Supplying 26 Analog Outputs and 104 Digital Outputs

[amg30]

I am a graduate student in CWRU and trying to control 26 brushless DC motors independently that requires 26 analog and 104 digital outputs. I couldn't find any card that is capable of this task. Can you please suggest some solution to my application?

[Kyle_V]

Hello. I would recommend 7 NI-7344s. Each 7344 has 4 analog outputs to drive servo motors and 32 configurable digital input/output (DIO) lines. However, if you don't need the trajectory control from the 7344 (ie, you're just running your motors with a constant voltage or your feedback loop is slow enough for software), then you could use a few NI 6704 Analog Output boards (each with 16 AO lines) and a few DIO boards (such as the 6503 which has 96 static DIO lines).

If you can give me some more details about your application (what the DIO is used for, what kind of feedback you need, etc), then I should be able to recommend exact products for you.

Cheers,

Kyle V

[amg30]

Hi Kyle,

I need to control the motors (26 pieces AXH450KC-A) such that I can specify speed (via analog signal 0-5V), the direction and when to stop and run (4 digital signals). I dont need any precision in both speed and position. Therefore, I dont need a feedback loop. The motors will be asked to change both speed and direction once in every second so the cards you specified seem to be possible solutions. However, do you have any idea about how fast the software is capable of changing the output signals? Thanks for your concern,

[Kyle_V]

If you don't need a feedback loop, then the AO and DIO boards are the way to go. Since I'm not an expert at DAQ, I recommend either posting a message to the DAQ forum or calling a DAQ applications engineer directly by going to ni.com/ask. They will be able to recommend hardware and software for your app.

It sounds like a good one. Have fun!

Kyle V