how to program an epos2 controller over labview?

[lesaca]

hello,

i want to run an epos2 24/5 positioning controller from maxon motor over labview. i already have the epos toolpalette in labview but can't find any programming examples or explanations. does anyone have experience and could send me a vi example?

i want to program the velocity mode with analog set value over labview, as it is done in the epos studio software. (the velocity is constant) this is as i plan to run the epos over can later, connected to an NImyRIO which will be the master. the epos has to be disconnected from the computer then, and i need to write additional can commands, so that i can't use the epos studio software i think. for this i have another couple of questions 😉 , but first i want to start with running the epos with labview.

i found a picture where i can see how to arrange the different vis. (attachments) but i don't know how to assign the inputs:

how to assign the can connection?

how to set the analogue velocity input? which unit does it have when i set a value?

are there any other important remarks?

and the can initialization confuses me:

when i run the epos over the usb connection and the epos studio software i don't use can do i? so i don't understand why it is used in labview. is there a way to run the epos over labview without can? other motor controllers are run in labview without can..

thanks for your help.

[DesasterMaster]

Hi lesaca,

there is a Add-On Toolkit for Maxon Motors. You can find it here:

NI-SoftMotion-Achsenschnittstelle für Positioniersteuerung EPOS2 von maxon motor - National Instrume...

There are examples in this for connection Maxon Drives with LabVIEW.

The support is done by Maxon themself as well and they decided to use OpenCAN for that so you would need a OpenCAN Port for your Master device.

With this adapter you can add a CAN 2.0 Port to your myRIO:

X-CAN-Adapter für myRIO von Stratom - National Instruments http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/d...

Nativly there is no CAN Port on the myRIO. With this adapter you will get a CAN 2.0 Port, but if the Maxon Toolkit examples and VIs will work with the myRIO you have to check with Maxon themself.

This is something we as National Instruments can't support.

I hope this helps a little?

Best wishes

Tenshinhan

[lesaca]

hi tenshinhan,

thanks for your answer. and i am sorry that it took a while now. i was working on some other things and now i came back to the epos labview control.

can you tell me the difference between the NI-softmotion-achsenschnittstelle from the ni homepage and the epos labview instrument driver from the maxon homepage? is it the same? i manage to get the vis for the NI-softmotion-achsenschnittstelle, but can't get acces to the vis of the epos labview instrument driver. i have to copy some filed into the instr.lib directory but when i do this no additional vis appear in labview.

is it possible to connect the epos to the myrio with usb, rs232 or can and then to the pc for the labview programming or does it have to be connected to the pc?

do you have any experience in transferring data from the epos to the myrio with usb, rs232 or can? i think i will rather use usb or rs232 now.

best

lesaca

[DesasterMaster]

Hi lesaca,

these two librarys are not the same. One is programmed by National Instruments and is a general motion library and the other is programmed by maxon and is designed for the epos devices.

The Link to the epos library seems to be broken. Try this one:

http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/de/nid/209755

How to connect the epos2 device is supported by maxon and you should ask maxon to get a proper answer on this question.

The maxon drivers seems only to support CAN, but this is not supported by the myRIO.

So to use other busses please get in contact with maxon.

Best wishes

Thensinhan

[lesaca]

hi thensinhan,

Thanks a lot. I will try to get in contact with maxon.

But is it possible to send and receive USB or RS232 data with the myRIO? Do I need additional drivers (USB) or Hardware (RS232 Adapter)?

best

lesaca

[DesasterMaster]

Hi lesaca,

the USB is for the communication of LabVIEW with the myRIO, it can not be used for other purpose.

It can be used for storage, but not for communicatation with a maxon device. Not unless maxon is programming a driver for this use case.

With an RS232 to TTL converter you could communicate through the TTL with an RS232 device.

RS232 to TTL Serial Converter | RS232-TTL
http://www.hobbytronics.co.uk/rs232-ttl-serial

[lesaca]

Thanks again!:)

after my motor had to get repaired for a couple of weeks i actually managed to control my epos with both usb and rs232. i got a USB to COM converter from FTDI now. (USB-COM232-PLUS2) it works with my computer, but the com ports are not detected when attached to the myrio. i found out that you have to do the following, if you want that the myrio recognizes the device:

If you are using the latest firmware (2.0.0f2) of myRIO 2014, you can add a udev rule by adding a file: ttyUSB.rules under /etc/udev/rules.d/ folder with content:

KERNEL=="ttyUSB*", MODE="666"

but this is in linux. do you know how to assign such a device with windows?