Category Archives: Ioni

CNC router test with IONI Pro

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During Easter weekend I was testing IONI on my own DIY CNC router. Steppers ran above 2000 rpm making the machine run faster than it ever has.

IONI has native resolution of 25600 steps/rev (or 128 fold microstepping), which may lead to insufficient step rate from the CNC controller. In my case the LinuxCNC was able to generate only 33 kHz step rate, so step mutliplier in drive has been cranked up to 25x. This normally would reduce microstepping and cause noisy operation, but not with IONI when setpoint smoothing feature is turned on. At 0:32 you will see a comparison between setpoint smoothing off and on.

Special thanks to Aki for video editing!

IONI now measures motor resistance and inductance

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IONI drive firmware release 1.1.0 brings a new useful feature that automatically measures motor characteristic resistance and inductance and completely takes the guesswork out of torque controller tuning.

Now it takes single click to auto-set resistance and inductance

It takes single click to auto-set resistance and inductance

The equation that defines inductor

The definition of inductance

Using automatic measure is the new recommended approach to set MR and ML parameters accurately even when motor data sheet would provide these values. This is because many data sheets unfortunately provide inaccurate values. Some manufacturers have apparently characterized motor inductance at high frequency range (hundreds of kHz) which typically gives a value more than 50% off from the real inductance.

Having accurate values also opens doors for sophisticated stepping motor control features such as advanced vibration damping which rely on accurate motor characteristics. This is a subject for another update!

IONIZER – an external power stage board

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We have been quietly experimenting on a special IONI motherboard that has discrete power stage to extend IONI power capability. We already have a proof-of-concept board that is equipped with leftover VSD-E mosfets (61A 200V rated). After couple of weeks of use, we could not tell the difference between integrated and external power stage by observing motor control performance and smoothness.

IONIZER early proof-of-concept board

IONIZER proof-of-concept board

IONIZER bottom side showing the discrete power MOSFETs

Bottom side showing the discrete power MOSFETs

IONIZER has been considered to be available as DIY board (bare PCB) and a reference design where users could modify it to match virtually any power need. However, it’s not ready and many changes are needed to have our approval (such as galvanic isolation of all I/O, short circuit protection and switch to PCI-E 8x socket for newer IONI). Finishing this might be a subject for another crowd funding project.

Some pros are:

  • Can be made to virtually any power
  • Not highly expensive

And cons:

  • If built with assembly errors, can be hazardous
  • Some safety & protection features add complexity on circuity (STO, over temperature & short circuit protections)
  • Industrial manufacturing may not be cost effective (more complex solution than Argon)

Tell me in the comments how useful do you see IONIZER and which voltage & current range would be your preference :)

Thank you!

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The IONI Indiegogo campaign is now finished and has exceeded our most wishful original goals. I can’t figure out a way to express how thankful I am to all the contributors and word-spreaders that made it happen! So thank you!

Our next task is to oviously to fulfill all the shipments :) If you haven’t entered/duplicated your perk order to Granite Devices web shop already, please do it now as instructed in this post. That will help us great deal and will speed up the deliveries.

Contribution over time

Contribution over time

Contributions by country

Contributions by country

Oh, and happy easter too! :)

Green light (almost)

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The prototype IONICUBE 1X has been now assembled and tested. Functionally everything is Ok, which is the most important thing, but few adjustments in layout and component selection will be made. No big deal – no delay!

IONICUBE 1X prototype (with temporary type pin header etc)

IONICUBE 1X prototype (with temporary type pin header etc)

In the other news, we’re over $30k in the Indiegogo campaign! Pure awesomeness! This means that the very next IONI firmware release will buff current rating to 18 Amps on  devices that are sent for the campaign contributors :)

IONICUBE 1X motherboard prototype

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The prototype boards of IONICUBE 1X has arrived! On-board features include:

  • Carry single IONI drive
  • On-board regenerative braking resistor drive (need just an external resistor)
  • Support mechanical end-of-travel switches and homing switch
  • Motor holding brake output with driver
  • 20 pin ribbon cable connector for I/O and setpoint signals
  • Support 3.3V, 5V and 24V1 I/O signal levels
  • Charge-pump enable input for safety
  • E-stop switch input (safe torque off)
  • ARGON Servo Drive compatible encoder connector pin-out
  • RJ45 connectors for SimpleMotion V2 usage and configuration
  • On-board 0.5A 5V regulator to power drive logic and feedback devices
  • DIN rail mounting option
IONICUBE 1X prototype (not yet assembled)

IONICUBE 1X prototype (not yet assembled)

First shipments & documentation

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Many of the Early bird purchases have been shipped on Friday and rest will follow as soon as possible. The schedule of more IONICUBEs (4 axis type) are ahead of original schedule and we hope to have then all shipped within 2 weeks (also non-early birds)!

Meanwhile the user guide of IONI & IONICUBE has been completed and available at Wiki. Please check it and leave a comment about the questions it leaves unanswered.

Also feel free to add pages to the Wiki. Especially wanted pages are configuration examples in various systems (such as Mach, LinuxCNC & others). Articles doesn’t have to be polished from the start as Wiki improves it self by the help of contributors. It helps a lot if you share just your own experience of the setup. We also start to offer discounts for users making good efforts to make user guides. If interested, drop us a message :)

That’s why we test

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The testing protocol of IONI drives is derived from Argon test setup and consists several steps including:

  • Chip programming and program verification
  • Testing of digital inputs & outputs
  • Testing accuracy of analog inputs (analog setpoint input as well as on-board sensor signals)
  • Testing interconnectivity of internal circuity
  • Testing all electrical functionality (such as safe torque off)
  • Burn-in testing with maximum load. The load is a large stepping motor which utilizes all four power stage channels.
  • From burn-in data, we measure time versus heating (efficiency) and torque control behavior
  • All results, data and logs are stored in SQL database where we can look for anomalies if a device fails later
IONI with one "tombstoned" 0604 size resistor

This is a reason why we test. IONI with one “tombstoned” 0604 size resistor, that would have been hard to spot without testing.

Shipping Indiegogo IONI kits

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We are now starting to ship the purchases from the IONI Indiegogo campaign! In order to speed up the shipping and handling, we kindly ask you to replicate your Indiegogo order to our web shop – no payment needed. Instructions:

  1. Double-check the purchases you made from Indiegogo and also ensure that you added $30 for shipping (one time is enough, no matter how many kits you buy). If you forgot to pay $30 for shipping, go to IONI Indiegogo campaign and grab the “Forgot shipping” perk.
  2. Go to Granite Devices web shop Indiegogo category
  3. Add the kits that you have first purchased from the Indiegogo campaign
  4. Enter your shipping address, also enter your company/organization VAT ID if you have one
  5. Bonus: if you know your Pledge ID numbers, please enter them to order comment field. It will help the matching process.
  6. Proceed to checkout and select Indiegogo shipping
  7. Proceed to select payment method and choose Indiegogo purchase
  8. Submit order. Remember that payment is not needed as you have already paid through Indiegogo. Your order will be verified and marked as paid by our staff. Don’t worry if the total amount don’t match the amount you contributed, it will be corrected manually by us.

Thank you!

PS. Everyone will be fulfilled even if they don’t do this procedure. However, the ones entering order on web shop will be served faster.

Stretch goals

The stretch goal rewards will be also available for those who want shipment early:

  1. Exclusive IONI Pro edition (on $30k mark) – the 18 Amp version will be made as firmware upgrade that works on devices with campaign specific serial numbers
  2. Extra IONI for everyone (on $50k mark) – this will be fulfilled by giving a discount coupon that gives equivalent value discount in the web shop. So you can get your extra drive later or give/sell the coupon to your friend.

80/20 law

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The Pareto’s principle has been shown true once again. It says that 80% of work comes from 20% of remaining things. The last two weeks have been so busy finishing & perfecting IONI that I had barely time to eat properly or check emails. Luckily 2 weeks ago we were not at 80% but 99% so that 2 weeks was enough to fill the missing 1%. This reminded me why I don’t like to promise any fixed dates but rather say “when it’s ready”.

Today finally the firmware and testing rig has been finalized and frozen. First set of devices are now tested and the shippings begin on Friday. Next up: the user guide :)