The 3C20 digital motion controller from Mesa Electronics is a DSP-based single-axis dc servo motor controller/amplifier for small (up to 100-W) brush motors with quadrature encoders. The device incorporates a 30 MIPS, 16-bit DSP coupled to a 100-W H bridge on a single 2- by 2-in. card.
Position, velocity, and acceleration and jerk parameters all have 32-bit or better precision. The profile generator has a simple, built-in trapezoidal profile capability. The controller easily generates elaborate time-based S-curve profiles with a sequence of jerk values and delay tokens placed in one of the FIFOs.
High sample rates (about 20 kHz) support small and fast drive systems, and the controller features software-selectable current (torque) or voltage-mode motor drive. The 3C20's host interface is an RS-232 or RS-485 serial port that supports baud rates up to 1.84 Mbaud. The efficient, dual-FIFO buffered interface allows real-time and queued commands to proceed simultaneously.
The 3C20 costs $54 in quantities in the hundreds. For more information, go to www.mesanet.com.