Motor Movements
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A motor movement defines a point to point trajectory for a motor. The starting point is the motor's previous position and the ending point is the target position programmed here. A motor movement can be programmed in either engineering units or time units.
Target is the position where the motor will go. This number is displayed in scaled units (inches, feet, degrees, etc.). By default, Spikemark uses the current position of the motor as the target when a movement is created. You can also select a Spike from the Spikes list below. If you have a Spike selected for your position, the target box will display the name of the Spike.
Speed indicates the speed at which you want the motor to travel. This number is displayed in units per second (inches/sec, degrees/sec, etc.). You can synchronize multiple motors by programming them at the same speed, regardless of gearing and encoder differences. Valid speed values are greater than zero and no greater than the motor's max speed. Spikemark initially uses the default speed.
Acceleration indicates the rate at which the speed will increase as the motor moves. This number is displayed in units per second per second (inches/sec/sec, etc.). A higher value will cause the motor to accelerate more quickly giving the motion more snap at the beginning of the move. A lower value will cause the motor to accelerate more slowly and smoothly. Valid acceleration values range from greater than zero to no greater than the motor's max speed. Spikemark initially uses the default acceleration.
Deceleration indicates the rate at which the speed will decrease as the motor moves. This number is displayed in units per second per second (inches/sec/sec, etc.). A higher value will cause the motor to decelerate more quickly giving the motion more snap at the end of the move. A lower value will cause the motor to decelerate more slowly and smoothly. Valid deceleration values range from greater than zero to no greater than the motor's max speed. Spikemark initially uses the default deceleration.
Target is the position where the motor will go. This number is displayed in scaled units (inches, feet, degrees, etc.). By default, Spikemark uses the current position of the motor as the target when a movement is created. You can also select a Spike from the Spikes list below. If you have a Spike selected for your position, the target box will display the name of the Spike.
Total Time indicates the total number of seconds that the movement will take to complete. If you know that the motor needs to move the scenery in 10 seconds, you can enter a value of “10” and Spikemark will recalculate the Speed, Acceleration, and Deceleration values to make that happen.
Entering a Total Time that would calculate a speed faster than the motor's maximum speed will default to the motor's maximum speed.
Accel ramp time indicates the number of seconds that the motor will take to accelerate up to the programmed speed. Spikemark will automatically calculate a new acceleration value based on the time you enter.
Decel ramp time indicates the number of seconds that the motor will take to decelerate from the programmed speed to stopped. Spikemark will automatically calculate a new deceleration value based on the time you enter.
All the times are calculated based on where the motor was previously programmed to be at. If you are running out of order then the times won't be accurate.
You can perform math in all the trajectory text boxes using the equation solver to simplify your programming.
The trajectory graph shows a visual representation of the programed trajectory.
Motors max speed - the maximum speed the motor can move at.
Programmed speed - the speed the motor will move at.
Total time - the amount of time the programmed trajectory will take to complete.
Acceleration ramp time - the amount of time it will take for the motor to go from stopped to its programmed speed.
Deceleration ramp time - the amount of time it will take for the motor to go from its programmed speed to stopped.
Start of constant speed - the time at which the motor will stop accelerating.
End of constant speed - the time at which the motor will start decelerating.
When a motor has a detectable drive, that motor's current, frequency, and output voltage can be plotted against position for any of its movements. Clicking the analyze button will open the Analyze Movement Window.
Spikes are named positions that can be used as targets for movements and the Spikes list show all of the motor's Spikes.
Changes to the movement don't take effect until you either click the "Save Changes" button or press the enter key in one of the text boxes. If you don't want to update the movement you can click the "Discard Changes" button or press the esc key on the keyboard.
