Aerotech's new digital control board facilitates cost effective A3200 Automation Platform integration for OEMs

The combined software and hardware of the Automation 3200-OEM and the Nservo-OEM control board also offers Aerotech's volume customers a lower price point and improved timescales through faster machine development and simplified series production when using third party drives. The Nservo – OEM includes +/-10V current or velocity command outputs, which can be used to drive both traditional and piezo motor amplifiers, and three-phase servo commutation signals with high resolution encoder feedback. The NServo-OEM also includes general purpose and machine I/O interfacing that will accommodate most automation system requirements. Requiring only a single Firewire® connection to the host PC running the A3200 Motion Composer software, machine systems of up to 32 axes of high performance and totally synchronised motion and machine control may be configured. The new control boards include a choice of electrical interfacing to match the customers preferred drive combination - which may be freely mixed and matched with Aerotech's own range of advanced servo and stepper drives if required. The control boards accommodate all of the advanced functions available on the A3200 Automation Platform through its Dynamic Controls Toolbox and Motion Composer options. The Nservo – OEM is essentially a board based cost-reduced version of the fully packaged Nservo digital controller module which offers users additional features that are most relevant for existing machine upgrades and lower volume applications. The controller card is available with or without a power supply for further system cost reduction. The A3200-OEM Automation Platform features the software-only Motion Composer controller that harnesses the power of the PC and the high-speed FireWire® (IEEE-1394) network to provide from 1 to 32 axes of decentralised and tightly synchronised motion and I/O commands that are individually directed to each axis drive.