Motor controllers ease do-it-yourself challenge
By Bill Schweber -- EDN, July 28, 2005
Having a good motor is one thing; controlling the motor properly is another. The $850 Silverdust IGB from Quicksilver Controls provides servo control for NEMA 17 and 23 frame-sized microstep motors with encoders (Picture). Using this controller, you can achieve the performance of a four-quadrant servomotor but with a lower cost two-phase motor. In addition, you can program the unit for advanced profiles, PID and velocity servo modes, and other motion-specific operations. It includes connections for power and communications, plus 16 isolated, 5 to 24V-dc, bidirectional I/O lines and four analog inputs.
For network-based multiaxis motion supervision, the Maestro servoamplifier from Elmo Motion Control provides synchronized control, interpolated 2- and 3-D control, sequencing, and event handling, all as a CANopen Master (Picture). It operates as an Ethernet to CAN (controller-area-network) gateway with connectivity to a host PC or machine-control programmable-logic controller, with monitoring through a Web browser. Available software tools, which come with the unit, support application development and network installation. The basic unit sells for $1400.
Quicksilver Controls Inc, www.quicksilvercontrols.com.
Elmo Motion Control Inc, www.elmomc.com.
