Aerotech Automation1 iXC4e Enhanced, PWM Servo Drive with Motion Controller

Automation1 iXC4e Enhanced, PWM Servo Drive with Motion Controller

The iXC4e is the powerful center of your motion control architecture.

It has a full motion controller, connects to other Automation1 drives over

HyperWire and connects to other automation devices over EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP™,

Modbus TCP/IP or a TCP Socket interface.

Design Features

• Unlock the full motion control power of our Automation1 iSMC intelligent

software-based motion controller

• Features complete configuration & performance capability of XC4e servo

motor drive

• Connect to the controller using EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, Modbus or a Socket

interface

• Enjoy up to 12 axes of control by connecting more Automation1 drives over

the HyperWire fiber-optic bus

• Expand your I/O by adding expansion board to the iXC4e or to other connected

drives

Motion. Control. Together.

The Automation1-iXC4e, a hardware platform for running the Automation1-iSMC

intelligent software-based motion controller, features a servo motor drive.

That means it has the ability to run your entire machine’s control, act as a servo

drive for a single axis and control up to 11 added axes of motion over our fiber-optic

HyperWire motion bus. The supported EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP and

Socket interface enable true full machine and motion system control.

Combining this technology on a single hardware device lowers your machine costs,

reduces machine size and increases reliability.

The iSMC, which runs on the iXC4e, is programmable in AeroScript from the

Automation1 Studio application and several available APIs.

Automation1

The iXC4e is a part of the user-friendly Automation1 motion control platform,

which includes the following:

• Development Software

• Controls

• Motor Drives

• Fiber-Optic HyperWire® Communication Bus

The iXC4e enhanced PWM servo drive with motion controller is the right choice

for your precision machine or system. It begins with superior motion control 

technology. The Automation1-iSMC (configured separately and installed on the

iXC4e) contains technology once reserved for high-end PC-based architectures.

That’s not the only reason the iXC4e is a game-changer. It also contains our XC4e

single-axis PWM digital drive -- within the same compact package.

You can also add up to 11 additional axes of control over the HyperWire® fiber

-optic motion bus.

The iSMC controller can connect to, command and control any other Automation1

servo motor drive. The iXC4e and additional servo motor drives can be configured

with I/O expansion boards, giving the iSMC controller the connectivity required to

take full control of your machine or system.

The iXC4e PWM amplifiers control brushless DC, brush DC, voice coil or stepper

motor types at up to 340 VDC operating voltage and 30 A peak current capability.

The current loop and servo loop are closed digitally at 20 kHz, assuring the highest

level of positioning accuracy and repeatability. Digital and analog data collection

and position capturing occur at the same 20 kHz rates. Axis and process data is

quickly communicated to the motion controller for processing in real time.

Standard drive features for the iXC4e include safe torque off (STO), a data array

consisting of over 16 million 32-bit elements (67 MB), digital and analog I/O

(see table), one-axis Position Synchronized Output (PSO), dedicated home and

end-of-travel limit inputs, and an enhanced current sense device.

Encoder support includes squarewave, sine-wave and absolute encoders.

The standard iXC4e accepts square-wave encoder feedback at rates of up to 40

million counts-per-second. Sine-wave encoders can be multiplied by up to 65.536

-- producing our highest resolution position feedback -- with the optional encoder

multiplier feature. Dual-multiplied encoder feedback is supported. Each single-axis

iXC4e can be configured with the MX2 high-performance single encoder multiplier

or the MX3 high performance dual-loop encoder multiplier, enabling higher levels

of position and velocity control.

Choose from a wide variety of extensions of the base PSO functionality.

Track up to three encoders in real time with three axis PSO or extend PSO’s

functionality to kinematic arrangements with the part-speed PSO feature.

Each drive-based controller has an optional I/O expansion board, significantly

increasing the number of I/O points. This I/O board includes a dedicated PSO

output and a PSO synchronization input, which are often used to synchronize

process control with an external mode-locked frequency.

Platform Power

More than just hardware, the iXC4e gives you access to the complete power of

the Automation1 motion control platform. This includes the Automation1 motion

development kit (MDK), the intelligent software-based controller (iSMC) and the

powerful AeroScript™ programming language with integrated RS-274 G and M

code support. The Automation1 iSMC can also be programmed by various controller

APIs, providing flexible methods of integrating the iXC4e and the machine and axes

it controls into your system architecture.