A Motion Supervisor is an object that supervises motion and is useful for coordinating motion and reporting errors between multiple axes. A motion supervisor can supervise a single axis, or multiple axes, depending on the requirements of the application. This feature makes it necessary for a user to associate axes to Motion Supervisors for their application. If you do not map the axes, performing a motion will be impossible since a Motion Supervisor will not know which axes will be used in the commanded motion.

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Before you can move a motor with an installed motion controller, the correct firmware (*.bin) must first be downloaded to the controller's flash memory. The firmware file contains the binary code and configuration data for the controller's processor.

Motion Console will automatically prompt you to download the firmware to a new controller. You can also update the firmware by downloading a newer version.

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Motion Console saves parameter settings directly to the controller's flash memory, which ensures that the same settings are reused when you repower your controller, as long as you have previously saved them to flash. You can save individual motion objects, or you can save an object to flash and all the related sub-objects. To ensure that all of your motion settings are protected, it is recommended that you Save to Flash, as well as save an archived firmware file of the system by Uploading Firmware to the Controller.

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Motion Scope is a graphing utility tool, similar to an oscilloscope, which can be used to check and troubleshoot motion control systems. It is primarily used alongside Motion Console and provides real-time, passive I/O signal data. This Quick-Start video tutorial will teach you the basics of Motion Scope and how it can be used with a motion system.

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The SynqNet Hot Replace feature allows one or more consecutive nodes to be shut down, serviced, and then reattached to the system without affecting the operation of the other nodes.

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The Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) is a way of detecting small changes in blocks of data. This type of error detection is especially useful when sending packet data across a SynqNet network.

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During SynqNet Network Initialization, the network is discovered, the topology is tested for an exact match to the expected topology, the network is transitioned to cyclic operation (SYNQ mode), and the nodes are initialized. Watch a sample network as it goes through each step.

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The Packet Error Counter checks for missing or invalid packets over a SynqNet network. There are packet error counters on the controller and node(s), which monitor upstream and downstream communication.

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The Packet Error Rate Counter is in charge of tracking the rate of packet errors per SynqNet cycle. The Flash animation provides an overview of its functionality and how the rate counter can increment and decrement over time.

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If the Packet Error Rate reaches the FAULT limit, the network will attempt a SynqNet Fault Recovery (for Ring topology only). If the Packet Error Rate reaches the FAIL limit, the network will shutdown.

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The SynqNet Fault Recovery feature allows the network to use the idle link for correcting faulty communication without having to perform an emergency shutdown of the network.

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A SynqNet Failure occurs when a node on the network reaches its FAIL threshold. Watch what happens when the FAIL threshold is reached on a String topology.

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A SynqNet Failure occurs when a node on the network reaches its FAIL threshold. Watch what happens when the FAIL threshold is reached on a Ring topology.

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The Drive Monitor is a real-time monitor mechanism that allows the monitoring of up to three internal drive variables every servo sample. The Flash animation shows how to set up monitor fields so that they can be traced in Motion Scope.

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Event Notification is a way to communicate events from objects down on the controller to application threads on the host system. This is an example of a thread waiting for events.

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Event Notification is a way to communicate events from objects down on the controller to application threads on the host system. This is an example of a thread polling for events.

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Event Notification is a way to communicate events from objects down on the controller to application threads on the host system. This is an example of a thread using mpiNotifyEventWait(...).

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Event Notification is a way to communicate events from objects down on the controller to application threads on the host system. This is an example of a thread using mpiNotifyEventFlush(...).

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Problem
When running multiple applications such as a C-code application and Motion Console, you might encounter unexpected behavior where actions meant to be performed on one axis are actually performed on a different axis.

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Problem
You may experience a problem when clearing faults on your application or through a Motion Supervisor.

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