After the initial questioning and debate over authenticity, the integrated drive control technology has gradually matured, especially in the application of SCARA. Currently, the integrated drive control technology has almost become standard.
In fact, with the improvement of robot intelligence and the driving force of market applications, higher requirements have been put forward for the integration of drive and control: control cabinets are getting smaller, cables are getting fewer, control axes are getting more and more, integration is getting higher, costs are getting lower, and usage is getting easier
In this context, companies have launched new generation of integrated drive and control products. As one of the first companies in China to enter the manufacturing of integrated drive and control machines, Shanlong Intelligent Control has made new breakthroughs in the field of integrated drive and control machines. Its latest integrated drive and control machine, CD6060, has now been launched on the market.
It is reported that the new generation drive and control integrated machine CD6060 of Shanlong Intelligent Control not only extends the original 4-axis drive and control integrated machine to 6-axis, but also is compatible with a variety of industrial robots such as SCARA, injection molding machine manipulator, truss manipulator, Six degrees of freedom manipulator, etc.
To better meet user needs and continuously improve performance while reducing costs, this drive control all-in-one machine achieves the sharing of hardware resources, software data, and control algorithms.
Zeng Yuquan, General Manager of Shanlong Intelligent Control, said that this is a true integration of drive and control, achieving a true 'six in one', that is, using two CPUs to control six servo motors.
Reducing CPU also means reducing costs. Zeng Yuquan said, 'Non drive control integration refers to a single CPU controlling a single servo motor, while the entire power supply of the new generation drive control integration (six axis and four axis) of Shanlong Intelligent Control is designed uniformly. One CPU can control three axes, so two CPUs have been omitted here. If it is a six axis system, four CPUs can be saved, and one CPU costs over a hundred yuan
It is reported that the CD6060 does not use the EtherCAT bus internally, but directly uses Shared memory to connect, which not only saves costs, but also improves the speed of information processing. The efficiency of memory communication is more than 10 times higher than that of EtherCAT bus. In his opinion, because the integrated drive and control system integrates the drive and control together, there is no need to adopt the EtherCAT bus form.
From the perspective of power supply, previously, the single control power module of Shanlong Intelligent Control Drive Control was separated, while the CD6060 integrated six power modules together, resulting in a cost reduction of at least 30% and more flexibility. As long as the total power is ensured to be 6000 watts, the power of all six axes can be adjusted.
In the case of adjustable power, CD6060 has higher adaptability for robots. Previously, the power of a single shaft in the integrated drive and control system was fixed and not adjustable, so redundancy design was generally adopted to ensure use. However, in practical applications, the power requirements of some shafts were not as high, which caused a waste of power module resources. Now, the power of different power modules can be adjusted according to actual needs, 'said Zeng Yuquan.
Unlike a single CPU accessing an address that can provide direct feedback information, how to ensure real-time accuracy of data when two or more CPUs access a certain address has become a challenging issue in the integration of drive and control.
The drive and control integration of Shanlong Intelligent Control is that one CPU controls three servo motors. When six axes are controlled, it is equivalent to that two CPUs access Shared memory at the same time. Theoretically, one CPU is not allowed to read data while the other CPU writes data. This requires setting up a data competition and sharing mechanism, which is what Shanlong has been trying to break through. There is competition among multiple CPUs accessing memory, and how to design a mechanism to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the accessed data involves the issue of priority competition. 'Zeng Yuquan vividly explained,' Just like when we go to buy food, we must queue up and not have two people swiping cards at the same time, so we need to design a competition mechanism