MULTIPROCESSOR ARCHITECTURE
The legacy control made the most of what was available in the 70's and 80's by using a multi-processor approach. Splitting up control requirements across several processors, each with its own responsibility, made it the best CNC in its time.
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We have taken that same approach, but updated slow 16 bit Intel processors with high speed 64 bit processors and DSPs which feature single clock instruction math capabilities. Additionally, we have added more processors to further improve the speed and throughput of the control.
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The synchronization of motion across each axis is now handled by a central host CPU. The host also manages screen information and keeps track of position synchronization relieving the the main CPU to spend more time on G code interpretation, look ahead and ramp control.
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With the 527F, each axis is controlled independently with a high speed DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and communicates with the master host controller via a high speed industrial bus. Removing the bottleneck of the S100 back-plane significantly improves the communication speed between processors.
POWERFUL MEMORY FLEXIBILITY
USB INTERFACE
Load G-code files on a USB flash drive of any size and easily save them into CNC memory. Programs can also be punched to a USB flash drive.
SD FLASH STORAGE
The 527F comes with a 32 GB SD card as standard. Programs can be run DNC directly from the SD card or transferred into internal CNC memory. Larger memory SD cards can be used if desired.
ETHERNET
The 527 can be setup as a FTP site on a network. Users can easily drag and drop files via Ethernet and which stores them on the SD card. Users can map this memory space on a computer and use it as a hard drive.
PHASE LOCK LOOP DC MOTOR FEEDBACK
One of the weaknesses of the legacy resolver feedback design is the limited number of available counts per turn. The resolver “counts per turn” equivalent is significantly less than what is available with a quadrature encoder used in AC servo motors.
The 527F solves this problem by using a phase lock loop circuit that produces a high speed frequency multiple that is synchronized with the original 1020 card. This creates much higher resolution counts and more closely approximates those of encoders used in AC motors.
The second weakness of the resolver circuit is that the position is updated depending on the rotation position of the shaft. Since this is determined by position and not time, this creates a discontinuous feedback circuit.
At slower speeds, this tends not to be an issue, but presents itself as a problem at higher speeds.
The 527F axis card uses a proprietary estimator to correct for the inherent changes in the time when the feedback is latched. This results in much better feedback of actual position by eliminating discontinuous motor feedback.
527F SYNCHRONIZED HIGH FREQUENCY CLOCK
1020 CLOCK CARD FREQUENCY
UNRIVALED PERFORMANCE
Fadal-5 CPU at 250 IPM
Calmotion 527F CPU at 250 IPM
FASTER THAN THE REST
Your Fadal control technology is becoming obsolete, but why spend thousands of dollars on an upgrade that will only make it slightly faster? With the 527F you’ll go a lot faster with improved accuracy, and vastly superior part finish.
With the 527F, each axis is controlled independently with a high speed DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and communicates with the master host controller via a high speed industrial bus. This parallel processing offloads the main CPU from the computational requirements of each axis, allowing it to execute programs with greater look-ahead capability, resulting in better accuracies at high feed rates.
The comparison images depicted here are closeups looking at one area of a Mercedes test cut performed on a 1997 Fadal 6030 VMC with a –5 CPU. Both parts were cut with the exact same machine, program, AC servo amplifiers and motors. Only the control cards from the legacy Fadal CNC 88HS were changed out with the Calmotion 527F cards.
The replacement of the Fadal –5 CPU and axis cards with the Calmotion 527F controller boards was completed in less than 25 minutes.
AN EMBEDDED CONTROL DESIGNED FROM
THE GROUND UP.
Embedded control requires more expertise, take longer to develop and put into service than PC based systems. Why choose embedded and do it the hard way?
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We know first hand the difficulties of maintaining PC based control systems as new versions of Windows are released. An embedded platform means we do not have to worry about chasing Microsoft Windows updates, versions and its inevitable obsolescence. If connected to a network, you need not worry about security threats as with PC based systems. The 527F is not vulnerable to hackers and virus threats.
PC's and a general purpose operating system are not ideally suited for CNC servo control. This is why so many PC based CNCs use servo motion controllers connected to a PC bus. Our embedded approach eliminates issues associated with operating system changes or updates which can affect the usability and performance of these types of integrated motion controllers.
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Our code and embedded platform is extremely portable and allows us to move to newer, faster technology with ease. We have complete control of our technology.
ETHERNET CONNECTIVITY
IP ADDRESS CONFIGURATION
Each 527F can be configured with an IP address for easy file transfer and editing. Adding an FTP software package to your office PC will allow you to map the 527F as a hard drive on your computer which makes file management between the office and the shop floor a breeze. Additionally, if connected to the internet, the 527F can be configured to sync the date and time with a world clock site.
ENHANCED DIAGNOSTICS
LEGACY STATUS DIAGNOSTICS PLUS ADDITIONAL TROUBLESHOOTING TOOLS
POWER SUPPLY MONITORING
The 527F monitors the power supply for the control and can be configured to alarm or fault for out of range conditions. Keyboard data packets can also be monitored to help with keyboard malfunction.
DATC DIAGNOSTICS
DATC control as well as DATC status can be easily accessed with the diagnostic menu page.