Motor Control Using MAX/Motion Assistant

[labarc]

Hello

I'm trying to get a motor to move using MAX or Motion Assistant. I can't get either of these programs to move the motor and I'm not sure what is wrong. I know my motor, power supply and driver are connected correctly because when I apply a function generator's output to the driver, the motor runs. This leads me to believe that I either have done something wrong in the MAX set-up, connected the connector block incorrectly, or the software is faulty. In addition, MAX gives me an unexpected error occassionally citing the info code MAXKnownException and some files that I cannot find on my computer when I search for them.

The components/software I'm using include:

NI MAX 5.0

NI Motion Assistant 2007

NI PCI 7334 Motion Controller

NI SCB-68 Connector Block

12V/0.42A Vexta Stepping Motor (PH265-02B)

IMS IM483 Driver

NI SH68-C68-S Cable

15VDC and 5VDC power supply

I've attached a picture of the set up and here are all the relevant data sheets:

http://www.orientalmotor.com/products/pdfs/opmanuals/HM-601-13JECK.pdf

http://digital.ni.com/manuals.nsf/websearch/8DE688B40A0238758625783B005F7DF3

http://digital.ni.com/manuals.nsf/websearch/5582AB88F2E490AA86256DC6007D5EED

http://www.imshome.com/downloads/quickreference/QR_IM483_805.pdf

Thank you

P.S. I'm leaving work in 9 minutes and that's where this set-up is, so I won't be able to work on it. I'll be back tomorrow from 9-11am EST though.

[Greg-H]

Hi,

Can you verify/try the following:

1.)  The driver is hooked up to pins 1 and 2 in the SCB-68, I cannot tell for sure from the picture.

2.)  Check pin 2 with a multimeter to see if there are pulses.

3.)  Provide a screenshot of the errors you are getting in MAX.

4.)  Verify that none of the limit or home switches are showing as having been tripped in MAX.

Regards,

Greg H.

[Greg-H]

Hi,

Correction for step 1 above, it should be pin 1 and 35.  Sorry for any confusion.

Regards,

Greg H.

[labarc]

---

@Greg-H wrote:

Hi,

Can you verify/try the following:

1.)  The driver is hooked up to pins 1 and 2 in the SCB-68, I cannot tell for sure from the picture.

2.)  Check pin 2 with a multimeter to see if there are pulses.

3.)  Provide a screenshot of the errors you are getting in MAX.

4.)  Verify that none of the limit or home switches are showing as having been tripped in MAX.

Regards,

Greg H.

---

1.) Pin 1 of the SCB-68 is connected to pin 3 of the IM483 driver (direction). Pin 35 of the SCB-68 is connected to pin 2 of the IM483 driver (step).

2.) The voltage on pin 35 does change when I run the 1-D Interactive in MAX, but it doesn't seem like it's a pulse. Maybe it's because of my settings. I used a velocity of 200 steps/s and an acceleration and deceleration of 4000 steps/s^2. Regardless, the motor didn't move. All it did was get hot, which doesn't seem like a good thing...

3.) I didn't get a screen shot, but I do have the link to where the error message sent me and I have the files referenced. MAX hasn't given me an error message in a week or so, so it might not be a problem.

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/6CA56E2DDBCCA06086257591006141EE?OpenDocument

"C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\National Instruments\MAX\Logs\20120306_153115-NIMax-00000924.dmp
The exception occurred in the NIMax process in the function (Unknown). See these files for details: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\National Instruments\MAX\Logs\20120306_153116-NIMax-00000924.log C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\National Instruments\MAX\Logs\20120306_153116-NIMax-00000924.dmp"

4.) I disabled the limit and home switches since I just have the motor. Right now I'm just trying to get the motor to just move. Should I enable them?

Thanks for the reply, by the way. I've attached screenshots of all the settings for axis 1 in MAX. Let me know is anything is wrong (probably are many).

[Greg-H]

Hi,

I would first try lowering the acceleration and deceleration settings.  Stepper motors are always going to get hot, it is just the nature of how they work.  Even though the limit and home switches are disabled are they still showing up in MAX as being tripped?  If so, try switching them from active high to active low.

Regards

Greg H.

[labarc]

---

@Greg-H wrote:

Hi,

I would first try lowering the acceleration and deceleration settings.  Stepper motors are always going to get hot, it is just the nature of how they work.  Even though the limit and home switches are disabled are they still showing up in MAX as being tripped?  If so, try switching them from active high to active low.

Regards

Greg H.

---

Greg,

I lowered the acceleration from 100000 steps/s^2 to 50000 steps/s^2 and still nothing happens.

When I enable the home and limit switches and set them on active high, the boolean next to "Both limit switches are active" and "Home switch is active" turns red. But when the home and limit switches are on active low, the boolean is not colored for either of the statuses.

Not quite sure what this means.

Should I have all the polarity settings in MAX on active high?

Thanks.

[labarc]

Alright, an error shows up that says "The desired move cannot be completed because the limit input is active in the direction of travel."

[Greg-H]

Hi,

The polarity of the limit and home switches determines whether the motor will stop when these pins see a high voltage or zero voltage.  You will want these to not be red in MAX or else your motor will not move.  So in your case I would set them to active low until you have actual limit switches hooked up.

Regards,

Greg H.

[labarc]

---

@Greg-H wrote:

Hi,

The polarity of the limit and home switches determines whether the motor will stop when these pins see a high voltage or zero voltage.  You will want these to not be red in MAX or else your motor will not move.  So in your case I would set them to active low until you have actual limit switches hooked up.

Regards,

Greg H.

---

Greg,

I'm not sure why I even have the limit switches enabled. Aren't the limits dependent on the linear stage? I don't have the motor connected to a stage yet, I just need to get the motor moving before I can attach the stage.

And even when I have the limits set to active low, the motor doesn't rotate,so I still don't know why it's not rotating.

Sorry, this is my first time working with a motor and instrument control and I have no clue what I am doing.

Thanks

[Greg-H]

Hi,

First set all of the limit switches and home switch to active low, so that they are not showing up in as tripped in MAX.  When the motor does not move with these settings are you seeing an error of any sort?

Regards,

Greg H.