Select a Step ......................................................... REQUIREMENTS AND SAFETY Introduction Required Materials Safety Precautions Hardware Requirements and Installation FAQs for Motion Console ––––––––––––––––––––––– MOTION CONSOLE Object-oriented Motion Control Motion Console Objects Motion Console User Interface – Main Motion Console Frame – Adding a New Controller – Object Summary Windows – Object Explorer – Object List Configuration Dialog Boxes Configuring New Systems with Motion Console – Getting Started with Motion Console – Saving Parameter Settings – Saving to Flash Table – Associating Objects with Motion Console – Configuring a Motion Supervisor – Mapping One Object to Another – Removing (Deleting) a Mapped Object – Safety Reminders Motion Console Objects – Controller Object – Motion Supervisor Object – Axis Object – Filter Object – Motor Object – SynqNet Object – SqNode Object – CAN Network Object – CAN Node Object – I/O Object Command Line Options Reading Versions with Motion Console Troubleshooting

Configuring New Systems with Motion Console

Introduction

This section describes how to configure a new motion control system using Motion Console. If you are new to Motion Console, you should read this section first, then proceed to the other sections in this manual.

Getting Started with Motion Console

Motion Console is a utility designed to assist software and hardware designers with MEI motion controllers. There are two major releases of Motion Console: one for the XMP Series motion controllers, and another, older release for DSP Series motion controllers. This section discusses only the XMP version of Motion Console; the DSP release is outlined in separate documents available from MEI.

What is Motion Console?

Briefly stated, Motion Console is a software interface linking the programmer to your MEI motion controller. It gives you the ability to perform simple motions with hardware and verify that controller-hardware wiring is working properly. Motion Console is NOT a software authoring tool. It does not compile programs or check code. However, using Motion Console alongside a line editor and compiler will allow you to quickly troubleshoot programs and determine whether problems lie in hardware or software. Motion Console also provides a quick way to demonstrate the full range of mechanical movement in your system, so that you may perfect hardware designs while software is still being developed.

What is Motion Scope?

Another MEI utility, separate from Motion Console, is Motion Scope. Motion Scope provides a virtual "oscilloscope" to plot the movements of your motion system. Using Motion Scope in conjunction with Motion Console allows you to command and plot the movement of any axis. See the Motion Scope section.

First Things First: Safety

Before configuring your system, you must consider the safety aspects of your motion control system. Such configurations as "amplifier enabling" impact every movement that your system makes, and dramatically redefine the degree of safety. Specifically, the following safety issues must be addressed when configuring new systems:

Designers of new systems are sometimes tempted to rush and ignore basic safety issues; however, safety is integral to your system's usability. If you design your system with safety in mind from the beginning, you will alleviate major hardware and software design problems later, saving valuable lives and time.