Is Delta Motion Online Training Worth My Time?

JRoss

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Join Date
Sep 2006
Location
Dillsburg, PA
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I have a customer that is developing a machine using a Delta RMC200 motion controller, and have contracted me to do the programming. I've never used a Delta Motion product, though I've done fairly complex motion projects in both Allen Bradley and Mitsubishi, and have been doing high-level programming for the past 10 years or so. The project has a relatively tight timeline, so I was considering the live online training offered by Delta. Has anybody here taken the training, and is it worth the time, particularly for someone with my experience?

Thanks,
Jeremy
 
I may be completely wrong here but I believe the owner of that company is a highly respected member here and extremely knowledgeable. If he is not the owner, he is "the guy". I have no direct experience with their stuff and don't know him personally, but judging by his contributions here and what I have heard from locals in my neck of the woods that have dealt with them, I can't imagine that your time or money would be wasted.

Of course wait for others to chime in, but I'd be surprised if you heard anything negative. I'd suspect that he'll probably chime in himself.
 
I have been to two classes at their facility and the training and trainer are outstanding. From what I heard when I was there, the online training is almost as good. It would be well worth the money. Only real difference is your doing it remotely. You are connected to an actual controller, not a simulator. The trainer can see your screen so it's as if he's standing behind you. They can also set you up to play with a controller after the class to continue to develop your skills.
 
I looked at a system using delta RMC in 2016. Peter gave me a talk through over Skype for 20 minutes giving a high level overview and getting project details from me (disclaimer; not stating he perhaps has time to do this for every new proposal). Unfortunately my client was too tight (for any proposal quoted) so I didn't get to put it into action.

Note their website has a lot of content, including I believe an online lab you can connect to remotely and play about with. As well as lots of other good info. Given your experience I am sure you will pick it up quickly and be pleased with the features.
 
You are a special case.

Jeremy, the basic training class may be too basic for you. I would not come to Delta for basic training.
Go to our website. Download the startup guide and manual
http://deltamotion.com/education/
I suggest you try the self paced training to get familiar with the software then try the advanced training course at Delta.

I would bet you would have little trouble making the RMC work without any training but the advanced training is where you learn tricks and tips that can be very handy. If the application is simple you may not need the tips and tricks and grind your way through it but if the customer bought a RMC200 the application will probably not be that simple. Its a trade off, spend time now or spend time later.
 
Thanks everybody, especially Peter. I don't think a trip to Washington state is in the cards, but we'll see. I'll sink my teeth into the self paced training and see how it goes. I have enough time to do the programming, the time crunch will be between the machine assembly completion and the ship date, so anything I can do to make sure that testing phase goes smoothly....

Application is a hydraulic coil bending machine. 8 total axes, and there will be some coordinated motion to get the final shape right. In an AB world I would use a virtual master and position based cams to get the various axes to provide the right motion at the right time. There's also an interesting complication that a couple of the axes are holding axes, and will be pulled out of position by the forming process. They will need to be able to be moved while also keeping a certain amount of pressure on the coil so it doesn't deform too much.
 
Jeremy, you can use the same method with the RMC200. You should be able to slam dunk this part. The holding force on a coil while moving will more of a challenge. Usually you need to think of using a differential force or net force.

NetForce = Pa*Aa-Pb*Ab

Monitoring pressure is not enough because the pressure on the other side of the piston can greatly affect the net force. The RMC can calculate the net force if two pressure sensors are used per axis.

Note, we have our own forum. I like posting there because the traffic is much less so the important posts don't get lost and I can use LaTex to write my formulas.
You will see a couple familiar names on our forum.
 
From what I have read of Peters posts & contributions, the most important part to anything more advanced or non-standard is the mechanical design.
OP mentions the complexity required, Peter suggests pressure transmitters on each axis, has any thought be given to overall system & instrumentation etc?

Even in my small world, our friendly mechanical engineers overlook us controls peeps
 
That's exactly why I'm looking at the application hard right now while there's still time! I need to ask them how critical the pressure value is. It may be that they don't need to hold to a specific value, just in some range. Maybe I can just loosen up that axis to allow it to be moved out of position without faulting. I already had the thought that we may need to add pressure sensors.

Thanks for the input everybody!
 
I would suggest getting the RMC hardware as soon as possible because that allows you to simulate motion and work out the communications on your desk instead of on the floor. I have always found it to be a big time saver down the road in a project to have this out of the way so that when all the hardware is assembled you only have to worry about the actual application and not communications and basic stuff.

There are online RMC simulators but with your axis count it would probably be better to get the actual hardware and start working with it.

You might check with your local Delta distributor. For our customers, I generally offer to have the customer over to our place for a morning or long lunch and with a seasoned controls person I can make them dangerous in that amount of time. I agree with Peter that most seasoned controls people with motion experience can get going on their own but I have also seen things done "the hard way" when this is the case. (I have found a lot of the hard ways myself ;-). There are definitely a lot of ways to do the same thing so a little help finding the best practice for each situation goes a long way.

I will also give a shout out to the technical support at Delta which in my opinion is some of the best out there. And, the built in help is actually helpful (unlike many manufacturers) so F1 can be your best friend in times of trouble and confusion. I would think this is especially true if you understand motion but might not know the details of using a specific command.

This sounds like an interesting project. Please keep us posted.
 

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