Author : M Babb
04 September 2009
Thanks to a new generation of embedded Power PC microprocessors, it has wide computational capabilities and a high level of peripheral integration. It can control up to 128 axes simultaneously,
The Power PMAC employs a full Linux operating system with a hard-real-time kernel, creating a complete general-purpose computing environment.
It also comes embedded with a complete motion and machine control software environment derived from Delta Tau´s existing PMAC and Turbo PMAC controllers.
Users have the choice between using the built-in algorithm and providing their own software, written in C or C++ and compiled with the public-domain GNU compiler. C programs can be written manually or generated from environments such as IEC-61131 or Matlab/Simulink™, as well as EPICS or other task-oriented programs.
The Power PMAC´s built-in script language for both motion sequences and general machine and I/O logic, automatically takes care of many issues that a standard language such as C does not: proper timing and pipelining of move sequences, simple or complex, automatic type matching of different variables (short-word and long-word, fixed-point and floating-point).
It also provides the advanced tools of a good integrated development environment (IDE) - editors, debuggers, project managers - that standard programming languages have. It also retains the ability to issue simple on-line commands directly, permitting the user to “converse” easily with the controller.
The Power PMAC supports the new 3rd-generation machine-interface ASIC, which has unprecedented speed, integration, and feature set. The ASIC supports quadrature encoders with hardware 1/T interpolation, as well as sinusoidal encoders and resolvers with hardware arctangent interpolation, and most of the common serial encoder protocols such as EnDat2.2TM and SSI, plus analogue, PWM, and pulse-and-direction outputs.
Some of Power PMAC´s outstanding features include:
* 800 MHz and 1GHz RISC processors with hardware floating-point engine, permitting programmed move block ;
* Rates of up to 5000 per second with controlled acceleration and jerk;
* 100-Base-T and 1000-Base T Ethernet TCP/IP communications with highly efficient DMA streaming;
* PCI Express, USB, SATA, and RS-232 interfaces to support keyboard, video, disk drive, and other interfaces;
* Making the PPMAC a complete, stand-alone RT Linux-based PC which is basically part of the system; and
* Built-in web server to support direct browser access for development, maintenance, and HMI
Print this page | E-mail this page
This isn't a paywall. It's a Freewall. We don't want to get in the way of what you came here for, so this will only take a few seconds.
Register Now