PiCPro Version 15.1-SP1 Professional Edition and MMC-Limited Edition Readme

IMPORTANT

It is important to read this document. It provides late-breaking product information such as:

• A list of new features in this release
• Tips and helpful hints on using the product
• Information so new it isn't in the documentation
• Known problems and work-arounds

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• TECHNICAL SUPPORT
• V15.1-SP1 RELEASE NOTES
• V15.1-SP1 New Features/Changes
• V15.1-SP1 Reasons To Update Your Firmware
• V15.1-SP1 Updated Technical Manuals
• V15.1 RELEASE NOTES
• V15.1 New Features/Changes
• V15.1 Reasons To Update Your Firmware
• KNOWN PROBLEMS AND WORK-AROUNDS
• SOFTWARE NOTES
• BEFORE RUNNING PiCPro V15.1

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

For technical support call G&L Motion Control at 1 800 558 4808, 1 920 921 7100, or send an e-mail to glmotion.support@danahermotion.com.

V15.1-SP1 RELEASE NOTES

V15.1-SP1 New Features/Changes

PiCPro V15.1-SP1 contains the features and changes listed below.

• Changed the max value of motor rated voltage from 460 to 480.
• Added support for 10,000 line encoders. This change is only supported for digital drives.
• Added support for new drive models. This change is only supported for digital drives.
• Added support for notch filter to the digital drive. Notch filter parameters were added to the Tuning category in the digital drive data view.
• Corrected a problem where PiCPro crashed if drive maintenance was selected while connected to an analog drive with firmware version 2.04.
• Corrected a problem where motor data status for a digital drive was not updated if a custom motor was changed.
• Corrected a problem where the view and force lists were not updated if the name of a declarations was changed in software declarations.
• Added new feedback and scaling parameters for F1 Feedback - A, F1 Feedback - B, F1 Feedback - I, F2 Feedback - A, F2 Feedback - B, F2 Feedback - I and Feedback - S1, Feedback - S2 and Feedback - S3 to the digital drive data grid view.
• Changed the name of the digital drive parameter ‘CLOSLOOP’ to ‘MMC Close Loop Request’.
• Fixed download hex crash on Windows 98/ME machines.
• Added Clear Flash – PiC90 904X.HEX to the PiC900 – PiC90 firmware directory.
• Fixed help in popup menus in both Analog and Digital Drive List Views and Data Views.
• Corrected a problem where "Update Monitored Symbols Failed." was output incorrectly while animating.
• Corrected a problem where OK_ERROR() did not work for Structured Text statements that just called a function.
• Added support for the MMCD control to the PLS and CAM_OUT functions.
• Changed MOTION.LIB to open the loop when AC power is dropped from the digital drive.
• Changed MOTION.LIB. LAD_REF with the “Ignore index/null” option no longer cancels the MEASURE function.
• Changed MOTION.LIB. Corrected READ_SV variable 89. Previously, if a negative value was read from the digital drive, READ_SV variable 89 would return a large positive value.
• Changed MOTION.LIB to correct the following problem with ASIU EPLD version R1:
  IF the control is an MMC for PC-Analog
  AND the ASIU EPLD is version R1
  AND a LAD_REF with index OR a FAST_REF with index is performed
  AND the axis does not have the most frequent servo update rate of all axes in the system
  THEN the axis may not recognize the index mark or may turn several revolutions before recognizing the index
  
• Changed MOTION.LIB. Corrected a problem in which a digital drive axis with rollover may jump when switching from velocity or torque mode to position mode.
• Corrected the following problem. When used with Ethernet Hubs, the MMCD would occasionally experience a collision sequence and shutdown.
• Corrected the following problem. When negotiating Ethernet addressing (ARP), the MMCD would occasionally leak memory, resulting in a loss of memory resource and eventual lockup.
• Corrected a display problem by setting command velocity to zero when the Digital Link is not under MMCD control.
• Changed digital drive firmware. Mode is not set to Position on startup to allow MMC to define the mode.
• Corrected calculations in the digital drive firmware that caused communication failure when gain was set to zero.
• Corrected a problem in the digital drive firmware with the ability for Endat Encoders to retain an absolute reference.
• Fixed paste value to a connected drive where either an error would be displayed or the pasted value would be overwritten with the original value right after the paste.
• Changed PiCPro Limited Edition to allow both Backup and Restore to work for Digital MMC Controls.
• Corrected a problem where the user was able to edit feedback assignment or position scaling data in the actual column when the cell was grayed. This caused PiCPro to crash.
• Corrected a problem where the user was unable to edit feedback assignment data in the file column.
• Corrected a problem in servo setup with the value of velocity limit generated by calc defaults for a digital drive.
• Corrected a problem in a paste error message where the rows description was empty. This affects Analog and Digital Data Views.
• Corrected a problem if select all was performed and then the user selected a number of cells (instead of select all), the select all flag was still set. Any operation performed on the selected cells would try to operate on all the cells of the drive. This only affects Digital Data View.
• Corrected a problem in which a paste operation could abort without any type of message to the user. If a cell is copied from a source drive and then pasted to a field in a destination drive, and that destination field (row) is invalid in the source drive because of firmware version difference, the paste would abort without any type of message to the user. This affects Analog and Digital Drive Views.
• Corrected an error message when pasting if all cells were selected with different firmware versions between drives. If a source field has no data for it, an error was generated with a value out of range. The correction makes this error work the same as if destination field has no data for it. The user is told about the firmware difference and that the cell has no data associated with it. This affects both Analog and Digital Data Views.
• Modified analog and digital drive firmware to support new IGBTs on the power module.
• Modified AKM motor data to correct values for thermal resistance, thermal capacitance and Kt.
• Corrected a problem in the digital drive firmware where the REF_DNE? output would intermittently turn off after a writesv of variable 90.
• Corrected a digital drive data view problem where control communication errors were not read correctly for nodes 6-16.
• Corrected a problem in the digital drive firmware with the scaling of the Accel Limit and Decel Limit.
• Corrected a problem in the digital drive firmware to eliminate a repetitive variation in motor velocity detection while moving at a constant velocity.
• Corrected a problem in the digital drive firmware to eliminate a possibility of unexpected motion that can occur after a fault reset is performed to correct a loss of feedback while the drive is operating with absolute reference turned on.
• Corrected a problem that caused PiCPro to crash when attempting to backup the RAMDISK of an MMC PLUS.
• Modified DDR motor data to correct Kt values.
• Corrected a problem in which the Digital Drive Status Word, READ_SV(67), was not updated when the digital drive was reporting a loss-of-feedback fault.
• Modified digital drive firmware to add the following feature. A loss of feedback no longer cancels an absolute reference.

V15.1-SP1 Reasons To Update Your Firmware

• Digital MMC Smart Drive (MMC-SD-xxx-D Digital MMC Smart Drive R0500.HEX)
• To support notch filter.
• To support for 10,000 line encoders.
• To support new drive models.
• To correct a display problem by setting command velocity to zero when the Digital Link is not under MMCD control.
• To support the following. Mode is not set to Position on startup to allow MMC to define the mode.
• To correct calculations that cause communication failure if gain is set to zero.
• To correct a problem with the ability for Endat Encoders to retain an absolute reference.
• To support new IGBTs on the power module.
• To correct a problem where the REF_DNE? output would intermittently turn off after a writesv of variable 90.
• To correct a problem with the scaling of the Accel Limit and Decel Limit.
• To eliminate a repetitive variation in motor velocity detection while moving at a constant velocity.
• To correct a possibility of unexpected motion that can occur after a fault reset is performed to correct a loss of feedback while the drive is operating with absolute reference turned on.
• To add the following feature. A loss of feedback no longer cancels an absolute reference.


• MMC-Dx Resident Control (MMC-Dx Resident Control R0503.HEX)
• To correct the following problem. When used with Ethernet Hubs, the MMCD would occasionally experience a collision sequence and shutdown.
• To correct the following problem. When negotiating Ethernet addressing (ARP), the MMCD would occasionally leak memory, resulting in a loss of memory resource and eventual lockup.


• Analog MMC Smart Drive (MMC-SD-xxx Analog MMC Smart Drive R0206.HEX)
• To support new IGBTs on the power module.

See PiCPro Online Help "Download a Hex File" to update the various firmware files.

V15.1-SP1 Updated Technical Manuals

The following Technical Manuals have been updated since PiCPro for Windows V15.1 was released. To obtain or download these Technical Manuals, please reference the G&L Motion Control, LLC website http://glcontrols.com/ie/technicalinformation/technical_info.asp.

• PiCPro Software Manual, Electronic Part No. M.1302.8702 (volume 1 of 2) and M.1302.8921 (volume 2 of 2), Version 15.1
• MMC Smart Drive and Digital MMC Control Hardware Manual, Electronic Part No. M.3000.0040, Version 2.3

The MMC Smart Drive and Digital MMC Control Hardware Manual will be updated again in June 2006. Please check the website in June for the latest manual.

Note: At this time these Technical Manuals are only available in electronic form and are not presently available in hardcopy form.

V15.1 RELEASE NOTES

V15.1 New Features/Changes

PiCPro V15.1 contains the features and changes listed below.

• Added TCP/IP support to the Digital MMC Control.
• Added digital drive support for absolute positioning and rollover. Added Define Absolute Reference and Clear Absolute Reference menu items to the Online | Drive Operations menu.
• Added WRITE_SV variable 90 to allow the ladder to perform an absolute reference on a digital drive axis.
• Added digital drive support for ENDAT feedback.
• Added digital drive support for switching between torque, velocity and position mode.
• Added the new ladder functions DPOSMODE, DVELCMD, and DTORQCMD. DPOSMODE switches the digital drive to position mode. DVELCMD switches the digital drive to velocity mode and issues a command velocity. DTORQCMD switches the digital drive to torque mode and issues a command current.
• Added digital drive support for assignable feedback functionality. Added feedback assignment parameters to the Feedback and Scaling category in the digital drive data view.
• Added digital drive support for feedforward filter. Added Position Loop Feedforward Filter to the Tuning category in the digital drive data view.
• Added digital drive support for ramp velocity to zero on controllable fault functionality. Added Ramp Velocity to Zero on Controllable Fault to the Tuning category in the digital drive data view. The following faults are considered controllable.
• Continuous Current Fault
• Drive Heatsink Temp. Fault
• Drive PM Temp. Fault
• Drive Ambient Temp. Fault
• Motor Temp. Fault
• Motor Calculated Temp. Fault
• User Set Fault
• Digital Link Communication Fault
• Separated velocity feedforward from inertia ratio in the digital drive. Acceleration Feedforward was added to the Tuning Category following Inertia Ratio.
• Added digital drive bus undervoltage fault.
• Added a drive file category to project manager. This provides you the opportunity to include both analog and digital drive files with extensions (*.adv or *.ddv).
• Added AKM and DDR motors to the motor database.
• Added READ_SV/WRITE_SV variable 88 to allow the ladder to read and write the digital drive’s position loop integral gain.
• Added READ_SV variables 91 and 92 to allow the ladder to read the number of MMCD/Digital Drive communication errors that have occurred.
• Corrected a problem with flash save of setup parameters in the analog MMC Smart Drive.
• Corrected a problem with resolver feedback fault reset/acknowledge in the analog MMC Smart Drive.
• Corrected a problem with fault 22 in the analog MMC Smart Drive where fault 22 is not set at startup if the Hall sensors from an Incremental Encoder feedback are not connected.
• Eliminated invalid intermittent faults when Incremental Encoders are aligned at the first Hall transition in the analog MMC Smart Drive.
• Corrected a problem where data in the feedback and scaling category in the drive data view is blanked when the scope is in run continuous mode and never refreshed when run continuous is stopped.
• Corrected a patching problem that caused the error message "Message sent to control is larger than allowable size." to be displayed.
• Added support for multiturn Stegmann encoders. PiCPro versions prior to V15.1 did not fully support multiturn Stegmann encoders. However, if used, the multiturn Stegmann encoder would function as a singleturn Stegmann encoder. If drive firmware is upgraded and the motor is a multiturn Stegmann encoder, the drive will detect that it is a multiturn encoder which was defined as a singleturn encoder. This will result in a feedback type mismatch fault. To work around this problem, do the following.
• Open the drive list.
• Double click on the drive with the fault to open the drive data view.
• Select a different motor and press the enter key.
• Answer yes to the displayed prompts.
• Select the correct multiturn Stegmann motor.
• Answer yes to the displayed prompts.
• The feedback type mismatch fault should no longer be active.
• Added a new option to FAST_REF and LAD_REF that establishes a null position for a digital drive axis with resolver feedback or single-turn Stegmann encoder feedback. This allows the user to omit the setup process of physically positioning the reference switch to be near the null.

V15.1 Reasons To Update Your Firmware

• Digital MMC Smart Drive (MMC-SD-xxx-D Digital MMC Smart Drive R0400.HEX)
• To support absolute positioning and rollover.
• To support ENDAT feedback.
• To support switching between torque, velocity and position mode.
• To support assignable feedback functionality.
• To support feedforward filter.
• To support velocity to zero on controllable fault functionality.
• To separate velocity feedforward from inertia ratio.
• To support the bus undervoltage fault.


• Analog MMC Smart Drive (MMC-SD-xxx Analog MMC Smart Drive R0205.HEX)
• To correct a problem with flash save of setup parameters.
• To correct a problem with resolver feedback fault reset/acknowledge.
• To correct a problem with fault 22 where fault 22 is not set at startup if the Hall sensors from an Incremental Encoder feedback are not connected.
• To eliminate invalid intermittent faults when Incremental Encoders are aligned at the first Hall transition.


• MMC-Dx Resident Control (MMC-Dx Resident Control R0502.HEX)
• To support TCP/IP.

See PiCPro Online Help "Download a Hex File" to update the various firmware files.

KNOWN PROBLEMS AND WORK-AROUNDS

• Upgrading digital drive firmware to V4.00 or analog drive firmware to V2.05 when the motor is a multiturn Stegmann

PiCPro versions prior to V15.1 did not fully support multiturn Stegmann encoders. However, if used, the multiturn Stegmann encoder would function as a singleturn Stegmann encoder. If drive firmware is upgraded and the motor is a multiturn Stegmann encoder, the drive will detect that it is a multiturn encoder which was defined as a singleturn encoder. This will result in a feedback type mismatch fault. To work around this problem, do the following.

• Open the drive list.
• Double click on the drive with the fault to open the drive data view.
• Select a different motor and press the enter key.
• Answer yes to the displayed prompts.
• Select the correct multiturn Stegmann motor.
• Answer yes to the displayed prompts.
• The feedback type mismatch fault should no longer be active.
• Storing a Constant in a Variable in Structured Text

In a Structured Text or Ladder Network, storing a constant in a variable, whose value is out of range for the data type of the variable, does not presently produce an error or warning message. Only the least significant bits of the constant equal to the number of bits in the variable data type will be stored in the variable and the most significant bits of the constant will be ignored. For example, if A is defined as an SINT and the Structured Text statement "A := 3889;" is executed, then the value 49 will be stored into A. In the future, we plan to correct this problem by issuing an error message that will prevent you from doing this.

• Saving .G&L Files From E-mail

Please be aware that if you attempt to save a compressed project file (.G&L) from within an e-mail by right-clicking and then selecting "Save As" from the popup menu, the "&" is removed from the filename extension in the Save Attachment dialog. To fix the problem, you must manually add this "&" back in. This problem has been diagnosed in Microsoft E-mail and has not been observed in other e-mail packages. To avoid this problem, save a .G&L file attachment by double-clicking on it and selecting "Save it to disk" on the Opening Mail Attachment dialog.

• Serial or Ethernet Connection Icons May Disappear

If your connection icon or IP address does not appear on the status bar, you need to display the Communication Settings dialog (Online | Comm Settings) and select OK.

• Dependencies in a Compressed Project File

To make sure that all of your project files are actually included in the compressed file,

1. Perform an Update Project tree (select this from the File menu) to list all missing source files (.LDO, .SRV, .SRC, .PRO) to the Information Window.  If you were to compress your project without these files, you won't be able to build the associated function/function blocks. Make sure that if you really need these files, they are in the locations specified in the project library paths.
2. To ensure that all required functions are found, do a rebuild all (Compile | All UDFBs found) and also compile your main .LDO. If any errors are found, correct and compile again. When all errors are resolved, now you can compress your project.

Note: Step (2) can only be done if the version of PiCPro you are running matches the version of PiCPro in the project.

• Printing Help Windows

Printing help windows that contain graphics using Windows 98 may produce unexpected results. The problem does not occur when using Windows NT 4, Windows 2000 or Windows XP.

• Changing UDFBs:

If you change the inputs and/or outputs to a UDFB that is already in your main or another UDFB ladder, you must close and reopen that main or UDFB ladder in order for the changes to appear.

• Power Save Option:

The Power save option in BIOS should not be set when using an MMC for PC as it will cause a communications error when it shuts the computer down.

SOFTWARE NOTES

• It is highly recommended that you Rebuild all UDFBs and servo setup files in your system before using version 15.1. If they aren't recompiled, there could be problems with operation. If the source files aren't available, get the source files or a new compiled library from whoever wrote the program.
• PiCPro defaults to serial communications on restarting unless you were connected to a local MMC for PC.
• Use the DOS 8.3 format naming convention for Project compressed files if you will be saving those on FMSDISK.
• Do NOT move, rename, replace, or delete PiCPro Library files (.LIB) from outside of PiCPro while PiCPro is running. If you do this, you MUST open the Libraries dialog (File | PiCPro Libraries) and click on the OK button to rescan the Library files; otherwise unpredictable results may occur. After rescanning, close and reopen all open files.

BEFORE RUNNING PiCPro V15.1

• It is helpful to have your extensions appear on your files. Ensure that Windows Explorer is setup to display three-letter extensions on all filenames. Follow these steps to do this:
  

  In Windows 98/NT:

1. Right click My Computer.
2. Choose either Open or Explore.
3. Click View | Folder Options in the window's menu bar. The Options box appears. Click on the View tab and choose "Show all files" and uncheck "Hide file extensions for known file types.".
4. Click OK. Your extensions will now appear on your files.

In Windows 2000/ME/XP:

1. Right click My Computer.
2. Choose either Open or Explore.
3. Click Tools | Folder Options in the window's menu bar. The Options box appears. Click on the View tab and uncheck "Hide file extensions for known file types". (In Windows XP uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types".)
4. Click OK. Your extensions will now appear on your files.
• After installation is completed, but before you run PiCPro, modify the properties of your virus scanning program and exclude any *.tmp files in your Windows temporary directory. For example, temporary files are usually found in \WINDOWS\TEMP or \WINNT\TEMP directory. You would add this directory to the exclude list in your virus scanning program's properties. (This prevents any confusion for the scanning program when you compile a binary file in PiCPro that might resemble virus binary sequences.)