Category Archives: Hardware

The very first ION servo drive

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Good news! The very first fully assembled ION servo drive boards have arrived. I jumped straight to programming the thing. Few parts of code have been already ported from Argon and everything has worked flawlessly so far.

The very first ION board fully assembled in its creator's hand

The very first ION board fully assembled in its creator’s hand

The drive is equipped with ARM Cortex M4 processor with hardware floating point unit (FPU). I ran small test of FPU performance and found out that simple floating point arithmetic operations execute 20-30 times faster compared to non-FPU code. This means, all control code can be written with floating point math yielding ultimate precision and dynamic range without sacrificing servo bandwidth.

New AC servo motors have arrived

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The first batch of new servo motors are here! The stocked selection includes 400 W and 950 W rated of low inertia AC servo motors. Both models come with 2 500 PPR (10 000 counts/rev) encoders and pre-assembled 4 meter long cables that plug straight to the Argon drive saving from the hassle and chance of error.

New 400W and 950W motors. Motors come with pre-made 4 meter cables that plug straight to Argon servo drive.

New 400W and 950W motors. The new servos are notably lighter and smaller than equivalent motors from few years back. They weight approximately 1/3 less than equal power Sanyo P5’s.

Servos will will appear in the web shop during the next days. Detailed specifications of motors are already online at the Wiki. The specification PDF lists all available models from 30 W to 950 W which are available on order. All sizes are optionally available with a holding brake.

I’m excited to see the first machines running with these beasts :)

Development motherboard for ION

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While first IONs are being assembled, I have been making development mother board for ION. The development board has only place for one axis drive but it has handy ways of toggling input states and monitoring outputs from LEDs or through measurement hook points.

Single axis development motherboard for Ion (work in progress)

Single axis development motherboard for Ion (work in progress)

The final design of mother boards will have more finished look, better connector placements and more axis.

I wish happy Easter weekend for all of our readers! :)

The new beginning!

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Today the first prototype PCB’s of upcoming Ion servo drives have arrived! Ion will fill the void in the smaller drive range and will lead to cost efficient solution for sub-400 W power class. Ion exhibits 64 pin PCI-Express card edge connector (not electrically PCI-e) allowing design of multi-axis “motion motherboard” with easily interfaced connectors.

The first Ion model has been designed for 5-55 VDC supply voltage and 5 A continuous current. Ion has four power lanes which makes it possible to drive also stepping motors.

The very first Ion servo drive circuit boards

The very first Ion servo drive circuit boards waiting to be equipped

Random Ion PCB facts:

  • 6 signal layers
  • Trace/space 6 mils
  • 526 drilled holes, smallest 0.15 mm
  • 139 surface mount components (double sided assembly)
  • 600+ solder joints
  • Size 71×36 mm

Argon got resolver support!

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After a while of silence, I’m pleased to announce the completion of Argon resolver feedback device support. This means the release of Argon resolver adapter device and a new Argon firmware version 1.3.0 that adds support for it.

Argon resolver adapter fits nicely inside a standard D-sub hood

Argon resolver adapter fits nicely inside a standard D-sub hood

Adapters are in stock and orderable through web shop at cost of 8.90 eur/pcs. I hope to hear some experiences once first users adopt the new devices!

Argon motor output current rating increased

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As are now wiser than during Argon release and we have data about drive reliability, we are confident to start pushing current limits up little by little. To the date, not even one Argon has failed due to overload. We know many users who are pushing them at their power limits and couple of them have even special versions that allows significantly higher currents than the original 10 A continuous / 15 A peak ratings.

The Argon firmware version 1.2.1 has been released to increase current limits to 11 A continuous and 16 A peak. The latest version also addresses issues regarding mechanical brake timing and Hall sensor support. Find full list of changes and download link at Wiki.

New poll – preferred motor cable lenght

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As we want to offer motors with pre-made cables that plug directly to the drives eliminating soldering work and chance of wiring error, I made a new poll to ask how long motor cables our followers would prefer.

Cable lenght specification

Cable lenght specification

So please make your vote on the right side of this page or leave a comment to share your thoughts!

More brushless AC servo motors

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More brushless AC servo motors arrived today from a different manufacturer than the previous ones. These ones have premium build quality, high power density (compact size versus power) and reasonable pricing. Such sweet ingredients make a very tasty candidate for our next stocked motor choice.

New motors, 400W and 600W models with brake and 2500 P/R encoders. Encoder cables are pre-made for Argon.

New motors, 400W and 600W models with brake and 2500 P/R encoders. Encoder cables are pre-made for Argon.

A good thing is, this manufacturer makes wire endings according to our specifications, so they plug direclty to the drive. Out of the box, the first motor was correctly set-up and running in less than 5 minutes. These irons spin silky smooth and quiet as expected.

The new motors under very first test

Servos under the very first test

Evaluating new AC servo motors

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One of the goals during our SPS IPC DRIVES exhibition visit was to shop for new industrial brushless AC servo motors that eventually would be offered through our web shop separately or as a package with servo drives.

Today we received the first candidates which immediately gave well made and smooth first impression. One positive thing with these motors is the heavy duty connectors counter-parts that come with motors. Obtaining this kind of mating connectors separately usually is time consuming and expensive – it’s not rare to see one of those plugs costing 50 euros from distributors.

New AC servo motors. The smaller ones are 2 Nm and bigger ones 4 Nm 3000 rpm. Both are equipped with 2500 PPR encoders and heavy duty connectors.

New AC servo motors. The smaller ones are 2 Nm and bigger ones 4 Nm 3000 rpm. Both are equipped with 2500 PPR encoders (10 000 counts/rev after 4x decoding).

The new motors offer higher torque & power than the currently offered brushless motor series ranged from 150 W to 660 W power. These new motors output 630 W and 1.3 kW respectively. Anyone wanna buy some for testing? :)

Resolver support progress

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A resolver (stator and rotor part) and an adapter card plugged to Argon

A resolver (stator and rotor part) and an adapter card plugged to Argon

Resolver feedback device will get an official support in the next Argon firmware release. Connecting a resolver to the drive requires few passive components between the feedback device port and actual resolver. These are easily fitted inside the D-sub connector hood and pre-made PCB’s for that will be available for low cost.

Quite hefty connectors on the motor under test

A bit oversized plugs on the motor under test?

The main concern using analog feedback device (in which category resolver belongs) is the sensitivity to electromagnetic interference. The following images illustrate the importance of proper cable shielding when using resolver. The upper image without cable shielding/screening shows significant amount of position sensor noise which would cause motor hissing and hunting while standing still. The lower image shows nearly ideal stability. In both cases motor is standing still in torque mode, so all we see here is not real movement but just the sensor noise.

Resolver position counter noise when motor or resolver cable shield is present but not connected to drive. Noise amplitude is about 10 counts out of 8192 per revolution.

Resolver position counter noise when motor or resolver cable shield is present but not connected to drive. Noise amplitude is over 10 counts out of 8192 per revolution.

The noise when motor or resolver cable shield is connected at drive end. Noise amplitude has reduced to about 1 to 2 counts out of 8192 per revolution.

The noise when motor or resolver cable shield is connected at drive end. Noise amplitude has reduced to about 1 to 2 counts out of 8192 per revolution.

Random fact of the day: I typically use the most horrible imaginable wiring when developing & testing drives. This serves two purposes: saves time and reveals potential problems early. If it works reliably with bad wiring, then it damn sure will work with a proper wiring.