Aerotech Upgrades Automation1 Controller Platform

Aerotech Inc., a global leader in precision motion control and automation, has released version 1.2 of Automation1, the world’s most user-friendly motion control platform. This upgrade brings gantry control, a C API and several new drives to the platform.

“Aerotech customers know they can count on us to deliver robust product lines that meet their precise complex motion control needs,” said Patrick Wheeler, Aerotech’s controls product manager. “With Automation1 1.2, we’re introducing features and drives to the platform that make it even better equipped to control the most demanding applications – all with Automation1’s user-friendly interface.”

The Automation1 1.2 motion control platform additions include:

• Linear-Theta Gantry Control — The Automation1 Software-Based Machine Controller (iSMC) now includes Linear-Theta Gantry Control, enabling more flexibility and better performance for gantries.
• C API – The iSMC’s new C API library allows for full flexibility and customization in interface design. Now customers can easily integrate any or all Automation1 functions within their own custom application.
• CADFusion Support — CADFusion has been updated to export to Automation1’s AeroScript programming language format. CADFusion includes a graphical motion trajectory development canvas and also converts DXF/DWG files directly into program files. This lowers implementation risk and delivers dramatic improvements in part quality and throughput.
• XC6e Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) Servo Motor Drive – The Automation1 drive for users who need to move heavy payloads at top speeds using high voltage, high currents or both, the XC6e provides up to 100 amps peak output and is available in 240 VAC and 480 VAC voltage options. It controls brushless, brush, voice coil and stepper motors and features include a safe torque off (STO) safety circuit, a drive data array with more than 67 MB of memory, multi-axis Position Synchronized Output (PSO), an I/O expansion board and a 65K encoder multiplier for amplified sine wave encoders of up to 2 MHz input frequency.
• SI4 Stepper Controller — A two- or four-axis stepper controller that interfaces with any standard stepper drive via clock and direction signals, the SI4 gives users the flexibility to coordinate motion with third-party motors while maintaining all the benefits of using the Automation1 platform. The SI4 includes dedicated axis connectors with encoder feedback (sine +/-, cosine +/- and marker inputs), two end-of-travel (EOT) limit switch inputs, amplifier enables and fault I/O, and optional absolute encoder and multi-axis PSO support.
• AutoFocus for Drives —AutoFocus is now a standard feature on all Automation1 drives. Designed to simplify sensor integration and increase system performance in surface profiling and scanning applications, AutoFocus is particularly useful in applications where an external analog sensor is used to maintain a constant offset from a workpoint. It is also used in other sensor-based applications, such as force control.
• Enhanced Throughput Module Support — The Enhanced Throughput Module (ETM), now standard for Automation1, improves the positioning performance of high-dynamic motion systems by directly measuring the unwanted motion of the machine base and communicating it back to the controller. The ETM allows the servo system to do a superior job of executing the desired motion path.
• XL4s High-Performance Voice-Coil Driver — The XL4s digital drive includes a high-performance linear amplifier designed to drive single-phase motors and eliminate the non-linearities common with PWM amplifiers. Necessary for controlling Aerotech’s AGV3D Three-Axis Laser Scan Head and AGV5D Five-Axis Laser Micromachining Precession Scanner with the Automation1 platform, its 200 kHz update rate makes laser scan heads faster and more accurate.

Aerotech previously introduced several other drives that are compatible with the Automation1 platform, including the:

• XL5e Linear Servo Motor Drive,
• XC2e PWM Servo Motor Drive,
• XR3 19” Drive Rack (configurable with up to six axes),
• XC4e High-Performance Digital Drive,
• XC4 PWM Digital Drive,
• XC2 PWM Digital Drive,
• GL4 High-Performance Laser Scan Head Drive and the
• XL4s High-Performance Voice-Coil Drive.