Kollmorgen AKD with LabVIEW?

[Ano Ano]

Hello,

I have to set up a system that uses the following Kollmorgen components:

Servomotor AKM24D-ANBNR-00
Drive AKD-P00306-NBCC-E000

I am interested in creating with LabVIEW an application to control the motor by sending a speed profile. I read that NI has teamed up with Kollmorgen and created a series of hardware (such as the NI-9514 cDAQ) that are used in conjunction with cRIO hardware & the RT/FPGA software (http://www.ni.com/pdf/manuals/375516c.pdf).

Unfortunately this is a very expensive option, and I thought that there must be a solution just using a PC and a cheap cDAQ or serial/modbus/ethernet communication method. Are there any suggestions on how to do this? Anyone with experience on the Kollmorgen hardware? Is it going to be difficult & time consuming?

 

Thank you in advance

[Tim_S]

If you look at the drive specs, there are different communication options.

[Jordan Kuehn]

We have developed a Modbus based control system for a Kollmorgen drive for a customer.  It works well and uses ethernet connectivity.   I would suggest investigating that to see if it meets your needs based on timing requirements and the control variables that are exposed in the modbus registers. 

Edited August 23, 2016 by Jordan Kuehn

[Ano Ano]

Thank you for your reply!

Yes the Ethernet/Modbus seems to be a good solution. I dont support there a code snippet to share to test that I can connect properly?

I never programmed Modbus so I could use all the help possible

 

[Jordan Kuehn]

With minimal modbus experience you should realize that you will need to both configure the Kolmorgen drive to expose and react to the data in the modbus registers and program the LabVIEW code to interact with the drive.  Additionally, you are best off using the built in modbus tools in LabVIEW now that require the DSC Module or the RT Module.  

That said, you can probably accomplish what you need using a low level API that is not officially supported.  This will take more work and understanding of the modbus protocol, but is cheaper if you don't have either of those modules.

Finally, take into consideration that it is not a very fast protocol and will perform more slowly the more registers you need to access.

Edited August 31, 2016 by Jordan Kuehn

[Ano Ano]

Hello,

The only code that works to communicate with the drive is attached. I can read the "588" parameter and get the position of a Kollmorgen motor (AKM13C-AKCNGD00). I went through the parameter list and they have 1760 instructions but I have no idea which one can make it move (write). I keep getting errors. Any suggestions?

[kanchi101]

You got solution?if so pls share

[Ano Ano]

Dear kanchi101,

I did not find a solution via Modbus. I ended setting motion tasks via the Kollmorgen workbench software and controlled these via sending a set of boolean logic signals. These signals can be registered on the Digital I/O section of the Kollmorgen Workbench software. I also read the position of the motor via the analogue out of the drive.

If you need more info let me know