Created Date: October 11,2017

Created by: Niese

Good Evening Everyone,

These are probably going to be pretty basic questions so please bear with me, but I am trying to spec out the proper equipment to control a linear actuator with built in potentiometer. I currently have a productivity 2000 plc, power supply and random input/output cards that I am currently using. I am thinking about toying around with a electric motor to control some functions on my project and have some questions for you. The linear actuator I want to buy is in the link below (as a side note I need to control this to hit 13 different positions, one after another. Accuracy is not a huge concern for this application);

https://www.progressiveautomations.com/linear-actuator-with-potentiometer

Basically I want to control to 13 different positions using the potentiometer it has built in (I have attached a sheet with more info for the potentiometer). So my questions for you are;

1: Should I buy a drive to control this? The drive I am thinking about is in the link below;

https://cdn.automationdirect.com/static/manuals/ihdcdrivem/gsd1-48-um.pdf

Im not sure if the drive takes input from the pot and then controls the motor. I think I need to buy a signal conditioner to take in the pot feed back and then the plc tells the drive what to do. the signal conditioner I am looking at is below;

https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/Shopping/Catalog/Process_Control_-a-_Measurement/Signal_Conditioners/DC_Voltage,_Current_or_Potentiometer_Input/FC-P3

Maybe I am thinking about this all wrong, I figured I would ask you all before I bought everything. I was just going to just plug it in and start toying around with it and if I can get it to work then well that would be something. Thanks for your help everyone.

Niese

Created Date: October 11,2017

Created by: Adisharr

You might be able to get fairly good control w/o a drive. These types of linear actuators usually have fairly repeatable accel /decel rates so with a bit of experimentation you could probably get pretty close to your target position. You could always add a drive after if needed.

The drive listed can accept an analog signal (see page 8, note on top) w/o an add-on card. You could also use a few relays with fixed resistors to select between two or three speeds. That would get you right on target. You would just have to create some speed zones to switch between as you came closer to your target position.

Created Date: October 11,2017

Created by: Niese

ok, so if I do not use a drive it is my understanding that I will need the signal conditioner so my plc can recognize the feedback from the pot? And vise versa if I use a drive can the drive recognize feed back from the pot? I agree with you and will probably end trying it without the drive and then add it later if needed. I just want to make that the other equipment I tried spec 'ing out is indeed the correct hardware for what i am trying to achieve and also that this is possible. FYI I have zero experience in this I am a mechanical engineer trying to learn in a sparky world.

Thanks,

Niese