Control Technology Corporation
www.ctc-control.com
508.435.9595
25 South Street
Hopkinton , MA 01748

Press Release

New Product
FOR RELEASE on January 23, 2008
PRESS CONTACT: Beth Nicholson 508.497.0335 beth.nicholson@ctc-control.com
DATE: January 23, 2008


Model 5300 Controllers Now Support Electronic Camming
QuickBuilder™ software for Model 5300 provides high-precision, advanced motion control

HOPKINTON, MA – Control Technology Corp., a leading manufacturer of automation controllers that integrate motion control, I/O, user interfaces, and enterprise connectivity, has released a new version of QuickBuilder™ software for Control Technology's Model 5300 line of controllers. The new version of QuickBuilder supports precision electronic camming motion, enabling designers to replace mechanical cams with servo axes that provide more precise and flexible machine control. This new feature supports position-based cams as well as time-based splines on Model 5300 motion modules.

A cammed axis can be set up to follow an actual feedback source such as a master encoder, a virtual feedback source, or both. Cam tables can be generated within the QuickBuilder project, downloaded from a CAD system, or the table can be dragged and dropped into QuickBuilder directly from an Excel spreadsheet. Each axis can have up to ten tables with 2,000 point sets each. New statements allow on-the-fly table switching as well as table scaling and table iteration control. Cams can be configured for either linear, cubic, or quadratic interpolation. In the cubic and quadratic modes, the axis will automatically generate a smooth curve fit through the table point locations, resulting in smoother overall operation.

Camming is supported on the Model M3-40A and M3-40D servo motion modules for the Model 5300 controller. A firmware update is available for field upgrades of existing modules. Up to 64 axes of servo control per Model 5300 CPU are supported.

QuickBuilder's camming commands have the following features:
  • Easy spreadsheet interface
  • Graphical point editing
  • Ten tables of 2000 point pairs each
  • Irregular point spacing support
  • On-the-fly table switching
  • Independent x and/or y scaling
  • Selectable number of table iterations
  • Generate moves on top of running cams
  • CAM tables execute directly on motion module processors
Applications for QuickBuilder's camming include packaging, converting, material handling, printing, mechanical line shaft replacement, and contouring.

QuickBuilder is available now.

About Control Technology Corporation – Control Technology Corporation designs, manufactures and markets products that enable electronic automation devices to be controlled, configured or reprogrammed over the Internet and/or Intranets. CTC’s automation controllers and software are used in a wide range of industrial and commercial applications, including Web-based control, motion control, analog and digital I/O control, and remote data acquisition. CTC’s headquarters are in Hopkinton, Massachusetts with a regional technology center in Wisconsin. Founded in 1975, CTC is the leader in web enabled automation and has been awarded numerous patents in this area. More information is available at www.ctc-control.com.

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