MultiFlex ETH 1000 Series - Customization

At the heart of PMC's MultiFlex ETH 1000 Series motion controllers is a powerful and flexible hardware platform that can be adapted to a multitude of applications. Because of the generous processing capacity, memory and I/O available, PMC can readily add significant features and performance enhancements to meet the unique needs of specialized OEM applications and deliver highly optimised solutions at a fraction of the cost of competing controllers.

New features can often be implemented in a matter of days at no extra cost to the customer. Some firmware-level feature and performance enhancements PMC has provided to OEM customers include:

A Flexible and Powerful Motion Control Platform (click image to enlarge)

• Additional PWM servo axes
• 18 programmable pulse channels
• 2x faster servo loop rates
• 2x higher trajectory calculation and axis update frequency
• Expansion of point memory by 10x
• Addition of an on-board G-code and M-code translator

The successful implementation of significant new features such as these requires not only ample processing power but also a wide variety of of I/O signals that can be readily reprogrammed to perform the required functions. The MultiFlex ETH 1000 Series controllers have the following hardware resources available for this purpose:

• Advanced 64-bit RISC CPU
• High-capacity customizable FPGA
• 32 MB DRAM memory on-board
• 4 analog ouptut channels (16 bit) (MultiFlex ETH 1440 models only)
• 8 buffered differential encoder receiver channels with hardware failure detection circuitry
• 20 high-current open-collector output channels (4-24 Volts) (24 high-current open collector output channels when used with ICN-125 interconnection board)
• 16 bi-directional opto-isolated digital input channels (4-24 Volts) (32 bi-directional opto-isolated digital input channels when used with the ICN-125 interconnection board)
• 16 digital TTL inputs
• 16 digital TTL outputs
• 8 analog input channels (14 bit) (optional)
• 28 Ground lines (analog and digital)
• 8 12V supply lines
• 40 5V supply lines
• Jumperless configuration of all I/O
• All I/O signals are conveniently available on high-density SCSI, D-sub, or customer-specified connectors
• I/O pin-out on high-density SCSI interconnection board is 100% pin-compatible with MultiFlex PCI series
• Additional I/O conditioning can also be provided on custom designed interconnection boards

This rich combination of I/O together with a 64-bit floating-point RISC processor and large FPGA has allowed us to provide customers with highly optimized solutions that offer unbeatable value. For example, the following matrix summarizes the possible 8-axis combinations that this platform can support - at a fraction of the cost of ordinary 8-axis controllers: