Motion controller offers FireWire interface
Original article date: June 2000
A new multiaxis distributed controller has adopted the FireWire comms link, bringing faster data transfer rates that traditional buses
Motion controllers often have to operate in less than ideal industrial environments. The production or manufacturing floor can be tough on the controller, both physically and in terms of the demands on its systems.
National Instruments reckons it has addressed both of these issues with the FW7344 multiaxis distributed controller. For one, it’s a sturdy, self contained device more than able to cope with the physical rigours. And importantly, it is the first product of its type to adopt FireWire as a communications bus.
With FireWire, the host PC monitors motion at a much faster rate than is possible with other serial buses. Once programmed, the controller monitors motion independently from its host PC. And because of this independence, and the use of FireWire, it performs exceptionally well at high speeds.
“Fast communication is especially important when your motion is tightly coupled to other processes on your PC,” says Mike Darden, motion control product manager at National Instruments. “The FireWire interface on the FW-7344 has the speed to integrate the controller into a high performance computer-based data acquisition or industrial automation system.
The FireWire bus transfers data and 400Mbps, which is markedly faster than the current Universal Serial Bus, which transfers data at 12Mbps, or RS485 which bottoms out at just 10Mbps. With the Firewire interface, you can daisy chain as many as 32 FW-7344 controllers together. PCs lacking FireWire ports can be easily equipped via conversion boards.
- National Instruments
June 2000