© National Instruments Corporation 12-1 NI-Motion User Manual
12
Synchronization
You can synchronize NI motion controllers with NI data and image
acquisition devices using breakpoints and high-speed captures.
Timing and triggering with NI-Motion is always related to either position
or velocity. Synchronizing position and velocity information with the
external world allows you to coordinate measurements with moves. You
can program the motion controller to trigger another device at specified
positions using RTSI or a pin on the Motion I/O connector. This
functionality is called breakpoints, which are divided into Absolute
Breakpoints, Relative Position Breakpoints, and Periodically Occurring
Breakpoints.
In some cases, it may be necessary to synchronize position with some
measurement occurring external to the motion controller. For example,
you might be aligning two fiber optic cables, in which case the maximum
optical power needs to correspond with the alignment position. To align the
fibers, theexternal device that is recording the optical power must trigger
the motion controller so that positions and optical power measurements can
be synchronized and analyzed. This functionality is known as High-Speed
Capture or trigger inputs. The motion controller can be triggered by
another device using RTSI or externally using a pin on the Motion I/O
connector. When triggered, the motion controller can latch the current
position of the encoder, which can be read and recorded.