motionCODEC linear motors, board-mounted motion controllers and ultra-compact, multi-axis integrated drives are designed for demanding applications where reliability, system design flexibility and budget drive component selection.
Integrated Drives & Motion Controllers
Our compact multi-axis integrated drives support reduced cabling designs and are software compatible with the Performance Motion Devices Megellan product line. The board-mount miniture controllers enable OEMs to easily incorporate motion control into custom products without extensive development effort.
4-Axis Integraded Drive
The MC4 provides 4-Axis motion control and drive electronics for AC servo / brushless DC motors up to 100W of mechanical power per axis. The trend-setting compact form factor of 4.5" x 1.6" x 3.25" enables locations closer to the motors, reducing cabling and EMC design complexity and cost. The on-board 400MHz FP DSP enables complex coordinated multi-axis motion control for optimial system performance.
Additional MC4 features include:
- No external heat sink or fan cooling required for less than 55 degree C operation.
- Ethernet and Serial communication interfaces.
- Advanced torque/current control.
- 48V DC motor bus voltage.
- 24V DC logic voltage.
Learn more: MC4 Data Sheet
Board Mount Integrated Controllers
The mcdF and mcdU series single axis integrated motion controllers and digital drives are board mount units in formats similar to the "bricks" common in DC-DC power supplies. These units incorporate a DSP for trajectory generation, position and velocity loop closure, and digital control of phase currents. Incremental encoder and hall signals provide feedback. The board level host interface uses an SPI serial connection. Host commands consist of high level point to point destinations for minimal hosts as well as streaming position, velocity or torque commands for high performance host control. A variety of DSPs are used from 16-bit fixed point 20+ MIPS to 300MIPS 32-bit floating point devices.
The mcdU series measures 1.2" x 2.4" x 0.5" and is available in 2T, 3T, and 4T-bridge configurations to support any of the three popular motor types. The power stage is optimized for 48Vdc, 6Adc max per phase. Open frame with and without baseplate are available.
The mcdF series measures 2.4" x 3.25" x 0.6" with case and baseplate. This series provides filtered PWM outputs for driving long motor leads in situations where reduced PWM generated EMI is needed. Optimized for 48Vdc, 5Adc max per phase, these units are available in 2T, 3T, and 4T-bridge configurations to support any of the three popular motor types.
Ultraminiature 6-Axis Integrated Motion Controller
The mcd18T486 is a miniature 6-axis motion controller with embedded digital drives in a board mount configuration. The single circuit board system measures 3.00" x 3.00" x 0.5" (L x W x H). Mounted as a daughterboard on a customer's embedded controller, this unit provides a very compact method of controlling multiple small motors of up to 50W rating.
A 300MHz 32-bit floating point DSP provides multi-axis trajectory generation, position and velocity loop closure, and coupled with a 20K logic element FPGA controls the current loops in an 18 T-bridge power stage. The T-bridge power stage is optimized for 48Vdc bus voltages and 6Adc maximum continuous current. T-bridges are configured as required for motor type. Two T-bridges for brush type motors (maximum of 9), three T-bridges for brushless 3-phase motors (maximum of 6) and four T-bridges for stepper motors (maximum of 4). Support is provided for 12 industry standard incremental encoders (A, B, Index) allowing 6-axis control with dual encoder feedback. Motor types are software configurable in a mix and match manner up to the limit of T-bridges and encoder channels. For example, two stepper motors (8 T-bridges), two brushless servos (6 T-bridges) and two DC brush type motors (4 T-bridges) could each be provided with dual encoder feedback.
Board level communication interface is supported via UART, USB, and SPI serial interface standards.
The mcd18T486 was developed for mcdPLF80 planar linear motor forcer produced by motionCODEC. Additional controllers incorporating the mcd18T486 along with heatsinks, power supplies and I/O interface circuits will provide standalone functionality in addition to the native board mount format.
Linear Motors
Our patented linear motors provide a unique combination of accuracy, cost and greatly reduced use of increasingly costly and hard-to-source rare earth materials.
Single Axis Linear Motors
Patent pending linear motors which use steel tracks rather than permanent magnet tracks, and are ideal for gantry and cartesian motion control systems.
XY Planar Linear Motor
The mcdPLF80 is a completely new planar linear motor forcer incorporating three significant improvements over existing Sawyer motor systems:
- A new polyphase electromagnetic design for improved motor accuracy and motion smoothness.
- An improved optical sensor system providing 128nm resolution coupled with 20KHz sensor sample rates for more precise motor positioning and faster control dynamics.
- A fully integrated 6-axis all digital control system embedded within the forcer. The controller is powered from 48Vdc, and all high frequency PWM transients are confined within the forcer case, simplifying EMC and safety agency approvals. The integrated controller provides drive support for two external brushless motors of up to 50W rating with encoder and hall signal feedback.