.Net-compatible objects available with new motion control interface

VB-Motion interface from Performance Motion Devices comes with all Magellan-based development kits.

Need to simplify your motion system design? If so, an object-oriented interface that eases creation of Microsoft Windows-based software for motion control products may be what you’re seeking. Recently announced by Performance Motion Devices Inc . (PMD) is VB-Motion, a Com/.Net-compatible interface supplied with all the company’s Magellan chip-based motion control products. It also can be used to develop application software and to exercise a system’s hardware components, says PMD.

VB-Motion reportedly offers a powerful Visual Basic object-oriented interface to the Magellan API, allowing developers to concentrate on their expertise—to write high-level code for controlling the motion system. The interface is said to easily integrate with any VB6 or VB.Net applications (including Microsoft VB.Net, Visual Studio.Net, and Visual Studio 6). Sample code is provided for developing custom-communication interfaces.

Chuck Lewin, CEO and president of PMD, suggests that motion control goes well beyond physical issues like encoder rates and servo-loop times. “Availability of DLL libraries and operating system support is at least as important,” he says. “Products such as VB-Motion help reduce the cost of developing software, and that’s really key in today’s environment.”

PMD’s Magellan product family provides high-performance, general-purpose motion control for dc servo, brushless dc, and step motors. Hardware products include ICs, bus cards (PCI and PC-104), and serial/CANbus products.

—Frank J. Bartos, executive editor, Control Engineering, fbartos@reedbusiness.com

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