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Linear Actuator Force Control

How do I control the force and rate of travel of a linear actuator using Labview?
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Message 1 of 6
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Depends on what kind it is, and what its inputs are. There's lots of different kinds. What do you have?
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Message 2 of 6
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It's an electro-mechanical linear actuator.  It's a 24VDC motor and has a maximum load capacity of 6000N or 1348lbf.  I would like to for the user to enter in a value between 1 and 1348.  The actuator would then take 60 seconds to ramp up to the users value.  I believe that this can be controlled by the voltage.  How do I do this in Labview?
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Message 3 of 6
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You need to separate this into two different parts: hardware and software. You first need to determine what kind of hardware you need. You said you "believe that this can be controlled by the voltage". Are you sure? What does the documentation say? If it's controlled by a voltage level, what are the specs? This will help to determine what kind of hardware you need to buy and/or make. 

 

The software part is the other half. This really isn't all that difficult, but the exact implementation depends on a lot of factors. One of these is whether you get a DAQ device from NI, or you get one from another vendor, or you build your own. I think you should spec out your hardware first. If you need help with this part of it you can provide more information and we can suggest a couple of items, or you can look over the products that NI sells, or you can call your local NI sales rep.

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Message 4 of 6
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Veteran,

 

What I need is a PC, PLC, Software.  The actuators can be controlled with a current limiting controller.  Any suggestions?

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Well now I'm a little confused. Who's doing the controlling, the PC or the PLC? If it's the PLC, then you obviously need to program the PLC. This will likely be done with whatever development environment the vendor provides, or recommends. Some PLCs can be controlled over the serial port. Others can be controlled via analog and/or digital lines, depending on the program running in the PLC.

 

Do you have an actual model number for the motor? 

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Message 6 of 6
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