Quanser Hexapod2-USB

The Quanser Hexapod2-USB is a six degrees of freedom parallel link robotic motion platform capable of moving heavy loads (up to 100 kg) at high acceleration, within a small workspace. The QUARC driver name for this card is hexapod2_usb.

• 8 single-ended analog input channels, 16-bit (all channels user customizable)
• 8 single-ended analog outputs channels, 16-bit (all channels user customizable)
• 8 single-ended encoder input channels, 24-bit (2 channels user customizable)
• 7 digital inputs
• 8 digital outputs
• 6 PWM outputs
• Integrated with MATLAB/Simulink/Simulink Coder via Quanser QUARC

To select the Quanser Hexapod2-USB HIL board, select the QUARC hexapod2_usb board type from the drop-down list on the Main tab of the HIL Initialize block.

The Quanser Hexapod2-USB I/O channels are described below.

Clocks

There are currently no configuration options for the Quanser Hexapod2-USB clocks.

Analog Inputs

The Quanser Hexapod2-USB supports eight analog inputs. The analog inputs are user configurable to interface with various sensors etc.

The range of the analog inputs may be configured as ±5V or ±10V via the HIL Initialize block's Analog Inputs tab.

Analog Outputs

The Quanser Hexapod2-USB supports eight analog outputs. The analog outputs are user configurable to interface with various actuators etc.

In order to have analog outputs set to a particular voltage when the model is loaded or unloaded, the analog outputs must be configured on the HIL Initialize block's Analog Outputs tab. Set the Analog output channels field to all the analog output channels that will be used on the board for the current diagram. For example, enter 1:3 to indicate channels 1 through 3. Specify [0, 2, 7] to indicate channels 0, 2 and 7.

Set the Analog output maximums and the Analog output minimums field to the appropriate values for the desired analog output ranges. Valid ranges are 0-5V, 0-10V, 0-10.8V, ±5V, ±10V and ±10.8V .

Digital Inputs

The Quanser Hexapod2-USB supports seven digital inputs, which are used for diagnostics. The digital inputs are enumerated in the table below.

Digital Outputs

The Quanser Hexapod2-USB supports nine digital outputs. The digital outputs are enumerated in the table below.

Encoder Inputs

The Quanser Hexapod2-USB supports eight encoder inputs (six are used by system and two are user configurable). Each channels provide a 24-bit count value. All channels only support 4X quadrature mode.

In order to set the encoder counters to a particular count when the model is loaded, the encoder inputs must be configured on the HIL Initialize block's Encoder Inputs tab. Set the Encoder input channels field to all the encoder channels that will be used on the board for the current diagram. For example, enter 0:7 to indicate channels 0 through 7 are used as encoder inputs.

The encoder inputs are sampled simultaneously when measured using a single HIL Read block.

PWM Outputs

The Quanser Hexapod2-USB supports six PWM output channels. They are used to drive the motors.

Each output channel can be programmed with a duty cycle ranging from 0 to 100% inclusive.

The PWM outputs are updated simultaneously when written using a single HIL Write block. All eight PWM outputs may be updated simultaneously by writing all six channels with a single HIL Write block.

Other Inputs

The Quanser Hexapod2-USB supports 6 other input channels.

Other input channels 14000 through 14005 are hardware velocity measurements for encoder inputs 0 through 5 respectively, in counts per second. These measurements are independent of the sample rate of the model and are unaffected by sample rate jitter. They reflect the instantaneous velocity of the encoder channel.

The fastest resolvable velocity is almost 100 million counts per second (without filtering). The slowest measurable velocity (besides zero) is approximately 6 counts per second.

The channels related to the encoders are all sampled simultaneously when measured using a single HIL Read block.

Other Outputs

The Quanser Hexapod2-USB card does not support other outputs.

Interrupts

The Quanser Hexapod2-USB card, or its driver, does not support any interrupt sources.

Watchdog

The Quanser Hexapod2-USB supports a watchdog timer for resetting the outputs on watchdog expiry. Namely, the analog, digital and PWM output channels will be reset to the user-defined values on watchdog expiry. Resetting of the outputs occurs without software intervention, and therefore may be used as a safety mechanism in the event of software failure.

To enable the watchdog, place a HIL Watchdog block in the diagram.

To configure the values to which the output channels are reset on watchdog expiry, set the corresponding fields in the Analog Outputs, Digital Outputs and PWM Outputs tabs of the HIL Initialize block.

Once the watchdog has expired, further I/O on the outputs is disabled until the watchdog state is cleared.

Use a HIL Watchdog Clear block to clear the watchdog state when the model is running. Restarting the model will also clear the watchdog state.

Board-Specific Options

The Quanser Hexapod2-USB card does not support any board-specific options.

Properties

The Quanser Hexapod2-USB driver currently supports the following read-only properties:

Targets

See Also

• Supported Quanser Cards

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