Best way to control Aerotech drive and stages.

[Anatoly2]

I have an aerotech DR500 drive unit, running 4 brushless stages using an aerotech U500 ISA card. I am getting weary of the weak SDK they provide with their card, and would like to switch to an NI motion controller (and possibly a different drive, if its cheaper)

I am not very much up on the options, what is the best way for me to switch ?

[Anatoly2]

not sure how to edit my post, anyway, just to clarify: I am thinking about the NI PCI 7344 controller (http://sine.ni.com/apps/we/nioc.vp?cid=13244〈=US). The main problem is connecting that controller to the drive unit (DR500). (or, if someone suggests a new drive unit, how do I connect that to the motors and the stages?)

[Jochen]

There are breakout boxes available for the NI motion control boards to connect to typical industrial motion drives. These breakout boxes are called UMIs (Universal Motion Interfaces) and provide either screw terminals (UMI-7764) or SubD connectors (UMI-7772/7774).
In fact the UMIs are much more than passive breakout boxes and provide different levels of signal conditioning and safety features like E-Stop inputs and host PC power monitoring.

For more information please refer to:
http://sine.ni.com/apps/we/nioc.vp?cid=3310〈=US

Best regards,

Jochen Klier
National Instruments Germany