Baldor has launched a PCI-bus motion controller, NextMove PCI-2. It has digital and analogue I/O and provides a flexible all-in-one control solution for PC-hosted automation applications. The new controller accommodates position feedback data at rates up to 10MHz, and has a servo loop update time of100ms, which is twice as fast as its predecessor. NextMove PCI-2 is especially suitable for multi-axis motion control applications with high data transfer or processing overheads, such as vision systems and tasks involving thousands of co-ordinated moves.
It is based on a redesigned version of Baldor's single-board PCI-1 controller with an FPGA for all drive control and I/O functions, incorporating the latest high speed digital technology, including a 120Mhz, 32-bit floating point DSP core. This helps to minimise manufacturing costs and facilitate product customisation.
The controller is pin-compatible with the NextMove PCI-1, so OEMs can raise the performance of existing machines without changing connectors or cabling. NextMove PCI-2 controllers are available in one, two, three, four and eight axis versions and packaged as single, short (7in) PCI cards.
Each model can handle closed loop control of servo or vector drives and open loop control of stepper drives: the eight axis version provides four closed loop and four open loop control channels. An optional four axis PCI expansion card is available, and the controller supports up to two cards, subject to a maximum of 12 control channels of either type.