3 Axis Motion Control Using Trio MC403-Z Motion Coordinator

From http://www.triomotion.uk/public/products/p821-p825.php

Trio Motion’s low cost MC403-Z motion coordinator may be integrated with three servo/stepper motor drivers of the user’s choice to provide control of a motorized XYZ stage. This system abstracts low level behavior to allow a user to easily:

• Perform multi axis coordinated movements such as linear, circular, and helical moves
• Home to limit switches to guarantee repeatable movements
• Set soft and hard position limits to protect actuators from overtravel damage
• Interpret G-Code to allow for integration with existing CAM software

Trio Motion’s MC403-Z is a low cost ARM11 processor based motion coordinator. The “P822“ variant allows for control of three axes of motion via step/direction outputs. It is controlled and programmed via its Ethernet interface using Trio Motion’s Motion Perfect software in the TrioBASIC language or industry standard IEC61131-3 languages. It has the ability to read/write digital I/O to allow for datum/homing operations, overtravel protection with limit switches, and communication with user interface components.

This MC403-Z variant has the ability to abstract control of three stepper/servo motor drivers using step/direction signals from its Flexible Axis Ports. With each axis configured to step/direction mode (ATYPE = 43), the pinout of these connectors is as follows:

From Trio Motion MC403-Z Hardware Overview Document

Each of these flexible axis ports should be connected to the appropriate inputs of the stepper/servo motor drives. For example, the step/direction and enable inputs for an Applied Motion SV2D10-P-NE servo motor drive as as follows:

From Applied Motion SV2D10 Hardware Manual

​Once the drives are connected to the MC403-Z, each axis may be configured in MotionPerfect software using TrioBASIC with commands such as ATYPE (to select the type of axis being controlled) and UNITS (to convert from “steps” to physical units). Movement parameters may be modified by using commands such as ACCEL, DECEL, FASTDEC, JOGSPEED, SPEED, and CREEP. 

After pressing the “Drive enable” button in MotionPerfect, moves may be made using commands such as MOVEABS (absolute linear move), MOVE (relative linear move),  and MOVECIRC (relative circular move). 

In order to establish the origin of the machine or prevent mechanical overtravel, switches may be added to any digital input of the MC403-Z. To use these switches as limit switches on an axis, the FWD_IN and REV_IN TrioBASIC commands are used. Software travel limits may also be implemented using the FS_LIMIT and RS_LIMIT commands. To use these switches for homing, the DATUM_IN command is used to define the corresponding homing input and the DATUM command is used to start the homing sequence. 

Below is an example of how the Trio MC403-Z may be connected to Applied Motion SV2D10 servo drives and J-series servo motors along with Omron proximity sensors (PNP NC) to create a 3 axis motion control system with datum or limit switches:

Below is example code showing some basic setup and movement with Axis 0:

Code Editor

Reference Documents : 

1. Trio Motion MC403-Z Hardware Overview
2. Applied Motion SV2D10 Hardware Manual