Popular Motion-Card Family Embraces C-Motion Program Execution

Further enhancing Prodigy Motion Cards, the company’s new C-Motion Engine enables onboard C-Motion program execution, thereby providing greater design flexibility for distributed-motion-control architectures. This capability off-loads the PC host and increases the flexibility to distribute motion programs throughout the machine. Programs are downloadable to the Prodigy card over UDP and TCP Ethernet protocols as well as serial and CANbus protocols. Users can develop programs that run directly on the motion card without the need for a dedicated host PC or host controller. The C-Motion development environment includes a comprehensive library of motion-control code and the C-Motion development suite includes a programming editor, compiler, download utility, and debugging tools. Onboard execution capability is via the C-Motion Engine, a dedicated module on the Prodigy card. The module stores and independently executes the downloaded motion-control programs. In addition to handling motion-control functions, the engine also manages digital and analog I/O signals locally, allowing for faster system responses and less need for supplemental I/O cards in the system. Motion cards are available in OEM quantities starting at $575 each. PERFORMANCE MOTION DEVICES INC., Lincoln, MA. (781) 674-9860.