Automation is the way of the future, and it relies heavily on the motion control industry. That’s why ADVANCED Motion Controls® offers an automation architecture designed to answer the growing complexities of motion control systems.
At first glance, Click&Move looks like a software package. It’s not just software; it’s a complete control system.
What Can Click&Move do?
Whether it’s completing simple, single-axis movement with minimal I/O or complex multi-axis movements in real time, Click&Move combines sophistication with simplicity to assist OEMs and Systems Integrators. This makes Click&Move perfect for machinery and factory automation, responsive robotics, or coordinated visual displays.
Click&Move has support for CANopen, EtherCAT, and Ethernet POWERLINK network protocols and can be operated by multiple platforms, including PC (Win OS and Linux), a stand-alone controller, or even directly by AMC’s servo drives.
To better examine Click&Move, let's break it down into two parts: The software side and the hardware side.
The Software Side: The Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
Click&Move leverages its own IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that allows operators to code for their own wide range of applications. This includes everything from PLC machine commands to CNC specific apps for greater control. Click&Move users can create their own user-defined function blocks and pull from a library of hundreds of premade function blocks to build their simple or complex logical block diagrams. This interface not only makes it easy to set up logic, but also provide readouts that can be referenced in the user’s HMI (Human Machine Interface).
With debugging, coders can even develop their environments iteratively to allow for testing. Our debugging IDE also allows for both visual and textual debugging to help developers catch any error on a virtual axis. There are even tutorials and demos built-in to help you get started on programming your software.
Finally, our IDE allows developers to design their own HMI screens for real time computational commands and readouts. The HMI builder is easy to use and can be configured however the user wants. Users can even create a graphical representation of their motion system that displays onscreen and responds in real time.
The Hardware Side: Systems Architectures
Once the logic programming and motion commands are complete, Click&Move can be integrated into a motion control system. While the possibilities are limitless, most Click&Move systems fall into one of three architectures. Which architecture is the best? It depends purely on the application.
PC-Based Solution
The first solution architecture is a PC-based solution. Essentially, this form of software development is where you would create an HMI screen to operate your servo drives on a PC. You could even run it from the same PC on which you programmed the PLC logic and motion commands. Codes are extracted from the system’s remote I/O and downloaded onto your computer to operate your system from there. If you’re running a complex multi-axis system and want an HMI with complex graphics or need the ability to make major changes on-the-fly, the PC-based solution is the way to go. AMC’s applications for the PC-based solution include a 7-axis industrial 3D printing system, a 5-axis plasma cutting machine, and coordinate measuring machine for auto brake disc quality control. Our popular Five Ball Toss Demo is also run from Click&Move on a PC!
Motion Automation Control Card
In the second and more-compact solution architecture, the Click&Move code is compiled on the PC and then downloaded onto a motion automation control card (MACC), which is then used to operate your servo drives. MACCs are general purpose and provide you with the same level of control as a PC based solution, the only major difference being the reduced ease of editing. A separate HMI screen can be used with the MACC solution architecture, but it’s not always necessary. If you’re looking for a more cost-sensitive multi-axis solution or you need support for both analog and digital servo drives, then using a MACC-based solution is perfect. It's also great for applications where it wouldn’t be convenient to have a PC hooked up all the time. Among other applications, AMC used a MACC02 in the Click&Move solution for a Robotic work cell used in pharmaceutical testing
Servo Drive Embedded
The third solution architecture operates as stand-alone embedded solution, where the Click&Move logic is downloaded into a servo drive itself. ADVANCED Motion Controls’ digital servo drives can use their built-in processing power to run the motion code and PLC logic from there. For a single-axis application, this can be an effective and space-saving solution. This method has been used for a wire handling machine, an automated aircraft door tester, and automated turbine control.
Benefits for Digital Servo Drives
With the current release of Click&Move is 5.4.4., developers can choose between loads of system architecture options, including stand-alone or PC-based solutions, when choosing between a visual interface.
This offers greater flexibility and diagnostic control. With our advanced IDE, programmers can set up Click&Move for any industry-specific applications with a level of granularity and control not seen in most other packages. This not only includes advanced function block diagrams and logic, but also an HMI builder so users can set up an interface that has everything could want.
C&M is also IEC 61131-3 compliant, leveraging pre-configured or user-defined graphical Function Block Diagrams (FBDs).
Users can request a download of Click&Move by filling out a form on the product page.
For additional information about what C&M can do for your digital servo drive, contact us today.
Do you like this article?
Get blogs like this delivered directly to your inbox!
