Getting Started with EasyMotion Studio

EasyMotion Studio is an integrated development environment for the setup and motion programming of Technosoft intelligent drives and motors. The output of EasyMotion Studio consists of a set of setup data and a motion program, which can be downloaded to the EEPROM of your Technosoft intelligent drive / intelligent motor, or saved onto your PC for later use.

EasyMotion Studio includes a set of evaluation tools like the Data Logger, the Control Panel and the Command Interpreter which help you to quickly develop, test, measure and analyze your motion application.

EasyMotion Studio works with projects. A project contains one or several Applications.

Each application describes a motion system for one axis. It has 2 components: the Setup data and the Motion program and an associated axis number: an integer value between 1 and 255. An application may be used either to describe:

1.One axis in a multiple-axis system
2.An alternate configuration (set of parameters) for the same axis.

In the first case, each application has a different axis number corresponding to the axis ID of the drives/motors from the network. All data exchanges are done with the drive/motor having the same address as the selected application. In the second case, all the applications have the same axis number.  

The setup component contains all the information needed to configure and parameterize a Technosoft drive/motor. This information is preserved in the drive/motor EEPROM in the setup table. The setup table is copied at power-on into the RAM memory of the drive/motor and is used during runtime.  

The motion component contains the motion sequences to do. These are described via a TML (Technosoft Motion Language) program, which is executed by the drives/motors built-in motion controller.

Step 1. Create a new project

EasyMotion Studio starts with an empty window from where you can create a new project or open a previously created one.

GettingStartedFirstWindow

When you start a new project, EasyMotion Studio automatically creates a first application. Additional applications can be added later. You can duplicate an application or insert one defined in another project.

Press New button NewButton to open the “New Project” dialogue. Set the axis number for your first application equal with your drive/motor axis ID. The initial value proposed is 255 which is the default axis ID of the drives/motors. Press New button and select your drive/motor type. Depending on the product chosen, the selection may continue with the motor technology (for example: brushless motor, brushed motor, 3 phase stepper), the control mode (for example open-loop or closed-loop) and type of feedback device (for example: incremental encoder, SSI encoder)

GettingStartedNewProjectSelection

Validate your selection with a mouse click. EasyMotion Studio opens the Project window where on the left side you can see the structure of a project. At beginning both the new project and its first application are named “Untitled”. The application has 2 components: S Setup and M Motion (program).

GettingStartedSecondWindow

Step 2. Establish communication

If you have a drive/motor connected with your PC, now its time to check the communication. Use menu command Communication | Setup to check/change your PC communication settings. Press the Help button of the dialogue opened. Here you can find detailed information about how to setup your drive/motor and the connections. Power on the drive/motor, then close the Communication | Setup dialogue with OK. If the communication is established, EasyMotion Studio displays in the status bar (the bottom line) the text “Online” plus the axis ID of your drive/motor and its firmware version. Otherwise the text displayed is “Offline” and a communication error message tells you the error type. In this case, return to the Communication | Setup dialogue, press the Help button and check troubleshoots.

Remark: When first started, EasyMotion Studio tries to communicate with your drive/motor via RS-232 and COM1 (default communication settings). If your drive/motor is powered and connected to your PC port COM1 via an RS-232 cable, the communication can be automatically established.

Step 3. Setup drive/motor

In the project window left side, select “S Setup”, to access the setup data for your application.

GettingStartedSetupWindow

Press View/Modify button ButtonViewModify. This opens 2 setup dialogues: for Motor Setup and for Drive setup through which you can configure and parameterize a Technosoft drive/motor. In the Motor setup dialogue you can introduce the data of your motor and the associated sensors. Data introduction is accompanied by a series of tests having as goal to check the connections to the drive and/or to determine or validate a part of the motor and sensors parameters. In the Drive setup dialogue you can configure and parameterize the drive for your application. In each dialogue you will find a Guideline Assistant, which will guide you through the whole process of introducing and/or checking your data.

Press the Download to Drive/Motor button ButtonDownloadSetup to download your setup data in the drive/motor EEPROM memory in the setup table. From now on, at each power-on, the setup data is copied into the drive/motor RAM memory which is used during runtime. It is also possible to save the setup data on your PC and use it in other applications. Note that you can upload the complete setup data from a drive/motor.

To summarize, you can define or change the setup data of an application in the following ways:

create a new setup data by going through the motor and drive dialogues
use setup data previously saved in the PC
upload setup data from a drive/motor EEPROM memory

Step 4. Program motion

In the project window left side, select “M Motion”, for motion programming.

GettingStartedMotionMain

One of the key advantages of the Technosoft drives/motors is their capability to execute complex motions without requiring an external motion controller. This is possible because Technosoft drives/motors include both a state of art digital drive and a powerful motion controller.

Programming motion on a Technosoft drive/motor means to create and download a TML (Technosoft Motion Language) program into the drive/motor memory. The TML allows you to:

Set various motion modes (profiles, PVT, PT, electronic gearing or camming, etc.)
Change the motion modes and/or the motion parameters
Execute homing sequences
Control the program flow through:
oConditional jumps and calls of TML functions
oTML interrupts generated on pre-defined or programmable conditions (protections triggered, transitions on limit switch or capture inputs, etc.)
oWaits for programmed events to occur
Handle digital I/O and analogue input signals
Execute arithmetic and logic operations
Perform data transfers between axes
Control motion of an axis from another one via motion commands sent between axes
Send commands to a group of axes (multicast). This includes the possibility to start simultaneously motion sequences on all the axes from the group
Synchronize all the axes from a network

With TML, you can really distribute the intelligence between the master and the drives/motors in complex multi-axis applications. Thus, instead of trying to command each step of an axis movement, you can program the drives/motors using TML to execute complex tasks and inform the master when these are done. Thus for each axis the master task may be reduced at: calling TML functions (with possibility to abort their execution if needed) and waiting for a message, which confirms the execution. If needed, the drives/motors may also be programmed to send periodically information messages to the master so it can monitor a task progress.

In order to help you create a TML program, EasyMotion Studio includes a Motion Wizard. This offers you the possibility to program all the motion sequences using high level graphical dialogues which automatically generate the corresponding TML instructions. With Motion Wizard you can develop motion programs using almost all the TML instructions without needing to learn them.

The Motion Wizard is automatically activated when you select “M Motion” in the project window left side. When activated, Motion Wizard adds a set of toolbar buttons in the project window just below the title. Each button opens a programming dialogue. When a programming dialogue is closed, the associated TML instructions are automatically generated.  Note that, the TML instructions generated are not a simple text included in a file, but a motion object. Therefore with Motion Wizard you define your motion program as a collection of motion objects.

The major advantage of encapsulating programming instructions in motion objects is that you can very easily manipulate them. For example, you can:

Save and reuse a complete motion program or parts of it in other applications
Add, delete, move, copy, insert, enable or disable one or more motion objects
Group several motion objects and work with bigger objects that perform more complex functions

As a starting point, push for example the leftmost Motion Wizard button – Trapezoidal profiles, and set a position or speed profile. Then press the Run button. At this point the following operations are done automatically:

A TML program is created by inserting your motion objects into a predefined template
The TML program is compiled and downloaded to the drive/motor
The TML program execution is started

For learning how to send commands from your host/master, check the Application | Binary Code Viewer. This tool helps you to quickly find how to send TML commands using one of the communication channels and protocols supported by the drives/motors. Using this tool, you can get the exact contents of the messages to send as well as of those expected to be received as answers.

Step 5. Evaluate motion application performances

EasyMotion Studio includes a set of evaluation tools like the Data Logger, the Control Panel and the Command Interpreter which help you to quickly measure and analyze your motion application.

Step 6. Create an EEPROM image file for programming in production

Once you have validated your application, you can create with the menu command Application | Create EEPROM Programmer File a software file (with extension .sw) which contains all the data to write in the EEPROM of your drive/motor. This includes both the setup data and the motion program. The .sw file can be programmed into a drive/motor, using the EEPROM Programmer tool, which comes with EasyMotion Studio but may also be installed separately. The EEPROM Programmer was specifically designed for repetitive fast and easy setup and programming of Technosoft drives/motors in production.

 

See also:

EasyMotion Studio Workspace