Chapter 1 Introduction And Overview; Introduction - THORLABS BBD301 Kinesis User Manual

BBD30x Series Brushless DC Motor Controllers
Chapter 1
1.1.

Introduction

The BBD30x is a family of three Brushless DC Motor Controllers that are ideal for motion control applications demanding
high speed (100s of mm/s) and high encoder resolution (<100 nm) operation:
BBD301 Single Channel Controller
BBD302 Two Channel Controller
BBD303 Three Channel Controller
These controllers offer high-precision motion control in a wide range of applications, and in particular when used along with
our DDS series fast translation stages, where speeds of up to 300 mm/sec can be achieved. Designed using the latest digital
and analog techniques and with high-bandwidth high-power servo control circuitry, these new controllers are capable of
driving a range of rotary and linear brushless 3-phase DC motors of up to 2.5 Amp peak coil current.
It offers Thorlabs standard control and programming interface, allowing easy integration into the customer's own automated
motion control applications. These units are capable of being reprogrammed in-field, allowing the option of upgrading the
units with future firmware releases as soon as new programming interfaces (such as microscopy standard command sets)
are added.
A new feature of the controller is its Ethernet connectivity, allowing full system control at significantly greater distances than
available with USB and thus ideal for remote working environments.
Operation of the BBD30x Series Controllers is fully configurable (parameterized) with key settings (e.g. PID settings, min
and max position values, and limit switch operation) exposed through the associated graphical interface panels.
For convenience and ease of use, movement of stages and adjustment of many key parameters is possible either through
direct interaction with the front panel controls (see Chapter 4), or via a PC and virtual graphical panel (see Chapter 5).
Furthermore, all such settings and parameters are also accessible through the Kinesis programmable interfaces for
automated alignment sequences.
Using the Kinesis® software, PID control loop values can be adjusted for a particular application, minimum and maximum
position values can be entered to suit different stages as required, and limit switch configuration is accommodated through
a flexible set of limit switch logic settings. Moreover, relative and absolute moves can be initiated with move profiles set
using velocity profile parameters. Similarly, home sequences have a full set of associated parameters that can be adjusted
for a particular stage or actuator. For simplicity of operation, the Kinesis software incorporates pre-configured settings for
each of the Thorlabs stages and actuators, while still exposing all parameters individually for use with other DC motor driven
systems.
The reference section (Chapter 6) covers all operating modes and parameters in detail.
Rev D April 2022
Introduction and Overview
Figure 1 BBD303 Three Channel Brushless DC Servo Motor Controller
Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview
Page 1