Enabling AKD drive without SoftMotion Module

[isantos]

Hello everyone,

I have an AKM motor and an AKD servo drive (slave) connected to a cRIO-9045 (master) over EtherCAT. I have previously used the NI Softmotion Module to enable the drive and perform straight-line moves, but now I have LabVIEW 2024, and this module is not supported anymore. As I am not familiar with CANopen, EtherCAT protocols, PDO mappings, etc. I would like your opinion on which is the best way to communicate with the drive to perform the same tasks. Are there some examples on how to read/write commands to the AKD drive that I can use to start, for example, by enabling the drive. I have looked at the AKD EtherCAT Communication Manual but don't even know where to start.

I appreciate your help.

[DMycroft]

Hello,

Several resources are available to help address this challenge:

1. The "Getting Started with AKD EtherCAT Drives and the LabVIEW NI SoftMotion Module" document contains valuable information about AKD drive configuration, even though it references the now-discontinued SoftMotion module. See here for some more info around that.

2. This thread from the forums provides the Workbench software that allows you to configure AKD parameters and test drive functionality independently of LabVIEW.

I recommend first focusing on the basic task of enabling the drive, which will help you understand the state machine implementation. From there, you can build up to implementing motion commands. The resources mentioned, particularly the AKD EtherCAT Communication Manual and the "Getting Started with AKD EtherCAT Drives" document, will be invaluable references during this process.

Hope this helps,

Dom