New Motion controls from AD.

Hi Guys:

Recently I received a request to design a cutoff flying machine , It has to be low budget.
So I think of these new products from Automation Direct:

https://cdn.automationdirect.com/static/manuals/p2userm/inserts/PS-AMC.pdf

https://www.automationdirect.com/ad...cro_plc)/motion_-a-_specialty_modules/ps-amc1


This new machine is going to cut iron bars from 3 meter/min up to 20 meter/min, it is not so fast.
The ones I have designed are up to 100 meter/min, that´s the reason I think of this new products.

My question is : Has anyone here had used this products, I have designed several cutoff flying machines for steel pipe with success using exclusively Control Logix from Allen bradley but this time due to low budget I just changed my mind .

Any comments is welcome.

I haven't used the motion control products, but in the past, I have been very happy with the quality, service, and value from AutomationDirect. In my experience, they are more cost-effective than A-B.

Having said that, always look at the PLC cost as a fraction of the total project cost. Engineering and programming times are usually much more significant. If you are familiar with one platform the learning curve on a new one might offset hardware savings.

Since you're already familiar with doing the job with Kinetix, be very careful about making assumptions about what is possible with the new platform. Things you take for granted with one platform, may not be so easy to pull off with the new.

I can cite a personal example. Several years ago i used the AD products to replace an obsolete controller and motor. One of the features I needed was follower mode where the axis could follow an external pulse train. The specs for the Sure Servo line indicated that ability, but when it came time to put it into practice I found that switching between positioning mode and follower mode required cycling power to the controller which my application could not abide. I had to scramble to come up with a work-around.

That's not to cast aspersions at the Sure Servo Line. It is a solid platform. Just do your homework and make sure it can do everything you need it to do.

By the way I recently bought a learner kit from AD just one week ago, I have not received it yet since AD only sells in the US so I have to buy it thru some else and then they send it to me down here to Colombia.
This new client appeared yesterday and I am aware that I have to learn a new PLC on the run.

Anyway the comments from Steve and Tom are the kind of comments that I need to be aware of, thank you very much both of you.

Yep, there is more to a project than just hardware cost.

With all the planning & engineering Automation Direct puts in their controls and components I wouldn't hesitate to use them, as long as the specs meet the demands.


I have never been sorry for using their components, they have excellent support and online help and a forum.

A motion controller should have a clutch-by-distance command or something similar as a minimum. Clutch-by-distance is defined by the IEC motion specification. This is the basic command where the slave/shear starts with a 0 gear ratio and when the master gets to a certain position, the slave gear ration ramps from 0 to 1 over a specified master distance. More sophisticated controllers can ramp from 0 to 1 using an s-curve rather than a linear ramp.


AD has a forum. I would ask the same question there.

Thanks Peter, I will do that.