Integrated Servo Motors use intelligent communications.February 15, 2011 -
SmartMotor(TM) products are available with Combitronic(TM) communication protocol, which uses CAN serial port to join up to 120 servos so that any of them may read, write, or control any other SmartMotor. To accomplish this, users are only required to tag local variable or command with colon and SmartMotor's CAN address. Communication protocol will not interfere with DeviceNet or CANopen communication coming from PLC/HMI/master.
(Archive News Story - Products mentioned in this Archive News Story may or may not be available from the manufacturer.)
Original Press release
Animatics Corp.
3200 Patrick Henry Dr.
Santa Clara, CA, 95054
USA
Animatics' Combitronic(TM) Technology Shatters Conventional Integrated Servo Motor Communication
Santa Clara, CA - The slogan "defining the future in motion control" may have seemed cliché to observers, but the release of Animatics' patent-pending Combitronic(TM) communication protocol proves otherwise. Optional to any SmartMotor(TM), Combitronic communication uses a CAN serial port to join up to 120 SmartMotor servos so that any SmartMotor may read, write, or control any other SmartMotor. The code to accomplish this couldn't be simpler: tag a local variable or command with a colon and the SmartMotor's CAN address.
All machine designs start with the decision between centralized control and distributed control. Having one centralized master in the entire machine's communication usually leaves the designer with an often overwhelmingly complex cabinet of controls, rails, mounts, cabling and wires looking similar to a science fiction nightmare, as well as an overworked master. As more engineers move towards distributed control with multiple machine parts controlling separate aspects of the whole machine, issues arise here as well. The problem now becomes communication, where the interaction and coordination needed from each node to achieve tasks by the machine as a whole fall by the wayside. It's between the headaches of centralized and distributed control that Combitronic communication provides the ideal solution: an invisible communication protocol that works between SmartMotor servos for data-sharing and coordination while not interfering with DeviceNet or CANopen communication coming from the PLC/HMI/master. Then again with Combitronic and SmartMotor, there is really no need for a PLC.
With Combitronic, no new fieldbus network has to be learned, so the user doesn't have to write a stitch of code for motor to motor specific communication. Simply by addressing the SmartMotor servos in the program, a group of SmartMotor products becomes one multi-tasking, data-sharing, multi-axes machine with access to all motion, program, I/O and data functions of every other SmartMotor. A group of only 10 SmartMotor integrated servos on a Combitronic network would have 20 communication ports and between 70 and 170 points of I/O.
So far only a handful of users have truly discovered the power of Combitronic technology, but word is spreading fast. At the Animatics Institute in October, programmers were stealthily delighted as they realized that each of their SmartMotor demos had already been addressed over CAN and with the proper code could control any other engineer's SmartMotor movement with a few swipes at the keyboard. Mischief ensued, and Combitronic prevailed.
For an application video of Combitronic and linear interpolation, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/user/smartmoto...
Animatics Corporation is Defining the Future in Motion Control. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Animatics designs, manufactures, and markets motion control products and systems, and has over 23 years in the motion control industry.
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