Expandable motion controller for DC motors

New from maxon Australia is the MicroMACS6 2+1 motherboard for combining the CANopen Master programmable motion controller with the EPOS4 position controller. Suitable for applications requiring stand-alone multi-axis motion systems in an incredibly small space. 

Combined with the already available 3 axes EPOS motherboard engineers can configure the device with the required number of axes by simply plugging in additional positioning cards. The EPOS4 Micro can drive DC motors with up to 320W exhibiting unrivalled power density from a PCB that weighs only 6g. 

The motherboard holding the programmable master system can be assembled with either 1 or 2 position controllers without any space sacrifice given the connectors alone have larger dimensions than the controller. This means that even though the PCBs come in 2 slot or 3 slot version any number of axes can be achieved by simply leaving a slot empty. The system is particularly suitable for mobile robotic applications where space and weight are critical. 

The MicroMACS6 Module is freely programmable and contains one Ethernet and two independent CAN interfaces allowing the motion controller to act as both a master and slave simultaneously. The axes can operate independently or can be configured as a Kinematic Group and include motion features such as synchronous travel, CAM, Path and Jerk limited. 

The new system dramatically cuts the development time for OEM applications with a ready-made motherboard in tiny dimensions. Each axis can drive DC motors and BLDC motors with 5A on a continuous basis and up to 15A intermittently via sinusoidal or block commutation and a 50kHz switching frequency power stage. Ready to adapt a wide range of encoder types or brushless motors with hall sensors, digital and analogue I/Os’ and USB configuration via free software greatly simplifies application integration. 

maxon Australia have electrical, mechanical and software engineers who can assist with system integration, design, and have motion control demonstration rigs that can be viewed at our Sydney office or at your site. 

maxon motor Australia tel. +61 2 9457 7477.