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Lower-cost motion controls are four times faster

15 November, 2011

Trio Motion has announced a pair of motion and machine controllers for multi-tasking control of servo or stepper motors, based on 533MHz ARM processors. The MC403 model controls two servo axes with a master encoder input, or three stepper axes; while the MC405 controls four servos with a master encoder, or five step and direction axes.

With a clock frequency more than four times faster than Trio’s previous, more costly, Motion Coordinators, the new controllers offer improved selectable servo update rates from 125–2,000µs, and data tables of up to 512k. The double floating-point precision processor delivers much better servo loop accuracy, with 64-bit real-number mathematics and 64-bit integer position registers.

The controllers have 6MHz servo encoder ports that are selectable for incremental linear or rotary feedback, or can be configured for various other encoders. The maximum stepper output frequency is 2MHz.

The controllers can be programmed using use the multi-tasking TrioBasic language and/or IEC 61131-3. This allows OEMs and end-users to produce tightly-synchronised, high-throughput motion and machine control.

Both models have RJ-45 Ethernet ports for programming and connecting HMIs and other devices. Supported protocols include Modbus TCP and Ethernet IP. There are also RS-232 and -485 serial ports. A CANbus expansion port provides a CANopen master or DeviceNet slave.

The new controllers are ideal for applications where combinations of linear or interpolated motion, electronic gearboxes, or linked axes, need to be co-ordinated with machine I/O and sensor interfaces.
 
The MC403 can handle six simultaneous tasks and has eight axes in software, while the MC405 runs up to ten tasks with 16 axes in software. For larger, more complex installations, Trio`s MC464 Motion Coordinator can handle up to 64 independently configured servo or stepper axes and a wide range of fieldbus protocols.