In the other news, we have just released the first open beta version of Mach4 Granite Devices motion control plugin. All CNC users out here, welcome to test it with your IONI, ARGON and soon to be released ATOMI drives! Grab a free Mac4 plug-in download from our Wiki.Shortly put, the plug-in makes it possible to control drives straight from PC USB port. No middle-hardware or step pulse generators needed.

If you try it, drop a comment below, or at our community forum thread here.

The post Mach4 motion plugin for Granite Devices drives appeared first on Servo drive developer.

In other words, we’re now hiring the best of the best hacker available to take a major role in servo drive firmware development. If your socks started spinning already, don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance and drop Granite Devices your CV now!

The post Wanted: hacker appeared first on Servo drive developer.

SimuCUBE front

SimuCUBE rear

SimuCUBE motherboard with IONI Pro HC and 320 power supply

Construction of the acrylic case

Aside with 30 Nm peak MiGE motor

Ingenious SimuCUBE hardware & enclosure design and photos by Aki.

The post The first SimuCUBE is real! appeared first on Servo drive developer.

SimuCUBE will change the way simulators are built. Click to enlarge.

Brilliant hardware design & image render by Aki.

The post SimuCUBE – the force feedback controller from the future announced appeared first on Servo drive developer.

This may be useful when using drive from a switch mode power supplies that normally shut down on overload condition. With this parameter, one can set exact amount of power that is available from PSU to prevent overloads. This also helps to save money on power supply as there is less need oversize the PSU in order to handle the highest load peaks.

The post Peak power limit feature is coming appeared first on Servo drive developer.

Thanks to Aki for design, tooling and video. Stay tuned for more progress, during this time we have have got many ideas how to improve electronics & software of FFB systems.

The post Force feedback wheel update appeared first on Servo drive developer.

•  Improvements
  • IONI Pro HC model maximum output current in AC/BLDC/Stepper modes increased to 25A (was 23A)
  • Re-implemented torque controller using 32 bit floating point arithmetics instead of integer arithmetics (at least theoretical precision improvement)
  • DC motor mode no longer requires parallel connection of drive output phases if current is at most 50% of drive’s maximum output current capability (sensitivity of overcurrent fault with Fault ID 440219 is greatly reduced).
• Fixes
  • Changed limit switch polarity: earlier limit switches needed to be normally open (NO), while drive specifications say that they are normally closed type (NC). Now limit switchers are NC (switch conducting -> motion allowed, switch open -> motion stops).
  • Fix an issue where AC/BLDC motor initialization could become incorrectly phased when Hall sensors are enabled
  • Address an issue where torque was 5% lower than setpoint with TBW parameter value of 4700 Hz

Get it from here.

The post IONI firmware 1.4.0 gets floating point precision appeared first on Servo drive developer.

Simulator direct drive FFB wheel is operational but currently it lacks other controls. Mechanical parts design and tooling was implemented by Aki.

The first test drive on iRacing put a wide smile on our faces immediately and gave more motivation to make faster progress on it :)

The plan is to experiment with wheel effect calculations, such as friction, inertia, damping and spring, inside the drive firmware to take full advantage of high resolution feedback devices. Also it’s a good platform to test how far IONI can be pushed in output current ratings in this kind of system.

The post Force feedback wheel first test drive appeared first on Servo drive developer.

Load endurance test with IONI Pro and IONI Pro HC

The statistics above shows endurance results from about 200 tested drives. From here we can see that Pro HC model has average endurance times of 47.7 seconds while Pro has average of 27.5 seconds. This means that on average HC model takes 1.73 times longer to get equally warm during the test. On the other hand, it could be understood that on average HC model dissipates 42% less heat.

The test also reveals that the variance is higher on HC model. There are few extraordinary good units probably due to varying characteristics of the MOSFETs even though both model MOSFETs are made by same manufacturer. Pro HC model uses the newest and lowest loss type that is available today in this size while Pro uses couple of steps lower rated devices. I hope some day the MOSFET manufacturer manages to avoid the variance and start offering transistors that perform like the best ones seen here.

Despite of the variance, the best thing is that there is clear bottom level on both types, so any unit will not have troubles meeting the specs.

The post IONI power handling statistics appeared first on Servo drive developer.

Argon V2.0.0 beta 4

All reported bugs have been addressed. Beta 4 is a release candidate and it will become official 2.0 if no further problems are found. Once tested, please send feedback about it (email or comment here, also please tell which control mode you are using: torque, velocity or position). Or give vote on the poll on the right sidebar. Get the firmware from here.

Ioni V1.3.0

This update includes lots of changes since the last release. For full change log and downloads, see this wiki page. Feedback is very welcome.

Granity 1.9

The latest Granity includes support for the Ioni V1.3.0 as well as some improvements. Starting from this release, it includes also Linux version!

The post Firmware Monday! appeared first on Servo drive developer.