What is the electric cam?
The electric cam is a periodic function Y = F (x) which defines the motion of a slave axis (Y axis), depending on the position of the master axis (X axis).
For each position of the master axis, the position of the slave axis is uniquely defined.
The name “cam” could refer to a mechanical system that is traditionally used to create coordination between two movements.
The use of the electric cam allows the reproduction of automatisms that, in the past, could only be obtained by means of very efficient and precise -but not very flexible- mechanical cams.
Electric cam through Ever Elettronica solutions
Any electric cam profile is created through a wizard (guided procedure) present in the E3PLC IDE easy and fast programming environment by Ever Elettronica. Once programmed, the slave axis will follow the master axis always synchronous to the defined cam profile.
The CAM_Realtime module, integrated into the E3PLC Studio IDE programming environment designed by Ever Elettronica, adds the possibility of implementing the different electric cam profiles by using a dedicated graphic window on a Windows PC (CAM_Editor) for a simple and fast definition of the desired cam.
The enabling of the CAM_Realtime module activates the management of a tabulated cam profile in the drive for stepper motors (or brushless motors); between the various tabulated points it is possible to use linear or polynomial interpolations.
Through the e3PLC Studio environment, an easy and intuitive IDE programming environment owned by Ever Elettronica, it is also possible to add all the functions necessary for the application by interacting with the CAM_Realtime module by means of dedicated objects.
It is therefore possible to swap on the fly between the various motion profiles:
- Ø Homing Mode
- Ø Position Mode
- Ø Velocity Mode
- Ø CAM Mode
The advantages of an electric cam solution compared to traditional mechanical cam systems are in the flexibility and precision of movement that can only be obtained through an electronic control.
Nowadays modern machines have to be flexible and adjustable to the production needs, quickly and easily: Ever Elettronica software and hardware solutions allow the customers to win this important challenge.