Advanced Motion Functions

Automation1 supplies advanced motion features that can change the behavior of the programmed path generated by some Motion Functions. For some features, coordinated motion is necessary while other features work with all types of moves.

Camming and Gearing Motion

Use camming and gearing motion to synchronize one or more follower axes to a leader axis. When you command motion to a leader axis, the controller moves the follower axes as a function of the motion of the leader axis.

Camming Motion uses a cam table to specify a relation between the position of the leader axis and the position or velocity of the follower axis.
Gearing Motion specifies a fixed ratio between the position of the leader axis and the position of the follower axis.

For more information, see Camming and Gearing Functions.

Coordinated Motion Features

Coordinated motion functions let you program well-defined paths in vector space. Examples of these functions include MoveLinear(), MoveCw(), and MoveCcw(). To get more functionality, use coordinated motion with the features that follow.

Corner Rounding

Use Corner Rounding to insert an arc move that is tangent to two consecutive non-tangent linear moves. As a result, the controller increases the speed of motion around corners during Velocity Blending.

For more information, see Corner Rounding Functions.

Cutter Offset Compensation

Cutter offset compensation compensates for the offsets of a cutting tool with regard to the programmed path. This is done by translating the entire programmed path in either the two-dimensional or three-dimensional plane, so you do not have to change the programmed path to adjust for tool offsets.

For more information, see Cutter Offset Compensation.

Cutter Radius Compensation

Cutter radius compensation compensates for the size of a cutting tool by causing the controller to maintain a constant offset that is perpendicular to the programmed path in a two-dimensional plane. You can use this feature to compensate for the radius of a cutting tool or the width of a laser.

For more information, see Cutter Radius Compensation.

Normalcy

You can use Normalcy motion to automatically maintain a perpendicular (normal) relation between a rotary axis and two axes in the normalcy plane that you specify. Some types of cutting tools must be perpendicular (normal) to the part that is being cut. Most of these tools mount to a rotational axis so that the orientation of the tool can change as the position of the part changes.

For more information, see Normalcy Functions.

Velocity Blending

Use Velocity Blending to blend multiple coordinated moves into one continuous motion path. When velocity blending is on, the moves in a coordinated move sequence do not start and end at zero velocity. The ending velocity of each coordinated move is matched to the starting velocity of the next move. Thus, the controller blends these moves together into one profile.

For more information, see Velocity Blending Functions.

Lookahead

For some advanced motion features, the controller must precalculate the moves and speeds in an operation known as Lookahead. When lookahead is active, the current line of the program does not always correspond to the program line that commands the motion. This means that when the controller executes motion on one program line, it also looks ahead by executing subsequent lines in the program. From those subsequent program lines, the controller can collect information about future moves.

The advanced motion features that follow cause lookahead to become active:

Corner Rounding
Cutter Offset Compensation
Cutter Radius Compensation
Velocity Blending

There are some operations through which the controller cannot look ahead. These operations cause motion to decelerate to zero velocity. For more information about lookahead synchronization and slowdown behavior, see Lookahead Synchronization.

Transformations

Use transformations to apply one or more geometric and kinematic transformations to the position and velocities specified in a programmed move. You can use AeroScript to apply rotation, mirror, and translation transformations, or you can use custom C code to supply your own transformations.

For more information, see Transformation Functions.