I have an UMI-7764 and a 7344 Motion controller that I need to interface with an Allen Bradley Ultra 3000 servo drive. Does anyone have experience with this setup that could direct me concerning proper signal connection?

[VGA_CD-ROM]

Hi Biodoc,
At the simplest, you could set the 7344 to operate in position or velocity mode, if either of those is what you are trying to do, and connect the analog output of the 7344 to the Command +/- of the drive to run it like that, and connect the encoder outputs from the drive to your controller accordingly. You will want to be careful not to connect digital outputs from the drive to the controller, because the controller can only handle 0-5V signals, but the controller will send out 0-12 or 0-24V signals on those lines. Similarly, a 5V TTL signal output from the 7344 via digital out to the drive may not register because the drive expects 12-24V signals.

To help you further, it would help to get a better idea of what are you trying to accomplish with the drive - control a servo using step and direction, control using absolute positioning or velocity, or some other method? Do you have any limit or home switches you are also trying to connect?

[Laurencej]

Hi,

You may find (if you are using a brushless servo motor) that you have to feed the encoder signals into the amplifier and bring the buffered encoder outputs back to the NI kit - the drive needs the encoder signals and hall signals to commutate. It is also worth noting that this drive only commutates at start-up - i.e. if you change the hall wiring, you will need to power down, then up again to observe any changes...

Regards,

Laurence