| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ai Technology | The patented technology used to control a DC motor with external commutation over a standard M8 4-pin connector |
| Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG | The developer of the EtherCAT protocol and the TwinCAT software. |
| ConveyLinx | Conveyor controls architecture based upon modular distributed devices connected via Ethernet network. |
| MotionLinx-Ai | A member of the ConveyLinx family running the EtherCAT industrial protocol for communication. This module uses the Ai technology to control up to two Senergy-Ai MDRs. Profnet IO, EthernetIP and ModBus TCP are not supported by MotionLinx-Ai |
| EtherCAT | An industrial protocol developed by Beckhoff Automation. Requires a special EtherCAT switch |
| Hall Effect Sensor | Special sensor embedded within the brushless DC motor of an MDR used to provide motor rotor position feedback to the motor controller |
| IP54 | The IP Code (International Protection Marking) specifies the device’s degree of resistance to intrusions, dust and water. IP54 certified device must be fully protected from splashed water, dust particles and completely protected from contact |
| LED | Light Emitting Diode – In the context of this document, LED’s are used on the ConveyLinx-Ai2 to provide visual indication of module status |
| Light / Dark Energized | Term used to describe how the signaling output circuit of a photo-sensor is configured when it detects its reflected light. A photo-sensor that is light energized will activate its output circuit when it detects its reflected light. A dark energized photo-sensor will activate its output circuit when it does not detect its reflected light |
| M8 | This is the type of a connector, which has four connector pins and is used on the ConveyLinx Ai2 modules for both sensor connectors and MDR connectors |
| MDR | Motorized Drive Roller or Motor Driven Roller – Brushless DC motor and gearbox assembly integrated into a single conveyor roller |
| Normally Open / Normally Closed | Control logic terminology to define the state of the output of a Boolean “on” or “off” device. The term specifically describes the state of the output circuit when the device’s sensing circuit is un-energized. In the context of photo-sensors; a normally open wired sensor would have its output circuit energized when it detected its reflected light and its output circuit would be de-energized when it did not detect its reflected light. Conversely a photo-sensor wired normally closed would energize its output circuit when it did not see its reflected light and it would de-energize its output circuit when it did detect its reflected light |
| NPN / PNP | Electronics term that indicates the type of transistor circuit used for a logical input or output for controllers. NPN devices will provide a common or ground connection when activated and a PNP device will provide a logic voltage connection when activated |
| Photo-sensor | A device, mounted near the end of the conveyor zone to sense the presence of a carton on the zone |
| Pulse Gear Drive (PGD) | Senergy-Ai motor and gearbox assembly with standard mounting face and universal shaft. PGD device can be used for more general purpose applications compared to MDR. |
| PLC | Programmable Logic Controller – A wide variety of industrial computing devices that control automatic equipment |
| PWM | Pulse Width Modulation – a control scheme that utilizes high speed switching transistors to efficiently deliver power in a controlled fashion from the ConveyLinx controller to MDR |
| Retro-reflective / Reflex | Term used to describe the two basic types of photo-sensors. Retro-reflective photo-sensors utilize a reflective target that must be aligned with the photo-sensor such that the light emitted by the photo-sensor is reflected back to it. ‘Reflex (or sometimes known as proximity) type photo-sensors emit light to be reflected back from an object located sufficiently close to the sensor. ‘For both types of photo-sensors, when they detect their reflected light source, their signaling output circuit changes state. |
| Senergy-Ai | PulseRoller brand proprietary motor control platform that provides electronic intelligence inside the motor that can be read by ConveyLinx-Ai Family and MotionLinx-Ai Family control modules. The connection from the motor to the controller is via 4-Pin M8 style connector |
| TwinCAT | The integrated engineering and runtime PC based programming environment created and distributed by Beckhoff. It allows the user to create hardware configuration and PLC tasks. The engineering part of the environment is PC-based and runs on almost any system. The runtime (PLC tasks) part, however runs only on 32 bit Intel CPUs or 64 bit Intel CPUs with enabled VT-X feature. For our examples we use TwinCAT3. |