Stepper drive: OEM controller/driver adds CANopen

QuickSilver added a CANopen option to its smallest closed-loop stepper-motor controller.

By Control Engineering Staff June 26, 2008

QuickSilver added a CANopen option to its smallest (52 mm x 63 mm) closed-loop stepper-motor controller. The company says CANopen can be configured for peer-to-peer, master or slave, which allows the controllers to share I/O and registers with other CANopen-enabled SilverDust controllers or 3rd party CANopen devices (such as I/O blocks, encoders, and PLCs). For a multi-axis system, the company suggests, connect several MG-Cs, make one the master and let the others receive motion commands over CANopen.This single axis, programmable controller/driver is specially designed to servo third party stepper motors, according to the company, creating a closed loop stepper system. The unit also includes serial communications (RS-232, RS-485), and seven digital I/O lines. The RS-232/RS-485 serial network runs independently in parallel to CAN for supervisory control from a host.The seven bi-directional I/O lines, 12-48 V input power, and communications signals are accessed through a DB15HD port and can be separated using one of the company’s breakouts (QCI-BO-B, QCI-BO-B1, QCI-BO-B1A).— edited by C.G. Masi , senior editor, Control Engineering News Desk Register here and scroll down to select your choice of eNewsletters free.