TCP/IP-compatible drives simplify crane simulator

A three-axis motion platform, based on Baldor Electric Company’s ethernet-compatible drives, is helping to further increase the realism of crane training experience by physically moving a simulator system’s replica operator cabin in synchrony with computer-generated images. The specialist machine manufacturer Electropneumatics & Hydraulics developed the motion platform for the training solutions and services supplier Applied Research International (ARI).

When ARI decided to add an optional motion platform to its line of crane simulators, it approached Electropneumatics & Hydraulics for assistance. This company, with headquarters and manufacturing facility at Chakan, near Pune, has acquired a reputation for its electromechanical machine design and manufacturing capabilities since its founding in 1972. Electropneumatics & Hydraulics specialises in the production of metal forming equipment, such as hydraulic presses and tube-bending machines, and also designs and builds special-purpose machinery including different levels of automation with total indigenous content and capability.

Electropneumatics & Hydraulics chose to base the motion platform for the crane simulator on Baldor’s Powerlink- and ethernet-compatible drives and servomotors. According to the company’s Technical Director, Ashley Rasquinha, “Baldor’s MicroFlex e100 AC servo drives are very cost effective for this type of application because they can be controlled via TCP/IP direct from the simulator’s host PC, without the need for additional hardware.”

The 3-axis motion platform provides X, Y and Z movement of the replica operator cabin, synchronised to the computer-generated images being presented to the trainee. Since it is designed to emulate the movement of a real-life gantry crane very accurately, the platform’s drive axes are only required to handle relatively simple motion control tasks such as point-to-point moves and homing sequences and do not require interpolation. As a consequence, the MicroFlex e100 servo drives can be used in their basic ethernet mode, without any additional complexity of real-time control.

Each axis is driven by a Baldor BSM 3-phase servomotor equipped with an incremental encoder for position and velocity feedback, controlled by a dedicated MicroFlex e100 servo drive. All three drives are housed in a separate floor-standing control cabinet and are connected via a D-Link 10/100 Mbps ethernet switch to the simulator’s host PC.

Ashley Rasquinha also points out that Baldor’s ActiveX development tools for its Mint motion control language helped to minimise programming effort. “The tools hide the complexity of ethernet messages and provide a simple interface to all the Mint programming commands and functions. In conjunction with the libraries of routines that Baldor provides, these made it very easy for us to create and validate all the motion-control sequences. During the development of the motion platform, we also received excellent support from Baldor Electric India, which happens to be based near our manufacturing facility.”

ARI’s crane simulators are proving to be extremely popular with maritime organisations worldwide and Electropneumatics & Hydraulics has already delivered 15 motion platforms to the company, for real customers wishing to embrace the virtual world.