AD PLC's and AD stepper drives

Hello,
Looking at the stepper based motion control solutions at AD. I wanted to verify that the '05, and '06 are compatible with the stepper drives they sell now. Other than speed limitations, a stock '05 or '06 should work fine shouldn't it?

The spec sheet also mentioned that the drives' inputs are 5V TTL and to use resistors with 12 and 24VDC PLC outputs. I didn't realize that was possible (I'm still struggling to learn electrical fundamentals). Switching that around, how would you 'pull up' a 5V TTL signal to use with 24VDC PLC inputs? For example, using a PC parallel port 5V TTL output to trigger a 24VDC input on a PLC. Thanks.

EDIT: Ok, duh, you can't change 5V into 24V with nothing. I guess I would have to use a relay with a 5VDC coil and use it to switch 24VDC to the PLC's input right? Thanks.

Return of the pecker...

snaggletto,

The stepper drive will be driven from the DL05 PLC OUTPUTS by pulsing Y0 to go in one direction and Y1 to go in the other direction. I cant access ADs website right now but if your correct about the 5v inputs on the drive, this means you need to install a dropping resistor between the PLC output and the stepper drive input.

As far as I know the PLC inputs have nothing to do with driving the stepper....

Please (when you get a chance) take the time to read the DL05 manual. Better yet, go buy the PLC, DS4 "brick", cable and manual; and start playing with it some using the examples in the manual.

Mike...

Hey,
Ok, the stepper drive spec sheet says;

Input signal circuit: "Opto-coupler input with 440 Ohm resistance (5-15 mA input current), Logic Low is input pulled to .8 VDC or less, Logic High is input 4VDC or higher"

Down the way it also says: For 12VDC logic, add an 820 Ohm, 1/4 Watt resistor. For 24VDC logic, add an 2200 Ohm, 1/4 Watt resistor.

I know the PLC input has nothing to do with driving steppers. My curiosity stems from my experience in using PC parallel port based motion control systems. All the IO is 5VDC TTL from the PC's parallel port. I've often wondered if I could use a 5V TTL output on my PC to trigger a "series of events" on a 24VDC input PLC. I've seen solid state relays with coil voltages as low as 5VDC. This relay could be used to switch 24VDC to turn on/off inputs on a PLC right?

What is really exciting to me is that now I realize I can use geckodrives.com stepper and servo drives with a PLC rather than just a PC. Like AD's drives, they accept 5V step/direction signals as input, but will take up to 80VDC and 20A for servos and 80VDC and 7A/phase for steppers allowing for the use of more powerful motors. Another company with similar products, rutex.com, have servo drives that run up to 200VDC and 40A for servos.

snaggletto said:

....I know the PLC input has nothing to do with driving steppers. My curiosity stems from my experience in using PC parallel port based motion control systems. All the IO is 5VDC TTL from the PC's parallel port. I've often wondered if I could use a 5V TTL output on my PC to trigger a "series of events" on a 24VDC input PLC. I've seen solid state relays with coil voltages as low as 5VDC. This relay could be used to switch 24VDC to turn on/off inputs on a PLC right?

Click to expand...

I suppose...but why would you since you can comm the PLC & PC via the comm ports, Enet or any one of a variaty of better ways??

If you read the DL05 manual...(easy read by the way), I think your gonna be a little amazed.. Better yet read the DL06 manual.. the part on port 2. You cant beat the cost of the AD manuals due to the fact that you can download them free!! You'll find that they are well orginized and pretty clear; even for a beginer..

I will read them I promise.

Another project I'm working on is a PC based control for a cnc lathe. It will be using servos etc... All this is controlled with PC controller software and outputting step/dir signals from the parallel port to the servo drives. Your IO is limited to only 2 parallel ports, most of the IO is already taken for driving the servos, limit switches, coolant on/off, spindle on/off etc... My lathe also has an 8 position tool changer, this alone requires alot more IO than I have available on 2 parallel ports.

My thoughts are that I can use a PLC to control the tool changer, as PLC's have alot of IO. Basically, when a tool change is required, the PC will only use 1 output to tell the PLC to change tools. The PLC handles all the tool changer functions. When the tool change is done, the PLC tells the PC it's done and then the PC takes back over. It's just a cheap way to greatly extend the IO of the PC for an application like this.

I know there are much better ways for the PC to communicate with the PLC in general, but these CNC programs don't support ethernet or serial communication while in operation. The software has to load a real-time kernel, which basically takes over the CPU. During this time, the only link to the outside world is through the parallel port.