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Note
Refer to the FlexMotion Software Reference Manual for more information on
circular, helical, and spherical arcs.
Analog Feedback
Flash Memory
© National Instruments Corporation
For circular, helical, and spherical arcs, the 7344 controller embedded CPU
calculates points along the arc segment, and the DSP performs a cubic
spline algorithm that interpolates between these points. The resulting arc is
extremely smooth and accurate with none of the chordal error associated
with blended straight line segment approaches.
You can use the 7344 controller's infinite trajectory control processing to
blend any arc move into another 2D or 3D arc or 2D or 3D vector straight
line segment without stopping the axes involved.
The 7344 controller has an 8-channel multiplexed, 12-bit ADC. The
converted analog values are broadcast to both the DSP and CPU via a
dedicated internal high-speed serial bus. The multiplexer scan rate is
approximately 50 µs per enabled ADC channel. This provides the high
sampling rates required for PID feedback loop closure, joystick inputs, or
monitoring analog sensors. Four of these channels are intended for
calibration, leaving the other four available for analog feedback.
Nonvolatile memory on the 7344 controller is implemented with flash
ROM. This means that the 7344 controller can electrically erase and
reprogram its own ROM. Since all of the 7344 controller's embedded
firmware, including the RTOS and DSP code, is stored in flash memory,
you can upgrade the onboard firmware contents in the field for support and
new feature enhancement.
Flash memory also allows objects such as programs and data arrays to be
stored in non-volatile memory. It is possible to save the entire parameter
state of the controller to the flash memory. On the next power cycle, the
7344 controller automatically loads and returns the configuration to these
new saved default values.
The FPGA configuration programs are also stored in the flash ROM. Upon
power-up, the FPGAs are booted with these programs. This means that
updates to the FPGA programs can be performed in the field.
A flash memory download utility is included with the FlexMotion software
that ships with the controller.
4-5
Chapter 4
Functional Overview
7344 Hardware User Manual
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