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“You really need to develop a whole product solution—hardware, software, UI, interfaces, and process redesign—with a consideration for what problem you are really trying to solve.” —Aldo Zini
Getting large teams of robots to collaborate is the work of Dr Regis Vincent, who envisions applications that include mapping nuclear contamination.
What obstacles remain for robots to work alongside humans in industrial settings, and how far have we come in eliminating those challenges? Dr. Roland Menassa answers these and other questions in his presentation at the RoboBusiness summit November 2-3 in Boston.
John Reid, director of Product Technology and Innovation at Moline Technology Innovation Center, a part of John Deere’s Global Technology Innovation Network, discusses how his company’s technologies will help feed the world’s billions.
Mark Ingebretsen
abreast of the latest news, research, and business
analysis in key areas of the fast-changing
robotics industry
Downloadable Programming
Multiple versions of the Stand-Alone card are offered for 1- thru 4-Axis applications. All versions measure 6.3” x 4.23” (16cm x 10.7cm), providing a small form factor for space constrained designs. They are available with horizontal connectors or optional vertical connectors for stackable configurations. This provides designers with greater versatility in choosing mounting locations and cabling options.
Prodigy Stand AloneNew support for Ethernet communications with UDP and TCP communication protocols, in addition to serial and CANbus protocols, allow the Stand-Alone Prodigy to operate in a wide variety of networking environments.
Downloadable Programming and the C-Motion® Engine
Program development is simplified through the use of PMD’s C-Motion development suite that includes an extensive library of proven motion control code as well as an array of development and debug tools. The powerful C-Motion command set includes an extensive source code library of motion commands that speed development of standard C/C++ programs. In addition to handling the motion control functions, the C-Motion Engine can also manage digital and analog I/O signals locally allowing for much faster system responses and a reduced need for supplemental I/O cards in the system.
Prodigy Stand-Alone cards provide high performance board-level motion control for scientific, industrial, robotic, and general purpose automation applications. The motion control functions are handled by PMD’s industry leading Magellan® Motion Processor that is tightly integrated with the C-Motion Engine. Users can program a variety of motion profiles including S-curve, trapezoidal, velocity contouring, and electronic gearing. Servo loop compensation utilizes a full 32-bit position error, PID with velocity and acceleration feedforward, integration limit and dual biquad filters for sophisticated control of complex loads. Motor type and feedback type can be selected independently for each axis. Prodigy supports DC brush, brushless DC, step, and microstepping motors. The new Prodigy Stand-Alone Motion Cards with downloadable programming are available in OEM quantities starting at $575.
“This new Stand-Alone card offers OEM machine designers a compact, stackable format and the ability to download motion control programs with the on-board C-Motion Engine. This Stand-Alone card along with the rest of the Prodigy family of motion cards creates a formidable tool set for motion system designers” - Chuck Lewin, Founder and VP of Engineering, Performance Motion Devices, Inc.
For additional information, go to http://www.pmdcorp.com/motion-control-cards/.
To view a datasheet, go to http://www.pmdcorp.com/downloads/Prodigy_Motion_Cards_Datasheet.pdf.
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