Machsupport Forum

Third party software and hardware support forums. => Galil => Topic started by: Andre Barclay on December 14, 2014, 11:20:13 PM

Title: Galil DMC-2163 and Encoder Wireing
Post by: Andre Barclay on December 14, 2014, 11:20:13 PM
I started a retrofit project and quickly realized I have a serious lack of understanding about Galil controllers.  I have 4 Gecko 320 servo drives and I want to hook them up to the Galil controller but I'm unclear on the encoder hookups.  My motor encoders now go to the Geco 320s but from what I read, they need to be hooked up to the controller.  Do I daisy-chain them from the drive to the controller or do I bypass the drives and go to straight to the controller?  Maybe Gecko's are not the way to go but every other servo drive that I have seen requires encoder feedback.  What am I missing?
Title: Re: Galil DMC-2163 and Encoder Wireing
Post by: AMorris on December 16, 2014, 12:52:51 PM
Hello,
The Gecko drives are driven by step and direction signals instead of the normal +/-10vdc other amps require. You will need to configure your Galil for step motor operation to the Geckos. Hooking up the encoder signals to the Galil is not necessary. The Gecko will take the step pulses from the Galil and move the motor\encoder the same number of steps. Direction signals are only pulses internal to the drive at the start of a move sequence to determine which way the motor rotates.
The Galil works fine for driving the Gecko servo drives although if you want better low speed torque, you may want to consider stepper motors and drives or gear reduction of your servo motors.
Hope this helps,
Allen
Title: Re: Galil DMC-2163 and Encoder Wireing
Post by: Andre Barclay on December 16, 2014, 06:48:36 PM
Thanks Allen, that gets me started.  I'm still curious about what I would do if I were using ac drives that had an input for the encoders.  I'll call Galil and as them.  Thanks for your help.
Title: Re: Galil DMC-2163 and Encoder Wireing
Post by: AMorris on December 17, 2014, 08:10:37 AM
If you had an ac drive with encoder inputs, normally the drive would also have an encoder output to go to your controller. In one project I am using DMM Technology drives which use absolute encoders on the motors to drives and then the drives output incremental encoder signals which go to the Galil. Some ac and dc brushless drives use incremental encoders and Hall sensors or resolvers. The Galil can work with almost anything which will output encoder signals.