Aerotech UNIDEX 100/U100i single axis motion controller

Product Overview

System composition: Controller hardware+UT100 upper computer software+various optional accessories.

U100: Control board+power board integrated, directly driving the motor;

U100i: Pure control board, outputs analog commands to external power amplifiers.

Ordering model series:

U100M/U101M: Microstep drive;

U100S/U101S: DC servo;

U100Z/U101Z: Brushless servo.

List of supporting motors: stepper, DC servo, brushless servo motor models, torque, speed, bus voltage, fuse specifications.

Optional accessories: Handheld terminal HT, Joystick handwheel, Thumbwheel digital dial, LED digital display IEEE‑488 (GPIB)、 Rotary to digital conversion R/D board, INT isolation I/O expansion board.

Safety warning: Power off before wiring; Keep the sports equipment away from personnel; Prevent static electricity from damaging the board.

Getting Started

Unpacking and electrostatic protection: check for transportation damage; The board must be equipped with an anti-static wristband, and touching the chip pins is prohibited.

Minimum hardware environment for PC: 80486 and above CPU, 4MB memory, EGA/VGA, 4MB hard drive, DOS5.0+ / Windows3.1/95。

Hardware wiring

RS-232 uses an empty modem cross cable to connect the PC-COM port to controller P1;

U100 connected to motor, encoder, and limit; U100i is connected to an external BA amplifier.

software installation

Modify CONFIG.SYS/CONFIG-NT to load ANSI.SYS;

Copy the UT100 software from the floppy disk and run com_100.exe COMx to establish communication.

UT100 main menu:

A-File file file editing; B-Run runs the program; C-MDI manual command; D-Status status monitoring; E-Control control; F-Misc miscellaneous items.

Example program 1) Simple trapezoidal motion: Set acceleration and deceleration T, speed V, distance D, GO to execute the motion; 2) Reciprocating motion cycle; 3) Dual task multitasking demonstration: Task 1 runs the motor back and forth, while Task 2 runs the screen counter simultaneously.

Support parallel execution of dual task Task1/Task2.

Hardware Configuration and Interface Description

3.1 Connectors (U100 and U100i have most of the same interfaces)

P1 COM port (RS-232, can be changed to RS-422): connects to PC and handheld terminal HT, providing 5V power supply to HT.

P2 I/O port (37 pin D-SUB)

Optocoupler isolated digital input/output;

1 analog input ± 10V, 1 analog output ± 10V, 8-bit resolution.

P3 encoder/limit/Hall (25 pin D-SUB)

Main incremental encoder SIN/COS/MKR differential signal;

Positive and negative hard limit, Home origin;

Brushless motor Hall sensor input.

P4 auxiliary encoder (9-pin D-SUB): The second encoder is used for dual loop and handwheel input.

Expansion slot Option Bay: Install R/D rotary converter board, IEEE488, INT-I/O board, and dial/display interface board.

U100 exclusive: motor power terminal block, power switch, fuse;

Unique to U100i: AMP feedback connector, compatible with external BA amplifiers.

3.2 U100 panel LED status light

Shun Active: The discharge resistor is working;

Drive Fault: Drive fault (overcurrent, short circuit);

Marker: Encoder Z index pulse;

Reset: Power on/external reset;

Control Fault: Feedback error, program running error;

Remote: Remote mode of the upper computer;

In Position: In place, the axis reaches the target position;

Overload: Overload (position error, speed error, overcurrent);

+Limit/- Limit: Triggered by positive and negative hardware limits.

3.3 motherboard jumper configuration

JP8: Current/speed command mode;

JP13/JP18/JP19: Selection of output current range;

JP16/JP17: Motor type (brushed, brushless, stepper);

JP34: Firmware download BOOT jumper.

3.4 U100 power board

Select 100/115/230VAC for AC input jumper; Multiple sets of fuses: motor fuse F1, AC incoming line F2, 5V F3, discharge F4; supports external transformer to modify DC bus voltage.

3.5 Detailed Description of Optional Hardware Accessories

HT handheld terminal: RS232 local operation, editing, running programs, and viewing status.

Joystick joystick: analog input, proportional speed regulation, teaching positioning.

Thumbwheel digital dial: panel input numerical value, read through port variable PV; Supports 2 dials.

6-digit LED digital display: output position, variable value, write port variable PV driver.

R/D Resolver Digital Converter Board: Supports rotary transformers/inductive synchronizers; 12/14/16 bit resolution; Support high-speed automatic resolution reduction mode to increase rotational speed.

INT expansion I/O board: docking with OPTO22 PB series isolated I/O rack, large-scale expansion of digital I/O; supports interrupts.

IEEE-488 (GPIB) interface board: GPIB bus control, supports SRQ service requests.

Software Installation and Interface (UT100)

UT100 software menu functions:

File: Create/edit PGM programs, MAC macros, DEF parameter definitions, CAM cam files;

Run: Select Task1/Task2 and run in Auto/Block mode;

MDI: Manual execution of a single instruction in real-time;

Status: Sports status, general system status, memory, firmware version viewing;

Control: Limit reset, task stop;

Misc: Delete/copy/archive files, parameter setup configuration.

File type:

PGM: Main Program; MAC macro; DEF parameter configuration; CAM cam trajectory; Compile and output the LST list.

Handheld terminal HT operation process.

Programming Command Set

Dual tasking and multitasking operating system: Task 1 and Task 2 are scheduled on a time-sharing basis and run independently; Task lock LOCK;

Interrupt and Exception Processing: Rich mask registers (Invert, Latch, Disable, SRQ, Freeze, Task Mask, Direction Mask) used for limit, fault, and external interrupt response;

Service Request SRQ: Report the event to the upper computer.

Complete command library (dozens of entries):

Motion: A acceleration and deceleration, V speed, D distance, T ramp time, GO start motion, HM hardware zeroing, ABSL absolute mode, INCR incremental mode, GEAR electronic gear, CAM cam, DW dwell delay;

Program flow: IF/ELSE/ELSEIF, GOTO, GOSUB, MAC macro BEGIN‑END、ENDMAC、ENDSUB、EXIT；

Mathematics: ABS, SIN, COS, SQRT, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and/or XOR;

IO and Communication: GC character reading, PM message printing, DAC/ADC digital to analog/analog-to-digital conversion;

Automatic tuning TUNE;

Variable system: BV (base variables), FV floating-point variables; Integer 24bit/48bit, floating point number.

Parameter PRM Parameter Set

Parameter number PRM: XXX, divided into 4 categories:

Communication parameters PRM: 001-041RS-232, IEEE-488 configuration, Daisy Chain daisy chain, SRQ request, task initiation program, status display format.

Trajectory generation parameters PRM: 100-163 user unit scaling, ramp time, S-curve, in place tolerance, origin search parameters, soft and hard limits, external interrupt configuration, spline SPLINE interpolation complete set of parameters, cam CAM configuration.

Drive motor parameters PRM: 200-241 step: operating current, holding current, step loss detection, damping; Servo: Kp Ki Kpos Kf PID gain, feedforward, current limiting, position/velocity error trap; Electronic gear GEAR mode; Brushless motor commutation configuration; Axis calibration and backlash compensation.

System underlying parameters PRM: 300-334 update cycles for each loop (servo loop, encoder, R/D converter, fault mask), buffer memory allocation, and error status mask configuration.

Register and Variable REG Register

REG: XXX hardware register, divided into:

Communication registers: BIT input/output, timer, RS-232 queue, IEEE488 bus status;

Motion register: encoder count value, speed, latch position;

Driver registers: instruction position, feedback position, current instruction, position error, speed feedback;

System status registers: motion status, error status, axis status;

Register readable/partially writable, used for real-time reading of hardware status by programs.

Example Program

Provide example source code that can be directly used:

Trapezoidal motion, IO output during motion; dial input distance; LED display;

Handheld terminal operator input; Multitasking; Data recording during operation; Master-slave following; Proportional control of joystick;

External interruption to modify motion trajectory; Encoder counter operation; IEEE 488 communication examples (HP85, QuickBASIC).

Technical Hardware Details

U100 power board and control board frame diagram;

Complete wiring of brushed DC, stepper, and brushless motors;

Encoder, limit, Hall electrical specifications;

RS-232/RS-422 wiring;

I/O port electrical parameters (optocoupler input/output, analog IO);

U100i amplifier feedback connector pin.

Troubleshooting TROUBLESHOOTING

Three major types of fault tables:

Installation, power on, communication failure;

Motor related faults (non rotation, shaking, overload, step loss);

Various types of drive faults, limits, and errors; Provide the phenomenon, root cause, and troubleshooting steps.

PID Loop Tuning

The physical meanings of the PID parameters Kp/Ki/Kpos/Kf for each gain;

Tuning steps; The impact of parameter changes on system stability, overshoot, and response;

Key points for configuring speed feedback signals.

Host Mode Operation

Without the UT100 interface, external upper computers (such as C/BASIC) can directly control the controller through RS-232/IEEE 488 protocol:

Running PGM, instant commands, file upload and download;

Read and write parameter PRM; Read and write register REG; Read and write variables; Task control; Clear the limit.