Development of an open control interface for a servo machine test stand

Abstract

For noen år siden gikk USN til anskaffelse av et servomaskin testoppsett, bestående av en servomaskin med tilhørende drive koblet til en frekvensstyrt asynkronmaskin. Oppsettet er brukt til småskala lasthåndteringsdemonstrasjoner og var planlagt brukt i undervisning- og forskningssammenhenger. Servomaskinen fungerer som en brems, og etterlikner diverse laster controllert av enten et brukerpanel eller software. Softwaren viste seg å være begrenset, så målet er å utvikle et mer åpent kontrollsystem. Oppgaven analyserer komponentene i oppsettet, inkludert kommunikasjonsoppsett, og vurderer analoge I/O til den beste løsningen. Et oppsett basert på Python og Arduino blir deretter utviklet.

A few years ago, the University of South-Eastern Norway acquired a Servo Machine Test stand, consisting of an asynchronous servo machine with a corresponding drive coupled to a small frequency drive controlled asynchronous machine. The stand is used for small-scale load-handling demonstrations and was planned to be used in teaching and research settings. The servo machine is configured as a brake, mimicking various load conditions, controlled by either a physical user panel or a computer program via a USB interface. However, as the supplied software only included a narrow range of applications, the goal is to develop a more flexible control interface allowing for further simulations and control applications. The thesis analyses the test stand’s components and their restrictions, including its communication options, including CANopen, LenzeDiag and analogue I/O terminals, and considers the most viable one to be the analogue I/O terminals due to the serial ports secured access and cost. A new control interface is developed based on Python’s open-source programming software and Arduino’s open-source and accessible hardware. The new interface communicates with the test stand through its I/O terminals via developed electronic amplifiers and creates a solid base for further development towards more extensive hardware in the loop simulations.