Clocks Analog Inputs Analog Outputs Digital Inputs Digital Outputs Encoder Inputs PWM Outputs Other Inputs Other Outputs Interrupts Watchdog Board-Specific Options Properties Targets See Also navigation bar

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.

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.

Channel

Description

0

Amplifier 0 fault.

1

Amplifier 1 fault.

2

Motor 0 stall detected.

3

Motor 0 stall error.

4

Motor 1 stall detected.

5

Motor 1 stall error.

6

Packet checksum error.

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:

Channel

Description

3000

Gyroscope for X-axis in rad/s.

3001

Gyroscope for Y-axis in rad/s.

3002

Gyroscope for Z-axis in rad/s.

4000

Accelerometer for X-axis in m/s2.

4001

Accelerometer for Y-axis in m/s2.

4002

Accelerometer for Z-axis in m/s2.

14000

Tachometer for encoder 0 in counts/s.

14001

Tachometer for encoder 1 in counts/s.

14002

Tachometer for encoder 2 in counts/s.

14003

Tachometer for encoder 3 in counts/s.

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:

Channel

Description

Range

11000

Red component for LED color

0 to 1

11001

Green component for LED color

0 to 1

11002

Blue component for LED color

0 to 1

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:

Property

Type

Description

PROPERTY_INTEGER_VENDOR_ID

Integer

Vendor identifier associated with the hardware

PROPERTY_INTEGER_PRODUCT_ID

Integer

Product identifier associated with the hardware

PROPERTY_INTEGER_FIRMWARE_MAJOR_VERSION

Integer

Major version number of the firmware (hardware)

PROPERTY_INTEGER_FIRMWARE_MINOR_VERSION

Integer

Minor version number of the firmware (Qube interface)

PROPERTY_INTEGER_FIRMWARE_BUILD

Integer

Build number of the firmware (currently always zero)

PROPERTY_INTEGER_HARDWARE_VERSION

Integer

Revision number of the firmware (currently always zero)

PROPERTY_STRING_MANUFACTURER

String

Manufacturer of the device

PROPERTY_STRING_PRODUCT_NAME

String

Product name of the device

PROPERTY_STRING_MODEL_NAME

String

Model name of the device

PROPERTY_STRING_SERIAL_NUMBER

String

Serial number of the device

PROPERTY_STRING_FIRMWARE_VERSION

String

Firmware version of the PC interface

Targets

Target

Supported

Comments

QUARC Win32 Target

Yes

Fully supported.

QUARC Win64 Target

Yes

Fully supported.

QUARC Linux Nvidia Target

Yes*

Support for this target is in beta. If you are using it, we would appreciate any feedback.

QUARC Linux QBot Platform Target

No

Not supported.

QUARC Linux QCar 2 Target

No

Not supported.

QUARC Linux QDrone 2 Target

No

Not supported.

QUARC Linux Raspberry Pi 3 Target

Yes*

Support for this target is in beta. If you are using it, we would appreciate any feedback.

QUARC Linux Raspberry Pi 4 Target

No

Not supported.

QUARC Linux Raspberry Pi ARM64 Target

No

Not supported.

QUARC Linux RT ARMv7 Target

No

Not supported.

QUARC Linux x64 Target

No

Not supported.

QUARC Linux DuoVero Target

No

Not supported.

QUARC Linux DuoVero 2016 Target

No

Not supported.

QUARC Linux Verdex Target

No

Not supported.

QUARC QNX x86 Target

No

Not supported.

Rapid Simulation (RSIM) Target

Yes

Supported with no communication to the hardware.

Normal simulation

Yes

Supported with no communication to the hardware.

See Also

 

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