Quanser Aero

The Quanser Aero is an integrated lab experiment. It is designed to help teach fundamental control concepts and theories on an easy-to-use and intuitive platform. The Quanser Aero is also suitable for advanced aerospace research applications. For more information, visit the Quanser website for the Quanser Aero.

The QUARC driver name for this card is quanser_aero_usb.

• 2 single-ended analog input channels, 12-bit, ±3A
• 4 single-ended encoder input channels, 5V
• 2 single-ended analog outputs, ±24V
• 7 digital inputs
• 2 digital outputs
• 3 other outputs to drive RGB LED panel
• Integrated with MATLAB/Simulink/Simulink Coder via Quanser QUARC

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

The Quanser Aero I/O channels are described below.

Clocks

There are currently no configuration options for the Quanser Aero clocks.

Analog Inputs

The Quanser Aero supports two analog inputs. The analog inputs measure the current to each motor in Amperes. Their maximum range is ±3A. Channel 0 is the current sense for motor 0 and channel 1 is the current sense for motor 1.

Analog Outputs

The Quanser Aero supports two analog outputs. The analog outputs drive the motor voltages. Their maximum range is ±24V. Channel 0 drives motor 0 and channel 1 drives motor 1.

Digital Inputs

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

Digital Outputs

The Quanser Aero supports two digital outputs. The digital outputs act as enables for the motor drive circuitry. Channel 0 enables motor 0 and channel 1 enables motor 1. When the output is low, the corresponding motor is disabled. When the output is high, the corresponding motor amplifier is enabled.

Encoder Inputs

The Quanser Aero supports four encoder inputs. 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 0:3 to indicate channels 0 through 3 are used as encoder inputs.

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

PWM Outputs

The Quanser Aero card does not support PWM outputs.

Other Inputs

The Quanser Aero supports ten other input channel, which are enumerated in the table below:

Other Outputs

The Quanser Aero supports three other output channels, allowing the color of the LED panel to be controlled. Note that each channel supports fractional values between 0 and 1, allowing full RGB color. Refer to the table below for a list of the channels:

Interrupts

The Quanser Aero card, or its driver, does not support any interrupt sources.

Watchdog

The Quanser Aero supports a watchdog timer for resetting the outputs on watchdog expiry. Namely, the analog, digital and other 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 Other 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 Aero card does not support any board-specific options.

Properties

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

Targets

See Also

• Supported Quanser Cards

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