Real-time Networking Technology

ACS Motion Control has developed a real-time networking technology based on the EtherCAT protocol that connects multiple MC4U units to increase the fully coordinated machine control axis count from 8 to 32. This network is a fully integrated system that controls up to 32 fully synchronized axes of motion, including a wide range of amplifiers and corresponding power supplies with the ability to add hundreds of I/Os. Axes controlled by the MC4Unt system are fully synchronized to a single 20kHz sampling and servo update rate with a maximum synchronization dither of 100 nanoseconds. The system acts as a master and controls all the axes including those of the slave MC4Us, other network drives, and EtherCAT nodes.