Productivity AMC: Axis Motion Controller Features In-Depth from AutomationDirect

The Productivity AMC from AutomationDirect makes it super easy to add remote motion because the bulk of the configuration and operation is taken care for you with its simplified motion instructions. These motion controllers come in 1 to 4 axis modules and connect seamlessly over the remote I/O network on any remote I/O capable Productivity CPUs. And since the units can be auto-discovered over with the remote I/O network you can find all of your motion controllers with a single button press! There is a video on this setup and a link to it can be found in the description below. When connecting these units to your Productivity PLC, you can have up to 4 modules for either the P3000 or the P2000 for a possibility of up to 16 axes of motion on these PLCs. With the P1000 you can connect 1 module. Which means, you can now have your motion controllers right where the action is which saves you all the headaches and money required to run all the wires back to the main controller! The Productivity AMC can be din- rail or panel mounted and connects to your Productivity PLCs via the remote I/O network across this ethernet port. Each unit can be individually addressed using these dials. The wiring is split into separate terminal blocks based upon the axis. Each axis has 2 terminal blocks - 1 for the encoder and 1 for the axis control. The encoder input is a quadrature line receiver at 5VDC with a max switching frequency of 1 MHz. The axis terminal block includes the step and direction output with a max switching frequency of 1 MHz. This step and direction provide the control to your motor controller. There are various inputs and outputs to support your axis operation. For me this is where this device really is a huge advantage. Setting up the AMC in your PLC project and then programming your motion application. The axis configuration of your device is all handled in the hardware configuration, placing all the aspects of your axis in one place. A video on the axis configuration can be found in the description below. The instructions for the motion could not be easier for the AMC. You have simple single instructions for common motion applications like these. Let’s take rotary table for instance. This could not be easier. You just define the axis on your AMC unit, the number of stations of your rotary table, enter in your speed settings or even better use a structure to create tags that will hold all of these values. And then just load this to your PLC. They really did a great job simplifying this setup. If there is one takeaway you should have when reviewing the AMC is they designed this unit to make motion more practical and less of a learning curve for both the professional and the first-time motion programmer. If you have any questions on this product please feel free to comment below, or call into our Free technical support department. Click here to see more videos on the Productivity AMC and click here to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more products and solutions.