Depending on the design concept and software architecture behind your machine, you need a motion controller that best fits your application. Generally speaking, most advanced applications require a host-dependant solution (usually a PC), to manage all machine processes including the motion control and I/Os.
In less sophisticated applications, where a host computer isn’t required, the motion controller needs to function as a stand-alone unit, managing the motion of all axes and I/Os. Our products offer a flexible range of possibilities to support either of the above scenarios and the following software architectures:
Full host-dependent operation - host PC running Windows 98/NT/2000/ME/XP:
- For C/C - All of our control products offer comprehensive Dynamic Link Libraries (DLL), supporting all motion controller functionality.
- For Visual Studio .NET, Visual Basic, LabView or other COM oriented languages - Our SPiiPlus control products offer a comprehensive COM library, supporting all motion controller functionality.
Full host-dependent operation - host PC with RTX real time OS:
- Our SPiiPlus software offers a dedicated VentureCom® RTX Dynamic Link Library (DLL), supporting all motion controller functionality.
Full host-dependent operation - host computer running Linux or Unix:
- The host application initiates internal controller programs by sending ASCII strings that can activate a complete internal program, subroutine or single command.
Stand-alone operation:
- Ten internal programs: Our SPiiPlus controllers can simultaneously execute up to ten internal programs. These programs feature real-time execution for complex motion control calculations, functions, IO events, and more. With our advanced controllers, internal programs can be also run in parallel to the host commands in any of the above host-dependent options.
Our SPiiPlus products support a variety of communication protocols between the host computer and the motion controller including:
- PCI-bus
- Ethernet 10/100 baseT
- RS-232/422
All communication channels can be used simultaneously.
The following illustration describes a typical software application with a user application written in C where communication with the controller is via the fast PCI-bus. Additional internal programs run within the controller for initialization and homing, dynamic mechanical error compensation, safety event handing for fast response, and more.
Host-dependent or Stand-alone