Electrocraft BRU-200 Drive questions

[Verboten]

Hello!

I have an Electro-Craft BRU-200 brushless servo drive.

http://www.ab.com/motion/ec/0013-1028-001-B.pdf

Basically, I would like to know if I'll be able to use this drive at home with a PC and not have to buy anything too expensive to get it working. It was cheap and I have a matching motor for it - it would be nice to get them running if possible.

The pin information is on pages 24 and 25 of the pdf.

I'm thinking that it does not take step and direction commands, right?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

[Al_The_Man]

Hi, My Electro-craft manual shows the command source to be a choice of +/-10v, Step/Direction, Master encoder input, 8 presets, or RS-232/485 commands.
It looks like you would need the windows based s/w for setup etc.
This allows you to configure, tune, set up I/O, Diagnostics etc.
The last I heard they were bought out by Rockwell Automation (Allen-Bradley).
Al

[Verboten]

Thanks for the reply Al - It gave me some hope that I may get this thing running.

I think I am getting confused because this thing has so many options that don't need.

I looked at the minimum required connections for the drive (on pages 25-28 of the link above) and that appears to be how the drive was originally set up (the cut cable ends are still connected to the drive and motor). I believe this is how I'll want it also.

The motor and the encoder should be easy to reconnect. I think the following pins are the +- 10 V step/direction connections.

---
P1-1 Enable+ (red wire attatched)
P1-2 Enable- (black wire attatched)
Connecting these two pins together enables the DM (drive module?), otherwise, the DM is disabled.

P1-3 VCS+ (green wire attatched)
P1-4 VCS- (cable shield attatched)
+-10 VDC input command signal range with 13.3 K Ohms impedence. Absolute max signal range is +- 12 VDC. + voltage applied to P1-4 with respect to P1-3 results in CW motor shaft rotation facing drive end of motor.
---

Could someone tell me how these pins relate to step and direction (or if they do)?

Could they be activated using the parallel port and an isolation board to change the signal to 10 V?

[Al_The_Man]

It looks as though P1-3 P1-4 are the input regardless of the type of command, it also appears that the type of command is configurable through the interface program, do you have the program? If so I would suggest running it and see what can be set up. It looks like you will need it in any event.
You might be able to find a 1-800 number on the web to call, I found in the past Rockwell are very difficult to contact for support.
Al

[Verboten]

I don't have any special software for the drive. It would be nice if I did.

However, I did notice that in the Drive Module Adjustments section (5.2.2) of the manual that this drive has a "Personality Module" (a special chip) that should make all of the adjustments to the drive to match it with the motor. Thank goodness they match.

I think that if I could understand the purpose of those four pins (P1-1...4) that I would be better able to know whether or not I can use it (or test it). Here is what I think I understand so far:

P1-1 and P1-2 are kind of like the on/off switch for the drive - connect them together to turn it on. Right?

This is the part that I'm far less sure about:
P1-3 and P1-4 control both the step and direction. So then to step the motor clockwise send a pulse with P1-3 being + and P1-4 -. To step counter-clockwise send a pulse with P1-3 - and P1-4 +. Right?

***I had thought that P1-4 was connected to the shield of the cable but it is actually a clear coated wire within the cable.

Thanks again for your help!

[Al_The_Man]

Jason, It looks like P1-1 &P1-2 are the enable and have to be connected to run, This I believe will show a green light on the front when ready. The manual is not very clear about the Step/dir command, but in my manual it shows a picture of the setup screens in the setup s/w and it shows one with a choice of input command selection.
Analog
Preset
Master Encoder
Step/dir
Step up/Step down
These are then stored in the personality module ram.
So I would think that you would need the s/w if you have to change it from a previous configuration.
It is quite likely that it was used in the analog mode(+-10vdc)
The manual is not very clear on how you would hook it up in the step/dir mode.
Do you have an Allen-Bradley office near you? we have one that is very helpfull for these kind of problems.
To check if it is analog input hook it up and put a varying dc voltage (max 10v) into P1-3 P1-4 it should run.
Al

[Verboten]

The nearest AB distributor is about 300 miles away. I travel that way a few times a year and may have to stop by next time.

Info about the software seems pretty sparse in the online manual - I'm going crazy skipping back and forth through it.

Here's what I think I've learned - The software seems to be in the drive module - can this be correct? The drive can interface RS-232 with a Tandy 102 computer (pretty ancient) or RS-422 (Is this the same as 435?) with a VT-52 compatible serial terminal. I think that I can get a VT-52 emulator for the PC.

I'm going to get or make some cables to hook this thing up and try to put in the variable DC like you suggested. If that works I'll probably be jumping for joy - at least I'd be able to use this setup for something.

You just might be "the man!" Thanks again!

[PittsburghMick]

Hi,
I need the serial RS485 communicaiotns protocol for ElectroCraft DDM digital servo drive - do you have a programming manual?

thanks,

Mick

[unterhaus]

Al, it seems to me that you are talking about the more recent BRU drives. The BRU 200 and 500 had built in configuration software that you used a terminal program to access. Their recommended terminal is a Tandy 100, wonder if mine still works? I've never seen any reference to step/direction with these drives. Anyone that can tell me how to use it, I would very much appreciate it.

The personality module on these was a Dallas battery backed ram. The manual mentions EEPROM, but I've only seen the Dallas chips or eproms.

[tananvinh]

Would someone help me find a program call EC COMM which help to interface the BRU drive with the servo motor? Someone from Ebay gave me a AB link but I now forgot. My old downloaded file was lost. Thanks

[tananvinh]

Have you have any good news talking to the drive? I am having the same problem here.



QUOTE=Verboten;21283]The nearest AB distributor is about 300 miles away. I travel that way a few times a year and may have to stop by next time.

Info about the software seems pretty sparse in the online manual - I'm going crazy skipping back and forth through it.

Here's what I think I've learned - The software seems to be in the drive module - can this be correct? The drive can interface RS-232 with a Tandy 102 computer (pretty ancient) or RS-422 (Is this the same as 435?) with a VT-52 compatible serial terminal. I think that I can get a VT-52 emulator for the PC.

I'm going to get or make some cables to hook this thing up and try to put in the variable DC like you suggested. If that works I'll probably be jumping for joy - at least I'd be able to use this setup for something.

You just might be "the man!" Thanks again![/QUOTE]

[bborb]

I've used hyperterminal (rs232) and you simply type a command and the drive answers.