Gantry Mode

Overview

Gantry Mode allows the user to easily configure a dual axis drive to configure it as a single “Machine Axis” where both motors are commanding motion in the same direction with a high level of synchronization.

It is similar to Electronic Gearing; however, there is no delay between the master and slave. It is an ideal operation mode for any mechanical gantry.

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• See Copy Parameters Between Axes for the process to easily copy parameters from a master axis to a slave axis for gantry operations.

Configuration

To enable Gantry Mode, set the AXIS2.CMDSOURCE to 4 (Gantry). This will cause all input, motion and operational commands to track Axis 1. Gantry Mode can only be enabled/disabled when both power stages are disabled.

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• Gantry Mode is only available for Axis 2. Axis 1 is assumed to be the master.

Limitations while in Gantry Mode

While Axis 2 is in Gantry Mode, the user cannot directly control Axis 2.

Enabling/Disabling the Amp	Axis 2 will follow the amp-enable state of Axis 1.
OpMode	Axis 2 will match the operation mode of Axis 1, even if AXIS2.OPMODE is set to something different.
Motion	Service Motion/MotionTasks and all other motion commands will fail to execute and return an error. All motion desired must be commanded on Axis 1.
Wake and Shake	Axis 2 must be equipped with a feedback that does not require wake and shake. If it is a feedback with halls and needs a one-time initialization, perform Wake and Shake before switching into Gantry Mode, save to NV Memory, and then switch Axis 2 into Gantry Mode.
HW and Software Limits	All HW and Software Limits will be honored. If any limit is tripped on Axis 1 or 2, both axes will stop together.
HomingThe Homing procedure allows, based on a position measurement, to set a position offset to the motor in order to ensure it is physically at the home position	Homing should be performed on Axis 1. Attempts to command homing on Axis 2 will fail and return with an error.