d to be conne cted to the PC to start the Utility . Connecting the Contr oller to th e PC Th[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 16 3 Roborun Frame, T ab and Menu Descriptions Roborun F rame, T ab and Menu Des criptions The Ro boru n screen contains the fou r main s et of co mmands and inf ormation frames des cribe d below: 1 - Progr am Revision N umber Thi s is the revis ion and da te of the R obor un utility . It is re commend ed[...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 16 4 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 This i s th e prog ram ’ s main frame an d includ es se ve ral types o f tabs, eac h of w hic h has se v- eral but tons, menus a nd other Use r Interf ace o bjects. T hese tabs a nd the func tions the y contain are describe d in [...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 16 5 Loading, Changing Controller P arameters When starting Rob orun , this sc reen is fille d with the defa ult v alues. If the controller is con- nected to you r PC, Ro boru n will a utomatically d etect it an d ask y ou if y ou wish to read its set ting s. The contr oller ’ s set ting in th e PC at c[...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 16 6 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 4- Emer g ency St op or In ver t Switc h Sele ct Thi s pull do wn menu allo ws the se lection of the control ler ’ s response to c hanges on th e opti onal sw itc h in put: Emerge ncy St op, I nv ert C omman ds, or n o acti on. S[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 16 7 Loading, Changing Controller P arameters accelera te a motor fro m idle to ma ximum speed . See “ P rogrammab le Ac celeration ” on page 45. Analog or R/C Specif ic S et tings The screen sho wn in Figure 9 2 slightly c hanges in func tion of whe ther or not th e Analog Input mode is sel ected. If[...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 16 8 AX1 500 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Closed Loop P arameters The screen s how n in Figure 9 3 is used to set the Propo rtional, In tegral and Dif feren tial gains needed f or the PID algorithm. T hese PID ga ins are l oaded a f ter reset and appl y to both c hanne ls.[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 16 9 Encoder S et ting and T esting With this utili ty , the fo llo wing acti ons can be accomp lished: • Set and pro gram the En coder mod ule ’ s parameters in EEPR OM • Activ ate the motors i n eac h direction at variab le speed • Vie w the measured e ncoder coun ts • Vie w the measured e nco[...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 17 0 AX1 50 0 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manu al V ersion 1 .9b. Ju ne 1, 2007 The Time B ase parameter is used to compute the speed measure d by the modul e. The measure d speed is a relativ e number rangin g from 0 to +/-1 27 . The relations hip betw een this re lative speed nu mber and th e act ual RPM i[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 17 1 Running the Motors 1 - Run/St op Butt on Thi s but ton will cause the P C to send th e r un comman ds to the c ontroller a nd will update the scre en with measure ments receiv ed from the controll er . When the progra m is runni ng, the but ton ’ s ca ptio n c hange s to “ Sto p ” . Pres sing i[...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 17 2 AX1 50 0 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manu al V ersion 1 .9b. Ju ne 1, 2007 case the p ow er lev el will be th e one need ed to k eep the Amps within th e limit. No te that the disp lay va lue is no t signed and thus does not pro vide ro t ation direction info rmation. The Ana fields co ntain the ana log[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 17 3 Running the Motors 7 - Data L ogging and T imer A timer is pro vided to ke ep trac k of time while runn ing the motors. An addition al set of but- tons and displa y s are pro vided to ope rate a data logge r . T he data logger is fully desc ribed in the se ction th at follows. 8- Joysti ck Enabl e En[...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 17 4 AX1 50 0 Motor Contr oller User ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. Ju ne 1, 2007 Connecting a Jo ystic k Exe rcising the moto rs can e asily be do ne using a J oy stic k in add ition to the on-scree n slid- ers. Simply conn ect a jo ystic k to the PC and enab le it b y clic king in the J oy stic k c hec k box [...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 17 5 Using the Console cannot be establi shed (e.g. “ Controller not f ound ” , no respon se to com mand c hanges, commun ication er rors, ... etc.). The R obor un utility will le t you ex ercise a nd monito r the moto rs, se nsors and actuato rs usi ng a com pute r . This feature is pa rtic ularl y u[...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 176 AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 4- Send Res et Str ing Clic king this but ton wh ile the control ler is in R S232 mode, will cause the re set string to be sent to th e controll er . 5- Send 1 0 Carr iage Re tur ns Clic king this but ton will caus e Rob orun to sen[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 17 7 Operating the A X1 50 0 over a W ired or Wireless LAN T o oper ate over th e net work, two co mputer s are requir ed, as show in F igur e 9 7 bel ow . The top comp uter is co nnected to the contro ller via its COM port. B oth computers a re con- nected to a TCP/IP n etwork. The computer connecte d to[...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 17 8 AX1 50 0 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manu al V ersion 1 .9b. Ju ne 1, 2007 Updating th e Contr oller ’ s Sof tw are The AX 150 0 ’ s opera ting sof tware ca n be easi ly upgra ded af ter it has le f t the fact or y . This f eat ure makes it poss ible to ad d ne w f eatur es and en hance e xisting on[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 17 9 Creating Cust omized Object Files Do not r einstall the same fir mwar e version a s the one al r eady instal led in the encoder m odule. Creating Cust omiz ed Objec t Files It is pos sible to cre ate v ersions of th e controll er ’ s firmw are wit h defa ult set tings that are diff er ent th an th [...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 180 AX1 500 Motor Controll er User ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b . Ju ne 1, 2007 8- Install the ne w objec t file in t he control ler using the Ro boru n utility .[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 181 Mec hanical Dimensions SECTION 15 Mec hanical Specif ications Th is sect ion details the mec hanical c haract eristic s of the AX1 500 contro ller . Mec hanical Dimensions The AX1500 is de livere d as an as semble d and te sted Prin ted Circ uit Board . The boa rd includ es conne ctors f or direct con[...]

Mec hanical Specifications 182 AX1 500 Motor Controll er User ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b . Ju ne 1, 2007 Mounting Co nsideratio ns The AX 150 0 ’ s heatsin k is locate d at the bo t tom of the board. T his requires ther efore that the board be mounte d with sp acers that are at m inimum 0. 6 ” (1 5mm). Thermal Considerations The AX1 500 is equ[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 183 At tac hing the Controlle r Directl y to a Chassis boar d against a verti cal surf ace as sho wn in the figure belo w will ensu re a bet ter nat ural con vec tion flo w and is, the ref ore, recom mended. F or high current a pplication s, it is pos sible that the controlle r ma y heat up f aster a nd t[...]

Mec hanical Specifications 184 AX1 500 Motor Controll er User ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b . Ju ne 1, 2007 Note tha t the bac k of the PCB has large copper ar eas e xposed jus t under the pow er MOS area. It i s critic al that the interpose r either is insulated (e xample: anodiz ed aluminum ) or a layer of th ermal condu cting - but el ectri call y[...]

AX1 500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manual 185 Wire Dimensions Wire Dimensions The AX1 500 uses screw terminals f or the pow er connections to the bat teries an d motors. The se conn ectors are rated t o support the c ontroller ’ s maxim um spec ified cur rent. I t is rec- ommende d that y ou use A WG1 2 wi re f or all po we r connecti ons to gr[...]

Mec hanical Specifications 186 AX1 500 Motor Controll er User ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b . Ju ne 1, 2007[...]