RoboteQ Dual Channel Digital Motor Controller AX500 manual

AX50 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 AX500 Motor Contro ller User’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual 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 in t[...]

4 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 5 Re vision Hi story 3 SECTION 1 Impo rt ant S af et y W arn ings 11 This produc t is inte nded for use with rec harge able ba t terie s 11 A void Sho rts when M ounting Board against Chassis 11 Do no t Con nect t o a R C Ra dio wi th a B at ter y At tac hed 11 Be ware of Motor Runa wa y in Impr operly C l[...]

6 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 SECTION 5 Genera l Operat ion 35 Ba sic Oper ation 35 Inpu t Com mand Modes 35 Selec ting the Moto r Control Mo des 36 Open Loop, Sepa rate Speed Control 36 Open Loop, Mi xed Speed Cont rol 36 Closed Loop Speed Con trol 37 Close Loop P osi tion Cont rol 37 User Sel ected Cur[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 7 P osi tion Sensor Selection 64 Sensor M ounting 64 F eedbac k P o tentiomet er wiring 65 F eedbac k P o tentiomet er wiring in RC or RS232 Mode 65 F eedbac k P o tentiom eter wiring in Analog M ode 65 Analog Feedbac k on Single Chann el Contro llers 66 F eedbac k W iring in RC or RS232 M ode on Sing le C[...]

8 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Reception W atc hdog 87 R/C T ran smit ter /Receiver Qua lity Consid erations 88 Jo ystic k Deadband P rogrammin g 88 Comman d Contro l Cur ves 89 Lef t/Rig ht T uning Adjus tment 90 Joyst ick Ca li b ra ti on 90 Dat a L ogging in R/C Mode 91 SECTION 1 1 Analog Con trol and [...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 9 Quer y Di gita l Inputs 111 Re set Control ler 111 Ac cessi ng & Chan ging Config urati on P arameter i n Flash 11 2 Apply Parameter Changes 11 2 Flash C onfigurat ion P arame ters List 11 3 Inpu t Con trol Mode 11 4 Moto r Con trol M ode 11 4 Amps Limi t 11 5 Ac celera tion 11 6 Input Switc hes F un[...]

10 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Operating the AX50 0 over a Wired or W ireless LAN 14 4 Upda ti ng the C ontr olle r ’ s Sof tware 146 Upda ting the En coder Sof t w are 146 Cre ating Cu stomi z ed Obje ct File s 147 SECTION 14 Mec han ical Spec ificat ions 149 Mec hanic al Dimens ions 149 Mounti ng Con[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 11 SECTION 1 Impor tant S afety W arnings Read this Section First The AX500 is a pow er electr onics devi ce. Ser ious damag e, including fir e, may occur t o the unit, m otors , wir ing and bat te ri es as a r esult of its m isuse. Ple ase r eview the U ser ’ s Manual f or adde d pr ecautions p r ior to[...]

Imp ortant S afety Wa rnings 12 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 13 SECTION 2 AX50 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 y our AX500 controll er in a mi nimal co nfiguratio n. What you will need F or a minimal installation , gather the foll owin g compon ents: • One AX500 Control ler an d its[...]

AX50 0 Quic k Star t 14 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 The front side co nt ains the 1 5-pin connector to the R/C radio, jo ysti c k or mic rocomputer , as we ll as co nnecti ons to optional switc hes and senso rs. At the bac k of the controlle r (sho wn in the fig ure belo w) are located all the that m ust[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 15 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. M[...]

AX50 0 Quic k Star t 16 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Importa nt W arning The contr oller includes lar ge capa citors. When co nnecting the M otor P ow er Cables, a spar k will be g enerat ed at the co nnection point. This is a nor mal occur r ence an d should be expect ed. Connecti ng to the 1 5-pin Conne[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 17 P o wering On the Controller Thi s wiring - with the wi re loop un cut - ass umes that the R/C radio w ill be po wered b y the AX500 controlle r . Other wiri ng options ar e describe d in “ R/C Operation ” on page 81 of the User ’ s Manu al. Importa nt W arning Do not conne ct a bat t ery to the r[...]

AX50 0 Quic k Star t 18 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 The stat us LED wil l start flashing a pat tern to indi cate the mod e in whic h the controll er is in: Defaul t Controller Conf igura tion V ersion 1 .9b of the AX500 sof tware is con figured with the f a ctory defa ults sho wn in th e table belo w . A[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 19 Obtaining the Controller ’ s Sof tware Revisio n Numbe r • to update th e controll er ’ s sof t w are T o connect the contro ller to your PC, use the provid ed cable. Connect the 1 5-pin connector to the c ontroller . Connect the 9-pin connec tor to y our PC ’ s available port (t ypic ally COM1)[...]

AX50 0 Quic k Star t 20 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Eac h sof tware v ersion is identi fied with a u nique num ber . Obtaining this nu mber can be done us ing the PC c onnectio n discuss ed pre viously . Now that you kno w your con troller ’ s sof t ware vers ion numb er , yo u will be able to s ee if [...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 21 SECTION 3 AX50 0 Motor Contr oller Ov er vie w Congrat ulations! B y selec ting R oboteq ’ s AX500 you ha ve empo were d you rself wi th the indu str y ’ s most v ersatil e, an d progra mmable DC Motor Control ler for mobile robots. T his manual w ill guide y ou step b y step thro ugh its ma ny poss[...]

AX50 0 Motor Controller Ov erview 22 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 ate from 1 2 to 24VD C and can sustai n up to 1 5A of controlled c urre nt, deliv ering up to 360W (appro ximately 0 .5 HP ) of useful po wer to eac h motor . The man y program mable op tions of th e AX500 are ea sily co nfigured us ing the[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 23 T ec hnical features • 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 ev ersing command s when r unning v ehicle i nv erted • Gene ral pu rpos e digi ta l inpu t • One gene ral purpos e 1 2V , 1 0 0mA outpu t f or accesso ries[...]

AX50 0 Motor Controller Ov erview 24 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 • W atc hdog f or autom atic moto r shutdo wn in case of comma nd loss (R/C and RS 232 modes) • Diagnos tic LED • Progra mmable motor ac celeration • Built-in co ntroller o verheat se nsor • Emergen cy Stop i nput sign al and bu t[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 25 P o wer Connections SECTION 4 Connecting P o w er and Motor s to the Contr oller This se ction de scrib es th e AX50 0 Co ntroll er ’ s connections to po wer sou rces and mo tors. 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 26 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Co ntro ll er P ower The AX500 uses a flexibl e pow er supply sc heme that is best desc ribed in Figure 8. In this diagram, i t can be seen th at the po wer f or the Controller ’ s processor is sep arate from this of th e mot[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 27 Controller P owe ring Sc hemes The table belo w sho w s th e state of the co ntroller de pending o n the v oltage appl ied to Vcon an d Vmot. Contr oller P ow ering S c hemes P ow ering the Contr oller fr om a single Bat tery The diagram on Figure 1 9 sho w how to wire the controller to a single ba t te[...]

Connecting P ower and Motors to the Controller 28 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 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 disconne cting the Motor P ow er be provid ed in the c ase of loss of control[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 29 Single Channel O peration Af ter connecti ng the moto rs, ap ply a minim al amoun t of po wer using the Robor un PC util- ity with the control ler config ured in Open L oop speed mode. V erify that the motor s pins in the desi red directi on. Immedia tely stop and sw ap the mo tor wires if no t. In Clos[...]

Connecting P ower and Motors to the Controller 30 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Con verting the AX50 0 to Single Channel The AX500 can be easi ly modifie d into a Singl e Channel v ersi on by pla cing a jump er on the PCB . T his step must be un dertook on ly if y ou ha ve th e prope r tooling and tec hnic[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 31 Wire Length Limits Fuses are typ icall y slow to blow a nd wi ll thus all ow temporary excess curr ent to fl ow thr ough them for a time (the higher the ex cess cur rent, the f aste r the fuse will blo w). This c haract er istic is desir able i n most cases , as it will a llow m oto rs to dr aw sur g es[...]

Connecting P ower and Motors to the Controller 32 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 It is ther efo re essent ial that the AX 500 be connec ted to rec hargeab le bat teries. If a po wer supply is used in stead, the current w ill at tempt to flo w bac k in the po wer supply durin g regenera tion, poten tially da[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 33 Using the Controlle r with a P ow er Supply Using the Contro ller wit h a P ow er Supply Using a transf ormer o r a switc hing po wer supp ly is po ssible b ut requires special c are, as the cur rent will want to flow bac k from the moto rs to the po we r supply during reg enera- tion. As di scusse d in[...]

Connecting P ower and Motors to the Controller 34 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 35 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 AX50 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 rocomput[...]

General O peration 36 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Selecting the Moto r Control Modes F or eac h motor , the AX5 00 supports multip le motion 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 ods[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 37 Selecting the Motor Contr ol Modes Closed Loop Speed Contr ol In this m ode, illu strated in Figure 1 6, an analog tac hometer is used to measure th e act ual motor sp eed. If the speed c han ges beca use of c hanges in load, th e control ler automa tically compen sates the pow er outp ut. Th is mode is[...]

General O peration 38 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 User Selected Current Limit Set tings The AX500 has cur rent sens ors at ea c h of its two ou tput stages. Ev er y 1 6 ms , this curr ent 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. The c[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 39 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 40 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 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 is[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 41 Pr ogrammable Accel eration When usi ng the seria l port, acc eleration ca n be one of 24 possible val ues, sele ctable using the R obor un utility or enteri ng directl y a va lue in the MCU ’ s configur ation EEPR OM. T able 4 s hows th e cor respondi ng accelera tion f or all S witc h and R S232 set[...]

General O peration 42 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 an equall y lar ge, or possibly larg er , reg ener ation cur re nt sur ge. Alwa ys exper iment with the lo west acceler ation v alue first and set tle fo r the slo w est accep table v alue. Command Cont ro l Cur v es The AX500 can also be set to transl at[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 43 Lef t / Right T uning Adjustment The AX50 0 i s deliver ed wit h the “ li near ” curves sel ected f or bot h joy stic 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 [...]

General O peration 44 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 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 alu[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 45 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 b[...]

General O peration 46 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Special Use of Accessory Digital Inputs The AX500 include s two gen eral purpo se digital in puts identifie d as Inpu t E and Inp ut F . The locatio n of these inputs on the DB1 5 connec tor can be foun d in the se ction “ I/O List and Pin A ssignment ?[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 47 AX50 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. AX50 0 Connections The AX500 uses a set of pow er wires (lo cat[...]

Connecting S ensor s and A ctuators to Input/Outputs 48 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 AX50 0 ’ s Inputs an d Outputs In additio n to the RS2 32 and R/C c hannel commun ication li nes, the AX500 includes se veral inputs a nd output s for v a rious sensors a nd act uators. D ependin g on the selec ted oper[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 49 AX50 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 7 [...]

Connecting S ensor s and A ctuators to Input/Outputs 50 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 I/O List an d Pin Assi gnment The figu re and ta ble below li sts al l the i nput s and ou tputs that a re available on the A X50 0. T ABLE 8. DB15 conne ctor pin assignmen t Pin Numbe r Input or Output Signal depending o[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 51 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 2[...]

Connecting S ensor s and A ctuators to Input/Outputs 52 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Importa nt w arning: This output is unpr otect ed. If y our load dra ws mor e than 1 00mA, per manent d amage will occur t o the pow er tr ansistor i nside the co ntr oller . Ov ervoltag e spik es induce d by s witch ing [...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 53 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 c[...]

Connecting S ensor s and A ctuators to Input/Outputs 54 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 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 [...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 55 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 be[...]

Connecting S ensor s and A ctuators to Input/Outputs 56 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 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 th[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 57 Connecting External Thermistor to Analog Inputs Connecti ng External Thermi stor to An alog Input s Using exter nal thermis tors, the AX500 can be m ade to supe r vise the motor ’ s temperat ure and ad just the po wer ou tput in ca se of o ve rheating. Connectin g thermist ors is done acco rding t o t[...]

Connecting S ensor s and A ctuators to Input/Outputs 58 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 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 int[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 59 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 must add 1 28 to bring i ts range fro m -1 27/+1 27 to 0/255. Connecting Use[...]

Connecting S ensor s and A ctuators to Input/Outputs 60 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 using th e ?m quer y , or during data logging (see “ Analog and R/ C Modes Data L ogging String F ormat ” on page 1 26) The analog val ue that is reported w ill range from 0 (w armest) to 255 (c oldest). B ecause of t[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 61 Internal Heats ink T emperature S ensors 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 62 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 63 Mode Description SECTION 7 Closed Loop P osition Mode Thi s sectio n describes the AX500 P osition mode, ho w to wire the mo tor and positi on 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 ed t[...]

Closed Loop P osition Mode 64 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 P osition S ensor S election The AX500 may be used with the f ollowing kind of s ensors: • P otentiometers • Hall ef f ect a ngular se nsors The first two a re used to generate an an alog vo ltage ranging from 0V to 5 V depen ding on their pos[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 65 Feedba c k Potentiometer wiring manner tha t will allo w it to t urn throug hout muc h of its rang e, when th e mec hanical assembl y tra vels from the m inimum to maximum position . Impor tant Notice: P ote ntiomete rs ar e mec hanical devic es subject t o wear . Use bet ter quality potenti- omet ers a[...]

Closed Loop P osition Mode 66 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 R obor un will detect the new hardw are re vision and dis play Rev B on th e screen . Analog i nputs 3 a nd 4 ha ve dif fe rent c haracter istics th an inputs 1 and 2, and so re quire a low er resistance pote ntiometer i n order to gu arantee acc [...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 67 Sensor and Motor P olarity Feedbac k Wiring in Analog Mode on Single Channel Control lers When the controller is config ured in Ana log mode , the anal og input 1 is used f or com- mands while the anal og input 4 is used for f eedbac k. Analog i nputs 3 a nd 4 ha ve dif fe rent c haracterist ics than in[...]

Closed Loop P osition Mode 68 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 3. Loo sen the s ensor ’ s axle from the moto r assembly . 4. Launc h the Robor un utility and c lic k on the R un t ab. Clic k the “ Start ” but ton to begin commun ica tion wit h the co ntrol ler . The se nsor val ues wil l be disp layed i[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 69 Adding S afety Limit Switc hes in an attempt to reac h a fic titi ous po sition . In ma ny applic ations, this may lead to se riou s mechanical dama ge. T o limit the ri sk of su c h breakage, it is recomm ended to a dd limit switc hes that w ill cause the motors to stop i f unsaf e positions hav e been[...]

Closed Loop P osition Mode 70 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 The principa l restrict ion of this tec hnique is tha t it depen ds on the controller to be fully function ing, and that once a sw itc h is activ ated, the controll er will remain in active until the switc h is rel eased. In most sit uations, this[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 71 PID tuning in P osition Mode tance betwee n the cur rent and desired po sitions: when f ar apar t, high pow er is app lied, with the pow er being gradua lly reduc ed and st opped as th e motor mo ves to the final pos i- tion. T he Proporti onal f eedbac k is the mo st important com ponent of t he PID in[...]

Closed Loop P osition Mode 72 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 B ecause man y mec hanical pa rameters suc h as motor pow er , gear ratio, lo ad and inertia are dif ficult to mo del, t uning the PID is ess entially a manual process that takes e xperimenta- tion. The Rob orun PC utility mak es this e x peri men[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 73 Mode Description SECTION 8 Closed Loop Speed Mode Thi s section dis cusses the AX500 Close Lo op Speed mode. Mode Desc ription In this mo de, an an alog spee d sensor m easures the act ual moto r speed an d compare s it to the desi red speed . If the spe ed c hanges because of c hanges in l oad, the con[...]

Closed Loop Speed Mode 74 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 T ac hometer or Encoder Mounting P roper moun ting of the speed se nsor is c ritical f or an ef f ective a nd accu rate spee d mode operatio n. Figu re 1 sho ws a typica l motor an d tac hometer or enc oder asse mbly . T ac hometer wir ing The t ac ho[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 75 Adjus t Off set and Max Speed Importa nt W arning: If ther e is a polar ity mismatc h, the mot or will tur n in the wr ong dir ection and the speed w ill nev er be r eached . The mot o r will t ur n continuously at fu ll speed w ith no wa y of stopp ing it other than c utting th e pow er or hitting the [...]

Closed Loop Speed Mode 76 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 T o set the po tentiometer , use the Robor un utility to r un the m otors at the desired maxi- mum spe ed while in Open Loop mode (no speed f eedbac k). While the tac hometer is spin- ning, adjust the potentiom eter until th e analog sp eed v alue rea[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 77 PID tuning in Speed Mode PID tuning in Speed Mo de As di scusse d abo ve, three paramet ers - P roportional Gain, Integral Ga in, and D if fere ntial Gain - can b e adjusted to tune th e Closed L oop Speed control alg orithm. T he ultimate goa l in a w ell t uned PID is a motor that reac hes the desired[...]

Closed Loop Speed Mode 78 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 79 Diagnostic LED SECTION 9 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. Diagnostic LE D The AX500 f eat ures a s ingle dia gnostic LED whic [...]

Normal and F ault Condition LED Messages 80 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 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 •[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 81 Mode Description SECTION 10 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 AX500 can be dire ctly con nected to an R/C receiv er . In this mode, th e speed o r posi- tion inf ormation is co ntained in puls e[...]

R/C Oper ati on 82 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 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 ity . [...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 83 R/C Input Circuit Description R/C Inpu t Circuit Description The AX500 R/C inputs are dire ctly con nected to the MCU log ic. Figure 50 s hows an electr i- cal repr esentation of the R/ C input circui t. Supplie d Cable Descrip tion The AX50 0 i s delivere d with a custo m cable with th e followin g wir[...]

R/C Oper ati on 84 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 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 as we[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 85 Connecting to a S eparately P owe red Radio 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 co[...]

R/C Oper ati on 86 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 to the c ontroller does not i nject po wer into the contro ller . T h e fi gure belo w show th e cable with the loop cut. Figure 56 shows the equiv alent electric al diagram. Operating the Controller in R/C mode In this o perating m ode, the AX5 00 will acce[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 87 Reception W atc hdog the con troller ca pture s the ful l jo ystic k mo ve ment, the A X500 def aults to the timing v alues sho wn in Fi gure 57 . The se v ales can b e c hanged and stored as ne w def aults. The AX500 has a v er y accu rate pulse capt ure inpu t and is c apable of detectin g c hanges in[...]

R/C Oper ati on 88 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Note: th e Acc essor y Ou tputs C will b e turn ed Of f when radio is lost. Importa nt Notice about PCM Radios PCM r adios ha ve their own watc hdog circuitry a nd will output a signal (nor mally a “ saf e condition ” v alue) when r adio communic ation i[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 89 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 ti[...]

R/C Oper ati on 90 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 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 lef t[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 91 Data Logging in R/C Mode Data Logg ing in R/C Mode While in R/C Mode, the AX500 will co ntinuous ly send a s tring of c haracte rs on the R S232 output line. T his string will contain 1 2 two-di git he xadeci mal numb ers repr esenting the fol - low ing operatin g parame ters. • Captu red R/C Comma nd[...]

R/C Oper ati on 92 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 1 2 3 4 7 8 9 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 6 RX Data RS232 Data Out GND R/C Ch 1 R/C Ch 2 R/C GND R/C +5V GND DB9 Female T o PC DB15 Male T o Controller FIGURE 61 . Modified R/C cab le with R S232 outpu t fo r data logging to a PC[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 93 Mode Description SECTION 1 1 Analog Contr ol 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 AX500 can be config ured to use a 0 to 5V analog v oltage, typic ally prod uced using a potentiom eter , to control eac h of it[...]

Analog Control and O peration 94 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 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 4. DB15 Connect or pin assignm ent in Analog m ode Pin Number[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 95 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 is[...]

Analog Control and O peration 96 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 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 . When configu red in the An alog Inpu t mode, thi s will cause the motors to b e at the Of f state if the con troller is po wered with nothing [...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 97 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 tr[...]

Analog Control and O peration 98 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 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 the c[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 99 Data Logging in Analog Mode Data in Analog a nd R/C Modes ” on page 1 44) . It may also be stor ed in a PD A t hat ca n be placed in the mo bile robot. The string a nd data fo rmat is de scribed in “ Ana log an d R/C Mo des Dat a Loggin g Stri ng For- mat ” on page 1 26. Th e serial port ’ s out[...]

Analog Control and O peration 10 0 AX500 Motor Controller U ser ’ s Manu al V ersion 1 .9b. Ju ne 1, 2007[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 101 Use and benefits of RS232 SECTION 12 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 AX500 in the R S232 mode of ope rations. T his informati on is useful if you pla n to write y our ow n cont rolling s of t ware o n a P[...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 10 2 AX50 0 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. Ju ne 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 16. DB15 Connector pin assignmen t in RS232 mod e Pin [...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 10 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 500. It is cri tical tha t you do not [...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 10 4 AX50 0 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. Ju ne 1, 2007 Commu nicat ion Set tings The AX50 0 ser ial co mmuni catio n port is set a s 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 controller[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 10 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 R obor un PC utility also inclu des a T erminal E mula- tion Cons ole f or commun icating with the c ontroller u[...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 10 6 AX50 0 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. Ju ne 1, 2007 Thi s inf ormation c an be s af ely ign ored and t he control ler will stil l be able to switc h to R S232 mode upon r eceiving 1 0 cont inuous Ca rriage Re turns as des cribed ab ov e. The form at of the data loggi ng string and it[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 10 7 RS-232 Watc hdog W atc hdog time-out If the R S232 watc hdog i s enabled, th e controll er will stop the motors and issue a “ W ” c haracter if it h as not rec eived a va lid c haracter fro m the PC or microcontro ller with in the past 1 second s. RS-232 W atc hdog F or applications demand ing the[...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 10 8 AX50 0 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. Ju ne 1, 2007 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 h anne l 1 v alue se ts the common f or ward a nd rev erse va lue [...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 10 9 Controller Commands and Q ueries !C t urn C output of f !c t urn C output on Query P o wer Appli ed to Motor s Descrip tion: Thi s query will cause the co ntroller to r eturn the act ual amo unt of po we r that is bein g applie d to the motors at that time. The num ber is a he xadeci mal number rangi [...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 11 0 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Importa nt Notice On the AX500, the numb er ret urned b y the ? a comm and must be divi ded b y eight t o obtain the act ual Amps v alue Query Analog Inputs Descrip tion: Thi s query will cause the controlle r to ret urn the v a lue[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 111 Controller Commands and Q ueries Query Bat tery V oltages Descrip tion: Thi s query wil l cause the contro ller to ret urn v alues base d on two interna lly measured v olt- ages: t he first is the Main B at ter y v oltage present a t the thic k red and blac k wires. T he sec- ond is the interna l 1 2V [...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 11 2 AX50 0 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. Ju ne 1, 2007 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 stor[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 11 3 Acc essing & Changing Configuration P arameter in Flash Syn t a x: ^FF R eply: + Succe ss, c hange d para mete rs are now ac tive - if erro r T able 1 8 be low lis ts the compl ete set of configuration paramete rs that ma y be acce ssed and c hanged using R S232 commands. Flash Configuration P ara[...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 11 4 AX50 0 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. Ju ne 1, 2007 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 runti me. Importa nt Notice The abo ve p arameters are st ored in the MCU ’ s configura tion flas h. Th eir stor age is[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 11 5 Acc essing & Changing Configuration P arameter in Flash 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: Af ter Reset or ^FF Thi s parameter c onfigures the controlle r ?[...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 11 6 AX50 0 Motor Controller Us er ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. Ju ne 1, 2007 A cceleration A ddre ss: ^03 Access: R ead/Write Eff ective: Af ter Reset or ^FF Thi s param eter confi gures the rate at w hic h the contro ller inte rnally c hanges the co mmand va lue from th e one it w as to the one ju st receiv[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 11 7 Acc essing & Changing Configuration P arameter in Flash RC Jo ystic k or Analog Deadband A ddre ss: ^06 Access: R ead/Write Eff ective: Af ter Reset or ^FF Thi s parame ter config ures the amou nt of jo ys tic k or potentiome ter motion can take place around th e center p osition with out po wer b[...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 11 8 AX500 Motor Controll er User ’ s Manual V ersion 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Thi s parameter c onfigures the transf er cur v e that is a pplied the input comma nd. Lef t/Right Adjust A ddre ss: ^0B Access: R ead/Write Eff ective: Af ter Reset or ^FF Thi s param eter config ures the c ompensatio n curve when m[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 11 9 Reading & Changing Operating P arameters at Runtime Jo ystic k Min, Max and Center V alues Address: ^12 - Joystick Cen ter 1 MS ^13 - J oys tick Ce nte r 1 LS ^14 - J oys tick Ce nte r 2 MS ^15 - J oys tick Ce nte r 2 LS ^16 - J oys tick M in 1 MS ^1 7 - Jo ystick Min 1 LS ^18 - Joysti ck Min 2 MS[...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 12 0 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 The table belo w lists the a vaila ble para meters 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 - [...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 12 1 Reading & Changing Operating P arameters at Runtime Read/Change PID V alues A ddre ss: ^82 - P1 ^83 - I1 ^84 - D1 ^85 - P2 ^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 . Thi[...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 12 2 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 The Controller Status R egis ter can b e polled at an y time to s ee if there is a pendi ng f ault conditi on. Any on e bit set will caus e the controller to t urn of f the P ow er Output stage. Con- diti ons marked as T empo rar y [...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 12 3 Reading & Changing Operating P arameters at Runtime The se registe rs can be po lled to vie w what the Amps limit i s at the curren t time. T his limit normall y is the one that is pre set b y the user e xcept whe n the cont roller is o perating a t high tem perat ure, in w hic h case the a llow a[...]

Serial (RS-232) Contr ols and Operation 12 4 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 12 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 [...]

12 6 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 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 m[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 12 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 r[...]

12 8 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 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 6 A 1 1 0B 43 2B 75 4B 1 07 6B 1 2 0C 44 2C 7 6 4C 1 08 6C 1 3 0D 45 2D 77 4D 1 09 6D 1 4 0E 46 2E 78[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 12 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 8 9 -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 8 B -85 1 71 AB -53 203 CB -21 235 EB -1 1 6 1 40 [...]

13 0 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 13 1 SECTION 13 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 mak es configu ring an d operatin g the AX500 muc h more int uitive b y using pull- dow n menus, but tons and s liders. T he utility can al so be use d [...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 13 2 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 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 The[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 13 3 Roborun Frame, T ab and Menu Descriptions Roborun F rame, T ab and Menu Descripti ons 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 13 4 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 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 d[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 13 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 ca[...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 13 6 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 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. Se[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 13 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 40. Analog or R/C Specif ic S et tings The screen sho wn in Figure 7 8 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 13 8 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Closed Loop P arameters The screen s how n in Figure 7 9 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. [...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 13 9 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 it[...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 14 0 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 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 in[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 14 1 Running the Motors 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 Enable and confi gure a joy stic[...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 14 2 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 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 in[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 14 3 Using the Console dev elopment as you w ill be abl e to visu alize, in real-ti me, the robo t ’ s Am ps cons umpt ion and othe r vital statistics during a ctua l operati ng condit ions. Figure 8 0 sho ws the Co nsole Sc reen and i ts v arious co mponents . 1 - T er minal Scr een Thi s area disp lay [...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 14 4 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Clic king this but ton will caus e Rob orun to send te n consec utive “ Carriage R e t urn ” c h arac- ter . If the controlle r is conf igured in An alog or R C mode, the Car riage R eturns w ill cause it to switc h to RS232 mod[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 14 5 Operating the AX50 0 o ver a Wired or Wirele ss LAN T o oper ate over th e net work, two co mputer s are requir ed, as show in F igur e 8 2 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 th[...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 14 6 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Updating th e Contr oller ’ s Sof tw are The AX50 0 ’ s operat ing so f t ware c an be ea sily up graded af ter it h as lef t the f actory . Th is f eat ure makes it poss ible to ad d ne w f eatur es and en hance e xisting one s[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 14 7 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 o[...]

Using the Roborun Configuration Utility 14 8 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 8- Install the ne w objec t file in t he control ler using the Ro boru n utility .[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 14 9 Mec hanical Dimensions SECTION 14 Mec hanical Specif ications Thi s sectio n details the mec hanical c hara cteristics o f the AX5 0 0 c ontroller . Mec hanical Dimensions The AX500 is deli vered as an assem bled and tested P rinted Ci rcuit B oard. T he board includ es conne ctors f or direct connec [...]

Mec hanical Specifications 15 0 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007 Mounting Co nsideratio ns The AX 5 0 0 ’ s heatsink is located at the bot tom of the boar d. Thi s requires therefo re that the boar d be mounte d with spac ers that ar e at mini mum 0.6 ” (1 5mm). Thermal Considerations When mount ing the b[...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 15 1 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 15 2 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 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 [...]

AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s M anual 15 3 Wire Dimensions Wire Dimensions The AX500 uses scre w terminals f o r the p ow er conn ections t o 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 WG 1 4 wire f or all po we r connect ions to[...]

Mec hanical Specifications 15 4 AX500 Motor Contro ller User ’ s Manual V ersio n 1 .9b. J une 1, 2007[...]