A motion controller is a device used for controlling a servo drive or a stepper motor using digital drive links like EtherCat or SERCOS; the alternative way is through a traditional analogue encoder or a pulse-direction link. A modern system design requires a lot of flexibility and in a device like the Trio motion controller a maximum of 7 expansion modules can be installed to control about 64 axes.
A lot of the motion controllers you will come across on the market will have the perfect design. This means the device is housed in a rugged plastic case complemented with integrated earth chassis and most importantly, an entire isolation circuitry – needed for the controller to be directly connected with any type of external equipment that’s necessary for work in any industrial environment.
It’s fairly easy to use a device like the Trio motion controller; like most devices of this type, this one runs by using a specially programmed and configured application on a PC. Once everything is installed and connected, the controller can be set to run on a “stand alone” mode, which means an external computer will not be necessary.
Interesting features
Beside being a device for controlling a servo drive, the Trio motion controller has some interesting features. It has a 8 built-in inputs of 24V and 8 bi-directional I/O channels which can all be used for interaction with other systems or things like end of travel limits, registration and similar functions which may be required. There’s also an Ethernet port which is standard and is considered a primary communication link for the device. Simple factory communication systems can be connected to the controller by a special port and a specialized channel that serves the purpose.
Another useful feature is the removable storage on these controllers. The Trio motion controller has a SD card slot which allows for simple transferring of programs, firmware and other important data without using a PC connection. The port is suitable for using various kinds of SD cards of up to 2 GB thanks to the FAT32 file system.
The battery
The Trio controller device uses a specialised battery for power. It’s a user-replaceable one which you can easily replace by yourself using a screwdriver. Just open the device using the tool under the front ventilation slot, prize off the cover of the battery, pull the ribbon out and just replace it. Be careful though; placing the new battery in the battery slot of the device should be done within 30 seconds of removing the old one.
