Output cam system and method

A control method implemented by a microprocessor-based control system, comprising:

• monitoring a position of a motion control axis;
• controlling a plurality of output devices responsive to the position of the motion control axis, including
• latching electronic cam elements that control the output devices, the cam elements being implemented in a memory of the microprocessor-based control system, and
• unlatching the cam elements that control the output devices;
• wherein a manner in which the latching is performed and a manner in which the unlatching is performed are configurable in a programming interface of the microprocessor-based control system;
• wherein the programming interface is capable of receiving a latch position for each of the cam elements;
• wherein the programming interface is further capable of receiving additional configuration information to separately configure the manner in which the latching is performed for each of the different cam elements;
• wherein the latching and the unlatching are performed in the manner configured in the programming interface;
• wherein the controlling comprises:
• repeatedly changing the state of a cam element that controls the output device from a first state to a second state in response to a first condition being met, the first condition being specified as a parameter of an output cam instruction of a user program, and repeatedly changing the state of the cam element from the second state to the first state in response to a second condition being met;
• and
• repeatedly changing the state of a cam element that controls the output device from a first state to a second state in response to a first condition being met, the first condition being specified as a parameter of an output cam instruction of a user program is performed during execution of the output cam instruction, and the repeatedly changing the state of the cam element from the second state to the first state in response to a second condition being met is performed during execution of an instruction other than the output cam instruction.

A control method implemented by a microprocessor-based control system, comprising:

• monitoring a position of a motion control axis;
• controlling an output device responsive to the position of the motion control axis, including
• latching an electronic cam element that controls the output device and unlatching the cam element that controls the output device, the cam element being implemented in a memory of the microprocessor-based control system, and
• implementing a state change delay compensation, the state change delay compensation compensating for an amount of time required for the output device to change state after a control signal provided to the output device changes state, including
• determining a velocity and an acceleration of the motion control axis, and
• implementing the state change delay compensation as a function of the velocity and the acceleration of the motion control axis;
• wherein the controlling comprises:
• repeatedly changing the state of a cam element that controls the output device from a first state to a second state in response to a first condition being met, the first condition being specified as a parameter of an output cam instruction of a user program, and repeatedly changing the state of the cam element from the second state to the first state in response to a second condition being met;
• and
• repeatedly changing the state of a cam element that controls the output device from a first state to a second state in response to a first condition being met, the first condition being specified as a parameter of an output cam instruction of a user program is performed during execution of the output cam instruction, and the repeatedly changing the state of the cam element from the second state to the first state in response to a second condition being met is performed during execution of an instruction other than the output cam instruction.

A control method implemented by a microprocessor-based control system, comprising:

• monitoring a position of a motion control axis;
• and
• controlling an output device responsive to the position of the motion control axis, the controlling including latching a cam element that controls the output device and unlatching the cam element that controls the output device, the cam element being implemented in a memory of the microprocessor-based control system, and the controlling further including
• configuring a manner in which the controlling is performed according to a first configuration,
• performing the controlling in accordance with the first configuration,
• configuring the manner in which the controlling is performed according to a second configuration,
• performing the controlling in accordance with the second configuration;
• wherein performing the controlling in accordance with the first configuration, configuring the manner in which the controlling is performed according to a second configuration, and performing the controlling in accordance with the second configuration are performed during movement of the motion control axis;
• and
• wherein configuring a manner in which the controlling is performed according to a first configuration and configuring the manner in which the controlling is performed according to a second configuration are performed using configuration information received by way of a programming interface of the microprocessor-based control system.

A control method implemented by a microprocessor-based control system, comprising:

• monitoring a position of a motion control axis;
• and
• controlling an output device responsive to the position of the motion control axis, including
• repeatedly changing a state of a cam element that controls the output device in response to a first state change condition being met, the cam element being implemented in a memory of the microprocessor-based control system, the first state change condition being a first condition under which the cam element changes state,
• changing from the first state change condition to a second state change condition during movement of the motion control axis, the second state change condition being a second condition under which the cam element changes state, and repeatedly changing a state of the cam element in response to the second state change condition being met;
• and
• wherein the first state change condition and the second state change condition are determined based on configuration information received by way of a programming interface of the microprocessor-based control system and
• wherein the output device has only two output states including an on state and an off state, wherein controlling the output device comprises causing the output device to alternate between the on state and the off state, and wherein whether the output device is in the on state or the off state is determined at least in part by whether the cam element is latched or unlatched.

A control method implemented by a microprocessor-based control system, comprising:

• monitoring a position of a motion control axis;
• and
• controlling an output device responsive to the position of the motion control axis, including
• repeatedly changing a state of a cam element that controls the output device in response to a first state change condition being met, the cam element being implemented in a memory of the microprocessor-based control system, the first state change condition being a first condition under which the cam element changes state,
• changing from the first state change condition to a second state change condition during movement of the motion control axis, the second state change condition being a second condition under which the cam element changes state, and
• repeatedly changing a state of the cam element in response to the second state change condition being met;
• and
• wherein the first state change condition and the second state change condition are determined based on configuration information received by way of a programming interface of the microprocessor-based control system and
• wherein the output device has two output states including an on state and an off state, wherein controlling the output device comprises causing the output device to alternate between the on state and the off state, and wherein whether the output device is in the on state or the off state is determined at least in part by whether the cam element is latched or unlatched.

A control method implemented by a microprocessor-based control system, comprising:

• monitoring a position of a motion control axis;
• controlling an output device responsive to the position of the motion control axis, including
• determining that the motion control axis is at a first predetermined position,
• latching a cam element that controls the output device responsive to the determination that the motion control axis is at the first predetermined position, the cam element is implemented in a memory of the microprocessor-based control system,
• determining that the position of the motion axis has changed by a predetermined amount, the predetermined amount being equal to a delta position value specified in a parameter of a user program, the delta position value being received by way of a programming interface of the microprocessor-based control system, and
• unlatching the cam element responsive to the determination that the motion control axis has changed by a predetermined amount, the cam element being unlatched when the motion control axis is at a second position that is approximately equal to the first predetermined position plus the delta position value
• wherein the controlling comprises:
• repeatedly changing the state of a cam element that controls the output device from a first state to a second state in response to a first condition being met, the first condition being specified as a parameter of an output cam instruction of a user program, and repeatedly changing the state of the cam element from the second state to the first state in response to a second condition being met;
• and
• repeatedly changing the state of a cam element that controls the output device from a first state to a second state in response to a first condition being met, the first condition being specified as a parameter of an output cam instruction of a user program is performed during execution of the output cam instruction, and the repeatedly changing the state of the cam element from the second state to the first state in response to a second condition being met is performed during execution of an instruction other than the output cam instruction.

A control method implemented by a microprocessor-based control system, comprising:

• monitoring a position of a motion control axis;
• controlling an output device responsive to the position of the motion control axis, including
• repeatedly changing the state of a cam element that controls the output device from a first state to a second state in response to a first condition being met, the first condition being specified as a parameter of an output cam instruction of a user program, and
• repeatedly changing the state of the cam element from the second state to the first state in response to a second condition being met;
• wherein the repeatedly changing the state of a cam element that controls the output device from a first state to a second state in response to a first condition being met, the first condition being specified as a parameter of an output cam instruction of a user program is performed during execution of the output cam instruction, and the repeatedly changing the state of the cam element from the second state to the first state in response to a second condition being met is performed during execution of a user instruction other than the output cam instruction;
• and
• wherein the user program may be displayed to a user using a programming interface of the microprocessor-based control system, wherein controlling the output device comprises latching a cam element that controls the output device and unlatching the cam element that controls the output device, the latching and unlatching of the cam element implementing the state changes of the cam element, and wherein the cam element is implemented in a memory of the microprocessor-based control system.

A control method implemented by a microprocessor-based control system, comprising:

• monitoring a position of a motion control axis;
• and controlling an output device responsive to the position of the motion control axis, the controlling step being performed in accordance with parameters specified in an output cam instruction of a user program, the output cam instruction including a parameter that configures an output behavior of the output device as pulsed;
• and
• wherein the user program may be displayed to a user using a programming interface of the microprocessor-based control system, wherein controlling the output device comprises latching a cam element that controls the output device and unlatching the cam element that controls the output device, and
• wherein the cam element is implemented in a memory of the microprocessor-based control system and
• wherein the output device has only two output states including an on state and an off state,
• wherein controlling the output device comprises causing the output device to alternate between the on state and the off state, and wherein whether the output device is in the on state or the off state is determined at least in part by whether the cam element is latched or unlatched.