Can Centroid Control this?

[Chaz]

Looking at a Gate machine, 5 axis. It currently has a Hedenhain controller - TNC407 / TNC 415B / TNC 425 (one of these, all in the same manual, not sure which one).

The X Y and Z are all DC drives and are Maestro 140X8/16. The A and C Axis are Mini Maestro 60 x 7/14. I dont know if they are DC but likely, ill confirm once Ive had time to research them.

I can see that on the drives, -10 to +10V is not connected however there is 'Speed Ref' which I would assume its the control input.

Does OaK or Allin1DC have the ability to control these? I would assume so .... will do some research on these drives. They are all functional (one failed and was repaired) and Ideally a modern controller would make the machine a lot more usable.

Thanks.

[Chaz]

Just checked, the drives are made by Control Techniques and seem to be plentiful, just trying to find a manual.

[Chaz]

User manual for the drives attached.

Page 28/68 shows the inputs / outputs. The -10 and +10 Speed reference are what looks to be for tuning. The actual control is 9 and 10 and called 'Differential Analog Input'.

Thoughts please?

Thanks

[Chaz]

I'm assuming this is the inner working of the controller - not sure yet, so reviewing.

https://adegis.com/media/asset/ed4ab664 ... 3f89cf.pdf

Ive looked at the programming manual, that doesnt cover the interfaces etc.

[centroid467]

I believe you would be able to control these with an Oak in velocity mode. The wiring would probably be a little annoying since it looks like you'll have to wire the encoders directly to the Oak rather than to the drive.

From reading the manual, I would try wiring like this for velocity mode:
pin 1 I_MOT to Oak Analog In for load feedback
pin 10 to Oak Analog Request
pin 9 to pin 8 for single ended input
pin 3 to Oak +5V return
pin 5 to Oak Enable, probably needs a pull up to 24VDC
pin 13 to Oak +24V Return
pin 14 to Oak Fault In


Make sure the motors have differential quadrature encoders with line driver (RS422) output and wire them to the Oak axis header along with the drive.

Please note that we will not officially support this configuration.

[Chaz]

I believe you would be able to control these with an Oak in velocity mode. The wiring would probably be a little annoying since it looks like you'll have to wire the encoders directly to the Oak rather than to the drive.

From reading the manual, I would try wiring like this for velocity mode:
pin 1 I_MOT to Oak Analog In for load feedback
pin 10 to Oak Analog Request
pin 9 to pin 8 for single ended input
pin 3 to Oak +5V return
pin 5 to Oak Enable, probably needs a pull up to 24VDC
pin 13 to Oak +24V Return
pin 14 to Oak Fault In


Make sure the motors have differential quadrature encoders with line driver (RS422) output and wire them to the Oak axis header along with the drive.

Please note that we will not officially support this configuration.

Great, thanks, at least a starting point. Ive just been given all the manuals (not bought the machine yet) to review, so will take a look and see what else I can glean.

[Chaz]

I believe you would be able to control these with an Oak in velocity mode. The wiring would probably be a little annoying since it looks like you'll have to wire the encoders directly to the Oak rather than to the drive.

From reading the manual, I would try wiring like this for velocity mode:
pin 1 I_MOT to Oak Analog In for load feedback
pin 10 to Oak Analog Request
pin 9 to pin 8 for single ended input
pin 3 to Oak +5V return
pin 5 to Oak Enable, probably needs a pull up to 24VDC
pin 13 to Oak +24V Return
pin 14 to Oak Fault In


Make sure the motors have differential quadrature encoders with line driver (RS422) output and wire them to the Oak axis header along with the drive.

Please note that we will not officially support this configuration.

Just looking at this in some further detail, I can see someone's repair on the same drive and they effectively do -10V to +10V by tying pin 8 to 10 (0V) and then taking pin 6 with a pot (this is for testing) so you can effectively voltage divide between -10 to +10V DC. These have tacho generators, pin 11 and 12. Surely these Tachos are not able to output anything such as dif quad (RS422) so there would need to be another method of feedback, correct?

[Chaz]

Also, just checked. Oak is only 4 Axis, correct? I need 5.

EDIT, watching a vid on the Oak board, there are additional Axis via the 'daughterboard'. Question about encoder feedback however will still remain. Thanks.

[centroid467]

Hello,

I've seen some DC motors with both tachogenerator feedback and encoder feedback. I see a lot of references to "measuring system" inputs on the controller and they sure look a lot like encoder inputs to me. The language in the manual suggests that they are linear encoders on the axes and not rotary encoders on the motor.

It would be worth asking the seller if there are encoders going from the motors to the Heidenhain control - even if they are not differential quadrature output it will at least make it easier to install the appropriate type. If the machine only has linear scales then you may want to ask Marc or someone else more familiar with Oak systems about that kind of setup.

And yes, you can add more axes to the Oak with OpticDirect expansion boards.

[Chaz]

Hello,

I've seen some DC motors with both tachogenerator feedback and encoder feedback. I see a lot of references to "measuring system" inputs on the controller and they sure look a lot like encoder inputs to me. The language in the manual suggests that they are linear encoders on the axes and not rotary encoders on the motor.

It would be worth asking the seller if there are encoders going from the motors to the Heidenhain control - even if they are not differential quadrature output it will at least make it easier to install the appropriate type. If the machine only has linear scales then you may want to ask Marc or someone else more familiar with Oak systems about that kind of setup.

And yes, you can add more axes to the Oak with OpticDirect expansion boards.

Thanks. I will go look at the machine again this weekend and do a bit more scratching around now that I have a better idea on what I need to look at.

Thanks