The Austrian automation specialist B&R has announced an integrated automation platform that, it says, combines the worlds of robotics, CNC, linked-axis movements and single-axis positioning, in one homogenous system. The Generic Motion Control platform unites elements such as drives, movement and path control, visualisation, communications and I/O processing, and can be configured using a single software tool.
The platform is based on a real-time operating system that supports 400 microsecond cycle times, allowing path precision in the sub-micron range. Generated set positions are transferred to drives without jitter, using Ethernet Powerlink.
The predefined visualisation components include parameter configuration, movement programming, and tools for simulation, logging and diagnostics. A "soft CNC" component, embedded in the PLC real-time operating system, can be used to create part programs and movement procedures, and supports the use of high-level elements such as loops, conditional statements and branches.
Program execution can be controlled in real time, and data such as the end-points of path sections, can be changed while a program is being executed.
Potential applications for the platform include controlling anthropomorphic robots, or applying complex path designs to machine tools and production machines.