DMC recently upgraded a system of pressure-control valves from pulse-width modulated hydraulic control to Siemens S120 drive control – making valve movement and resultant system behavior smoother and more quickly reactive. A Siemens 1500 PLC co...
Beckhoff is one of the premier automation vendors in terms of motion control. By basing its fieldbus on EtherCAT, Beckhoff can achieve deterministic performance with flexible topologies, both of which are necessary for complex motion projects. ...
Many MagneMotion systems use a PLC to coordinate the movement of vehicles within a greater system. While a Node Controller controls the actual motors of the system, a PLC is used to tell the Node Controller where on the track each vehicle should go. ...
FANUC HandlingPRO is great for visualizing tool paths and planning installation locations. It allows you to import computer-aided design (CAD) models and even run simulated robot programs. This is especially helpful for avoiding potential interferenc...
Some people might be very comfortable with setting up basic digital and analog IO on a PLC but then are a little hesitant about motion control. Often, setting up motion can require drive commissioning, proper topology connections, and a lot of other ...
SINAMIC’s G and S Series Drives are a powerful and versatile platform capable of doing all sorts of motion applications. Also included are onboard IO, PID functionality, and even logic gates! Taking advantage of all the added features of the...
Recently, I worked on a project that used a Siemens S7-300 PLC to control several Yaskawa VFD's over PROFIBUS. Although Yaskawa provides documentation to accomplish this, reading through manuals can be time-consuming. For someone only seeking ...
One of the great, and underused, features in TIA Portal is the Network Topology tab of "Devices and Networks." It can enable you to accomplish a number of advanced tasks while simultaneously providing more in-depth network diagnostics. Toda...
DMC has often encountered a scenario where a customer wants to have a motor drive follow the position of an external encoder. However, a regular 1500 PLC does not allow you to directly gear to an external encoder; this functionality requires a 1500T ...
FANUC offers an easy way to command and configure a robot from a PC using their PC Developer's Kit (PCDK).The kit allows a PC to access variables, registers, IO, programs, positions, and alarms on the robot. Most of the help documentation already...