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Interface Arduino with Maxon Controllers

darren_busuttil

Hi all, thank you for your kind attention.

 

My question is on how to interface an Arduino (Mega) with 2 types of motor controllers from Maxon.  The motor and controllers are the following:

 

Motor:  EC-45 FLAT 50W  -   https://www.maxonmotor.com/maxon/view/product/251601

Controller 1:  EPOS2 50/5 -  https://www.maxonmotor.com/maxon/view/product/control/Positionierung/347717

Controller 2:  ESCON 50/5 - https://www.maxonmotor.com/maxon/view/product/control/4-Q-Servokontroller/409510

 

Cubli:  http://www.idsc.ethz.ch/research-dandrea/research-projects/cubli.html

 

My degree project is to implement a one-dimensional Cubli, by which I will use the motor mentioned above and controlled by one of the controllers mentioned above.  In the original Cubli project the motor was controlled with Controller 1 and interfaced with an STM microcontroller.

 

What I want is to use an Arduino microcontroller, therefore my questions are the following:

 

  1. Controller 1 has interfaces USB, CANOpen and RS232 and I am aware of the non-compatible Logic Levels for Digital IO Pins, but can the Arduino microcontroller be interfaced with one of those interfaces?
  2. Controller 2 somehow can be used with Arduino, but I don't know essentially how to perform it right now, the only source is the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePJaqmZa0L4.  Also, this controller only has USB interface, so my question is - how can I communicate the ESCON controller with the Arduino and is it possible for this interface only using USB?  Till now I am assuming that the EC-45 FLAT motor is compatible with Controller 2, so any feedback on this aswell will also be greatly appreciate it.

 

Any required additional info needed please do not hesitate to contact me back.

 

Thank you again for your kind attention and I look forward for a reply.

 

Darren Busuttil

Darren.Busuttil.a103229@mcast.edu.mt

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    Hi Darren,

     

    Maxon have a hardware reference manual, and a command reference manual, for their controllers, downloadable from the website. This should be sufficient to determine what microcontroller or single board computer (SBC) you wish to use.

    I don't know if you're aware, but the Arduino Uno doesn't have any of the interfaces you mention. You could create a RS232 connection by using a logic level to RS232 level converter. If you wish to connect via USB then most likely the Maxon controller looks like a 'USB Device' (I didn't check the hardware manual). In that case, you need a 'USB Host' to connect it to, and typically that would exist on a more powerful microcontroller or a SBC.

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  • 0

    Hi Darren,

     

    Maxon have a hardware reference manual, and a command reference manual, for their controllers, downloadable from the website. This should be sufficient to determine what microcontroller or single board computer (SBC) you wish to use.

    I don't know if you're aware, but the Arduino Uno doesn't have any of the interfaces you mention. You could create a RS232 connection by using a logic level to RS232 level converter. If you wish to connect via USB then most likely the Maxon controller looks like a 'USB Device' (I didn't check the hardware manual). In that case, you need a 'USB Host' to connect it to, and typically that would exist on a more powerful microcontroller or a SBC.

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