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ADWin DCS Control Box

There are two versions of the ADWin based control box, one based on the ADWin-Light16 processor and one based on the ADWin Gold processor.

Voltage Check for both versions:

DCS - 8 channel using ADwin-Light processor

Check that all connectors are firmly plugged in.

ADV-DCS - 8 or 16 channel using ADWin Gold processor

Check that all connectors are firmly plugged in.

Common HARDWARE Diagnosis MINIDYN/EMDCSS/MAXIDYN/HCA

Voltage check:

Digital Outputs

The simplest place to start diagnosing the base functionality of a GDS ADWin based Dynamic System is to use the ADWin Test v1.2 software, which is a piece of GDS debugging software, in conjunction with a good quality Multimeter to measure the Control voltages and the Digital Input and Output signal voltages.

GDS ADWin Test v1.2 allow debuggging of all of the data acquisition channel values, encoder values, VCS control Signals, Digital Outputs and Digital Inputs.

Open GDS_ADwin_Test.exe and select the relevant Tab for your Dynamic System (MINIDYN / EMDCSS / MAXIDYN/HCA).

The first place to check that the hardware is receiving the digital input signals from the control system, and is sending back the digital output signals to the control system is on the MD Intercon PCB (see photo below) inside the dynamic system. There is one of these PCB’s per dynamic axis. Therefore a MINIDYN will have one and an EMDCSS/HCA will have two. The digital outputs are the signals that are sent to the dynamic system by the control system to instruct the dynamic system to enable the motor drives and other functionality.

First check that the +5V, +12V and -12V LED lights are illuminated. If they are not all illuminated the use a Multimeter to check the voltages on the connection block on the bottom of the PCB. Place the Black probe on the 0V terminal. Then with Red probe check the +5V, +12V and -12V are giving those voltages respectively.

Next individually set each one of the Digital Outputs using GDS ADWin Test and check the corresponding signal on the MD Intercon PCB. On the appropriate Tab in the software corresponding to your hardware click on Start Process.

To test a Digital Output place the Black probe of the Multimeter on the 0V loop at the top right of the MD Intercon PCB, and place the Red probe on the relevant Digital Output number (see table below).

• Place the Red probe on the FAC Bit (Disable Forward Movement) on the MD Intercon PCB (bit 2). The voltage measured should be 0V. Now tick the Forward Disabled (Axis 1 for an EMDCSS/HCA - Axis 1 is the Vertical Axis) Digital Output in the GDS ADWin Test software (see below). The voltage measured should be 5V.

• Place the Red probe on the RAC Bit (bit 3). The voltage measured should be 0V. Now tick the Reverse Disabled Digital Output in the GDS ADWin Test software (see below). The voltage measured should be 5V.

• Place the Red probe on the Enable DIO Bit (bit 4). The voltage measured should be 0V. Now tick the Enable DIO Digital Output in the GDS ADWin Test software (see below). The voltage measured should be 5V. Before ticking Enable DIO the motor belts should be free to turn by hand. Once Enable DIO has been ticked the motor should be energised and be locked from turning by hand by the control voltage and the FAC and RAC Digital Outputs.

• If the system has a second dynamic axis (EMDCSS/HCA/MAXIDYN) then repeat this process for the MD Intercon PCB for the second dynamic axis. Note: If the second dynamic axis is the rotational of an HCA then there is too much friction in the 40:1 gearbox to turn the motor belt by hand when Enable DIO is unticked.

Digital Inputs

The the digital inputs are the signal sent by the dynamic system back to the control system to report it’s current state and if any problems/errors exist.

To test a Digital Inputs place the Black probe of the Multimeter on the 0V loop at the top right of the MD Intercon PCB, and place the Red probe on the relevant Digital Output number (see table below).

• Place the Red probe on the FWD Limit Switch Bit on the MD Intercon PCB (bit 8). The voltage measured should be 0V. Now manually press in the Forward (upper) Software Limit switch until you hear a click. If the software limit switches are not labelled, the software limit switches will be the ones that are triggered first as the piston moves towards the limit. In the GDS ADWin Test software the Forward Limit (Axis 1) indicator should come on. The voltage measured should be 5V.

• Place the Red probe on the REV Limit Switch Bit on the MD Intercon PCB (bit 9). The voltage measured should be 5V. Now manually press in the Reverse (lower) Software Limit switch until you hear a click. If the software limit switches are not labelled, the software limit switches will be the ones that are triggered first as the piston moves towards the limit. In the GDS ADWin Test software the Reverse Limit (Axis 1) indicator should come on. The voltage measured should be 0V.

• Place the Red probe on the Abort Button Pressed Bit on the MD Intercon PCB (bit 10). The voltage measured should be 0V. Now manually press in the STOP button until it locks down. In the GDS ADWin Test software the Abort (Axis 1) indicator should come on. On the MINIDYN Tab there is no Abort indicator. On this Tab both the Forward Limit and Reverse Limit indicators will come on when the STOP button is pressed. The voltage measured should be 5V.

• Place the Red probe on the Not Enabled Bit on the MD Intercon PCB (bit 14). The voltage measured should be 5V. In the GDS ADWin Test software the Not Enabled (Axis 1) indicator should be on. Now tick the Enable DIO Digital Output in the GDS ADWin Test software. You should not hear several relays clicking. Once Enable DIO has been ticked the motor should be energised and be locked from turning by hand by the control voltage. After a couple of seconds the Not Enabled (Axis 1) indicator should turn off in the GDS ADWin Test software. The voltage measured should be 0V. On the Motor Drive LED Display (see below) the red indicator should be spinning around in a circular pattern.

• Place the Red probe on the Fault Bit on the MD Intercon PCB (bit 15). Now untick the Enable DIO Digital Output in the GDS ADWin Test software. The voltage measured should be 5V. In the GDS ADWin Test software the Fault (Axis 1) indicator should be on. Now tick the Enable DIO Digital Output in the GDS ADWin Test software. Once Enable DIO has been ticked the motor should be energised and be locked from turning by hand by the control voltage. After a couple of seconds the Fault (Axis 1) indicator should turn off in the GDS ADWin Test software. The voltage measured should be 0V. On the Motor Drive LED Display (see below) the red indicator should be spinning around in a circular pattern. If there is Fault detected by the Motor Drive then the Fault indicator in the GDS ADWin Test Software will remain on. In this case the voltage measured will be 5V. On the Motor Drive LED Display you will see an error code flashing up (for example E21 - the display will show E, then 2, then 1, then repeat). Make a note of this error code and relay this information to GDS.

• If the system has a second dynamic axis (EMDCSS/HCA/MAXIDYN) then repeat this process for the MD Intercon PCB for the second dynamic axis. Note: If the second dynamic axis is the rotational of an HCA then there are no Software Limit Switches.

If any of these checks do not result in the described desired behaviour then please get in contact with GDS on support@gdsinstruments.com

VCS Output - Motor Control Signal

When the motor is in the enabled state, the motor rotational velocity is controlled by the VCS Output signal sent from the ADWin DCS Control Box. To check the VCS signal coming out of the DCS Control Box perform the following procedure.

• Switch off the Dynamic System but leave the DCS control box switched on.

• Unplug the 9 pin cable connector for Axis 1 from the Dynamic System (the bottom right connector in the example below)

• On the cable 9 pin connector attach the Red multimeter probe to Pin 1 of the cable connector (see below). Attach the Black multimeter probe to Pin 2 of the cable connector. In the ADWin Test Software ensure that the VCS Output for Axis 1 is set to 0.

• The voltage measured should be 0V.

• Set the VCS Output in the ADWin Test Software to 15000 then click on Apply. The voltage measure should be 4.59V.

• Set the VCS Output in the ADWin Test Software to 30000 then click on Apply. The voltage measured should be 9.18V.

• Set the VCS Output in the ADWin Test Software to -15000 then click on Apply. The voltage measure should be -4.59V.

• Set the VCS Output in the ADWin Test Software to -30000 then click on Apply. The voltage measured should be -9.18V.

• Set the VCS Output in the ADWin Test Software to 0 then click on Apply. The voltage measured should again be 0V.

• If the system has a second dynamic axis (EMDCSS/HCA/MAXIDYN) then repeat this process for the 9 pin cable connector for the second dynamic axis.