Design Custom Motion Controllers for Stepper, Servo Motors with NI LabVIEW
by Design World Staff
Thursday, February 08, 2007
NEWS RELEASE – National Instruments today announced the latest version of the NI SoftMotion Development Module for LabVIEW,
the revolutionary software that empowers machine builders and original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to create customized motion controllers
using software and deploy them for any NI hardware platform. OEMs and
machine builders can use a range of pre-built motion functions and
control algorithms to quickly create motion controllers based on
specific application requirements as well as price and performance
needs. The new NI SoftMotion Development Module 2.0 expands this
flexible environment to stepper motor control and adds support for the
Windows Vista OS and new National Instruments CompactRIO controllers for high-performance motion control.
“The NI SoftMotion Development Module provides a new way for designers
to create the best control system for their applications, resulting in
a more efficient machine without the overhead of a custom layout,” said
Robert Canik, director of motion control R&D at National
Instruments.
The NI SoftMotion Development Module is ideal for applications that
require high-speed or custom control such as drilling, semiconductor
processes, microelectromechanical system processes (MEMS) and in-line
vehicle sequencing by automakers. Machine builders and OEMs can use the
NI SoftMotion Development Module to easily create custom motion
controllers with advanced control algorithms such as fuzzy logic or
model-based control for better machine performance. Combined with the NI LabVIEW FPGA technology in NI CompactRIO modules and NI R Series
data acquisition devices, they implement PID loop rates of up to 200
kHz. With these faster loop rates, researchers gain more precise
control to build finer materials. They can also adapt more quickly to
changes, leading to more efficient machines.
Researchers can use the NI SoftMotion Development Module to quickly
develop and prototype new control design algorithms for motion control.
The software includes functions for trajectory generation, spline
interpolation, position and velocity PID control and encoder
implementation on the LabVIEW Real-Time Module
and/or the LabVIEW FPGA Module. Using these functions, researchers can
experiment with the range of available algorithms to fine-tune their
applications and even create their own. With the NI SoftMotion
Development Module, engineers can create custom motion controllers
using the platform of their choice, including the CompactRIO embedded
platform, plug-in NI M Series and R Series data acquisition devices, or the NI Compact FieldPoint programmable automation controller, depending on performance requirements.
The latest version of the NI SoftMotion Development Module adds support
for its spline engine function to generate step data output as well as
a new stepper generator function to process step data into step and
direction signals for a stepper motor, giving machine builders the
ability to choose the motor best suited for their applications. In
addition, it includes two new data types for spline data – fixed point
and floating point. These data types give machine builders the
flexibility to choose more loop rate combinations when using servo
motors, which they can use to fine-tune their motion controllers for
higher-performance control.
About National Instruments
National Instruments (www.ni.com)
is transforming the way engineers and scientists design, prototype and
deploy systems for measurement, automation and embedded applications.
NI empowers customers with off-the-shelf software such as NI LabVIEW
and modular cost-effective hardware, and sells to a broad base of more
than 25,000 different companies worldwide, with no one customer
representing more than 3 percent of revenue and no one industry
representing more than 10 percent of revenue. Headquartered in Austin,
Texas, NI has more than 4,000 employees and direct operations in nearly
40 countries. For the past eight years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America.
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