Engineering Team Develops 5th Generation Accelera Controllers
Galil’s engineering team has recently developed their 5th generation motion controller family-the Accelera Series. These ultra high-speed controllers use a powerful RISC processor which allows the Accelera series to race along at much higher speeds than prior generation controllers. In fact, Accelera controllers process commands in 40 microseconds which is 10 times faster than the prior generation. Other speed enhancements include acceptance of encoder inputs as fast as 22 MHz and servo loop updates as high as 32 kHz.
Galil’s design team used many features of the RISC Processor to provide power and speed including: clock multipliers which provide a fast clock rate for processing instructions, cache-on-chip for fast memory access, and pipelining which allows one instruction to execute while another is being loaded.
The design team worked hard to develop firmware which allows the Accelera motion controllers to handle virtually any motion application with precision and ease. Modes of motion include point-to-point positioning, position tracking, jogging, linear and circular interpolation, electronic gearing, electronic cam and contouring. Other features include expanded, non-volatile memory for variables, arrays and programs; multitasking for running eight programs simultaneously; and acceptance of two encoders for every servo axis allowing dual-loop control. Advanced PID compensation with velocity and acceleration feedforward, integration limits, notch filter and low-pass filter assures robust, stable motor control.
The engineering team developed two formats for the Accelera controllers: a PCI card (DMC-18x6 model) and a box-level controller with Ethernet/RS232 (DMC-40x0). Both versions are available in 1- through 8- axis models.
The DMC-40x0 model is available with plug-in, multi-axis drives for stepper and servo motors. The design team incorporated Direct FETs in the amplifier design which provided better power density—more power in less space. A 500W drive takes less than 6 square inches. The efficient, plug-in drives save cost, space and wiring.
Galil’s R&D team used excellent circuit design techniques to incorporate many features into the DMC-40x0 controller while keeping to a cost-effective, compact package. The controller includes optically isolated I/O, high-power outputs capable of driving brakes or relays, analog inputs for interfacing to analog sensors, and a LCD for convenient display of messages. The 4-axis model is a compact 8.1” x 7.25” x 1.72” and the 8-axis model is 11.5” x 7.25” x 1.72”.
The DMC-40x0 controller and drive unit accepts power from a single 20-80 VDC source. The unit operates stand-alone or interfaces to a PC with Ethernet 10/100Base-T or RS232.