Absolute encoders

[spoiledbrat]

My yaskawa servos have absolute encoders. The documentation says that the SEN channel transmits absolute position in ASCII format. I think it transmits the position ever 40 micro-seconds (not sure what the mu symbol means) There is documentation on the parity, stop bits, flow, etc.

I am using a Galil DMC-4080 motion controller, and running Mach 3 software.

Does anyone know what would be required to capture the position signal, and get that number imported into Mach3 upon start-up? I can write the macro to move the data around in Mach3, but I am not sure how to get it in there in the first place.

I want to do this with 4 separate servo encoder signals, to update the position on start-up. What kind of hardware would I need to handle 4 separate signals, and get them on my computer screen? Is there some kind of USB to terminal board available?

Thank you in advance.

Rob

[spoiledbrat]

The servos I have came stock with the Absolute encoders. It has a feature where the encoders can be used as either incremental, or absolute.

Does anyone know how to capture 4 channels (4 encoders)' worth of ascii text, and get it into my computer?

Thanks,

Rob