Can the AKD Servo Drives be used for precise position control?

[MRSnyder]

Looking at utalizing one of the AKD Servo Drivers for a test bench application. I plan to pair the drive with an AKM24D motor, and control the whole system with a NI PCI-7342. What I want to know is if the basic Analog AKD Drive or the EtherCAT AKD Drive at 3A continuous is better for my application. I'm not deploying to a real-time target (No CRIO or FPGA here) just running a LabVIEW Exe on the control computer and taking and analyzing data with a M-Series USB DAQ. I need to be able to precisely control the rotational position of the AKM based on the reported position of the reference encoder. Is the AKD Drive appropriate for this type of application or am I restricted to the larger MID Series of Drive Controllers from NI?

[Chris_1890]

When you say you need precise position control, is there any way you can quantify what your needs are?  The precision will depend more on your encoder than the motor drive.  If your encoder has a fine enough resolution, then you should be fine using the AKD drive.  If you can post some actual numeric constraints though I can check them for you and make sure they are within the specs of the AKD drive and the 7342.  As far as the AKD vs the MID drives, it depends on the type of servo you are using.  The MID series are for brushed servos, and the AKD is for brushless.  If you are using the AKM24D, then you will need to use one of the 3 amp AKD drives.

[Nate.H]

Hi MRSnyder,

The Analog AKD drive paired with the 7342 is suitable for this type of application in general. Quadrature encoder feedback is emulated at the x10 port on the AKD, and is a user selectable multiple of the 2^20 count per revolution smart feedback device on an AKM motor. You can connect the AKD to the 7342 with a UMI and a UMI/AKD drive cable, which includes a direct connection between the x10 port on the AKD, and the UMI encoder input. 

The EtherCAT AKD is not compatible with your requirements, as it requires an RT controller to act as the EtherCAT master.

The MID drives brushed DC motors, while the AKD drives 3 phase brushless motors, and is higher performance. 

Required components:

AKD drive

AKM motor

motor power cable

motor feedback cable

AKD drive to UMI cable

UMI

PCI-7342

SHC68-C68-S, 68 pin VHDCI to 68 pin VHDCI cable (UMI to PCI-7342 connection)

Please let me know if you are looking for alternate motor configurations (adding a brake, keyed shafted vs. smooth shaft, etc...), or if you have additional questions, and I'd be happy to help out.

Best Regards,

Nate Holmes

Motion Product Manager

[MRSnyder]

Ended up going with an AKD Analog Drive to a UMI-7774 to the 7342, but I'm still going to put a physical encoder on the system. The reason for this is that I need a consistent "Zero" point to work off of for testing purposes. And while the virtual encoder is great in terms of resolution, I couldn't find anything that gave me confidence in it's ability to produce the same results between power up events if the shaft was rotated in the interum. Thanks for the feedback!