RoboteQ AX3500 user manual Important Notice, Using the Encoder to Track Position

Using the Encoder to Track Position

The relationship between the measured speed and the actual speed is a factor of two vari- able parameters: a Time Based period value stored inside the Encoder module and the Encoder’s number of Pulses per Revolution. Note: the Encoder’s number of Pulses per Revolution is not stored in the controller.

The Time Base is a number of 256us time intervals between two counter reads.

A simple procedure is included in the Roborun PC utility to easily determine and set these parameters.

For information, the exact formula is shown below:

Measured Speed Value = RPM * PPR * 4 * (Time Base+1) * 256 / (60 * 1000000) or Measured Speed Value = RPM * PPR * (Time Base + 1) / 58593.75

Example: a motor spinning at 1,000 RPM, with an encoder with 200 Pulses per Revolution, and a Time Base set at 4 will produce the following measurement:

1000 *200 * (4 + 1) / 58593.75 = 17

The same formula modified to show the actual RPM at a given Measure Speed Value is as follows:

RPM = Measured Speed Value * 60 * 1000000 / (PPR * 4 * 256 * (Time Base+1)) or RPM = Measured Speed Value * 58593.75 /((Time Base + 1) * PPR)

In our example, a measured speed value of 127 corresponds to the following measurable max actual RPM values.

RPM at Max Measurable Speed Value = 127 * 58593.75 / ((4 + 1) * 200) = 7441 RPM

A measured speed value of 1 corresponds to the following measurable min. actual RPM values.

RPM at Min. Measurable Speed Value = 1 * 58593.75 / ((4 + 1) * 200) = 58.6 RPM

The Roborun Utility automatically makes the above calculations when setting up the encoder.

Important Notice

The time base value should not exceed 63 so that a new speed value can be mea- sured at every 16ms loop. The roborun utility automatically limits the time base value that can be entered.

Using the Encoder to Track Position

The encoder module can be used to report the distance between the actual motor position and a desired destination. The resulting measured “distance” can then be used by the con- troller in the position mode to move the motor in the right direction until the destination is

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