SoftMotion -- Programming a Simple Motion System

[ap8888]

I am programming a simple application, controlling several servos in basic "move to point" actions.

The AKD servos and drives are connected to a cRIO board, and I'm communicating with EtherCAT with SoftMotion softward.

In gettin this proejct moving, I read an article "Using the NI SoftMotion Axis Interface" which details pretty convoluted programming on the FPGA and RT side in initializign the drive and controlling the motors.

Can someone shed some light on what this is on about? I can easily drag-drop a few SoftMotion VIs onto my RT VI and control the motors from there. Is the PID not performed in the background? Is it necessary to program the "Synchronization" and "Position" loops ont he FPGA, as detailed on page 11?

Please offer some help. Otherwise, since my applications calls for simple point A -> point B motions, I see no problem with programming much simpler code on the RT only.

[PaulRB]

Hi,

There are different ways to use SoftMotion depending on what hardware you are using. If you were using a cRIO with a 950x module, the axis interface article you discussed may be useful. However, the AKD implements all of the PID outside of SoftMotion. That means that your SoftMotion experience is very high level, as you already mentioned. Once you have finished going through the ECAT AKD getting started guide, you will be able to run any of the high level Express VI, function block, or property/invoke node shipping examples.

Thanks,