Created Date: March 16,2018

Created by: ish

Hello,

Hope you are doing well. I am a physics undergraduate student and my newest project includes writing the software that controls multiple motors through multiple drivers. I have downloaded the SureStep pro software and I can use it to control the motors as I need to. However, I was wanting to create my own application to individually control the motors by sending SCL commands to the drivers. So far I have tried to use C# and Visual Studio (to attempt to create a user friendly interface). However, I am kind of stuck since I don't have a lot of experience in this area.

I know that I can setup the motor and send SCL commands through the SureStep pro software. Is there any way that I will be able to create my own application which sets up the motor and sends SCL commands? In other words, can you point in in the right direction on how I can communicate with the driver using C#, C++ or any other language? Thank you for taking the time to read this! Any help will be much appreciated!

Sincerely,

Ish

Created Date: March 19,2018

Created by: bgirouard

I am not familiar with those programming languages, but I have done communication projects (using STP-DRV-4850 which also uses SCL commands) with Automation Direct's (AD's) PLC's, including DL06, DoMore, and Click via RS232. If you want to communicate with multiple drives with one RS232, you can use an SiNET hub from Applied Motion; they offer 4-port and 8-port versions.

One piece of advise: If you want 2-way communication (e.g. retrieve step position/general status) from the drive and decide to use one of AD's PLC's, use the DoMore. It offers full asynchronous communication for sending and receiving, and is very configurable. AD has an SCL command manual on their documentation website. If you can't find it, look on applied-motion's website, where they also offer drives with SCL commands.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum!

Created Date: March 19,2018

Created by: kewakl

I am not familiar with those programming languages, but I have done communication projects (using STP-DRV-4850 which also uses SCL commands) with Automation Direct's (AD's) PLC's, including DL06, DoMore, and Click via RS232. If you want to communicate with multiple drives with one RS232, you can use an SiNET hub from Applied Motion; they offer 4-port and 8-port versions.

One piece of advise: If you want 2-way communication (e.g. retrieve step position/general status) from the drive and decide to use one of AD's PLC's, use the DoMore. It offers full asynchronous communication for sending and receiving, and is very configurable. AD has an SCL command manual on their documentation website. If you can't find it, look on applied-motion's website, where they also offer drives with SCL commands.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum!

PAC V1.10.0.10 release notes state that it has full duplex when in ASCII/ Custom Protocol mode

Created Date: March 20,2018

Created by: ish

Thank you so much for all your advice! I actually figured out how to set up my own terminal with visual studio in c sharp with all the specified communication protocols as mentioned in the SCL manual for the drive. This includes the baud rate, parity, and stop bits etc. Even though I have established successful communication with the drive, I am not able to send it the proper commands from my terminal. This might be because I am missing something.

So when I write a command such as: FL20000 in the SCL terminal of the sure step pro software, does the string get converted into an array of ASCII decimal values which the drive understands? I tried sending the drive the commands both as text strings and in ascii values but it doesn't respond as I want it to. For example, when I send it AC10 as a string (which is supposed to set the acceleration value to 10), it moves a small amount. This has me completely stumped. If you have any suggestions it would be awesome! Thanks a lot once again!

Sincerely,

Ish