Operation

This device has various modes of operation. The Main Menu is used to select the desired mode. When connecting an encoder to the TI-5000JX, go to the Main Menu and switch off the power (using the slide switch, SW1, on the side of the TI-5000JX). Make the connection to the encoder, and switch the power back on.

Testing for various encoders follows 3 easy steps.

1. Using the Select Feedback button, select the correct encoder type from the various encoder selections supported by the TI-5000JX.
2. Click on the Data Display test button to determine whether the encoder is providing any data output at all, determine whether the count is changing by approximately the correct amount as indicated by the feedback selection, and determine for serial encoders whether any error bits are in the alarm state.
3. For serial encoders, proceed to the Serial Count Test to more accurately determine whether the correct number of counts per revolution is occurring. For quadrature pulse encoders, the Line Level Test, Incremental Count Test, and Phase Angle Test may be performed for further confirmation.

The following sections will provide more detailed information as to how to test various feedback types including incremental encoders, serial encoders, and resolvers.

1. SW1 Power switch. O=OFF, I=ON
2. Wall Mount Power Supply, 9 VDC (1A)
3. J1   – Incremental and Serial encoder signals
4. J2   – Incremental and Serial auxiliary signals
5. J9   – USB
6. J6   – RS232 Serial
7. J12 – Resolver signals

BASIC OPERATION

The TI-5000JX operation is controlled by test and setup buttons on the Athena windows operator interface display. The tests are selected via the test buttons across the top of the display. The device to be tested and various testing options are selected via the Select Feedback button. Setup options for Athena may be accessed via the System Setup Menu at the top of the screen. Various other buttons are available for test control, reporting, information, etc. during the course of the various tests.

 

HELP

The Help Menu will provide general help for the particular test currently selected. Tool Tip Text Help is available on any display by using the PC mouse to move the pointer over the button or data box in question. After a short delay, the text will appear near the pointer describing the use of the particular Windows control (button, text box, etc.) of interest. This is a very quick way to get help without having to go to the main help or the manual.

 

MENUS

The menus are selectable at the very top of the screen. The currently available menus are Test and Motor Repair, System Setup, and Help. These will be described below.

 

TEST AND MOTOR REPAIR MENU

This menu allows selection of the Data Display, Line Levels, Count Test, Continuous Count Test, Phase Test, and Memory Test. Each of these functions is also accessible by the buttons of the same name. Since the buttons will be the more common method of accessing these functions, they will be discussed below with the appropriate buttons.

 

SYSTEM SETUP MENU

This menu shows you the current setup for your TI-5000JX system, and allows you to make certain system selections. The window is organized in 3 tabs: System/Data, User Options, and Download TI-5000JX Software).

 

SYSTEM DATA TAB

The System Data Tab allows you to see the current software version numbers and dates in the Software versions frame, identify (and change if desired) the currently selected COM port in the Serial Ports frame, and identify the currently licensed software options for your system in the Currently Licensed Options frame.

The Software Versions frame shows the serial number for your TI-5000JX unit. You will need to know this number when purchasing software upgrades because the application software will run correctly only on the correctly serial numbered unit. This serial number is read from the TI-5000JX unit, so you will need to have the RS232/USB cable connected and the unit powered up in order for this data to display correctly. The Athena version number and date refer to the Athena program that is currently installed on your PC and that you are using at the time you read this data. The TI-5000JX Flash version number and date refer to the application program that is running inside your TI-5000JX unit. You will need to download a new program to your TI-5000JX when you receive a program update or when you purchase a program upgrade to add new support options to your system. The Boot Flash and Resolver programs are system programs running inside your TI-5000JX unit. If these programs need to be updated, you will need to return your unit to the factory.

The PC COM port to be used to communicate with the TI-5000JX tester hardware is selectable from COM1 through COM16 via the Select COM dropdown menu. This selection includes real COM ports and virtual COM ports supported via the USB port. Normally a real COM port will be mapped in as COM1 or COM2. Virtual COM ports will often start at COM4. You will likely need to use the Windows Device Manager to see which COM Ports are available to the Athena program. You must select one of the COM ports that is shown in the device manager, and that port cannot be in use by any other programs. For Windows 10 and above, Athena denotes COM ports that are available with and asterisk ‘*’. You should try selecting one of these COM ports first because they are most likely to be correct. Also note that, if you are using USB, the USB cable must be plugged into the TI-5000JX and the USB drivers already installed in order for the USB COM ports to show up with as asterisk.

 

USER OPTIONS TAB

This allows a short text file to be created that will show up in reports. 

 

DOWNLOAD TI-5000JX SOFTWARE TAB

This menu allows downloading a new TI-5000JX Flash application file. See Section 1.3 for details

 

HELP MENU

The Help Menu provides selections: Help and About. The About selection provides support information for the program.

The View Manual selection allows you to view the PDF version of the TI-5000JX manual providing that a copy is residing in your TI-5000 folder (or wherever your Athena is installed) and Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed on your PC. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, it can be downloaded via the internet from http://www.adobe.com .

The View Cables selection allows you to view the PDF cable sheets for the cables supplied by Mitchell Electronics, Inc. from a CablePDF folder residing in your TI-5000 folder (or wherever your Athena is installed). An Adobe Acrobat Reader must be installed on your PC. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, it can be downloaded via the internet from http://www.adobe.com

The Help selections will display Help files to help you use the Athena system.

Tool Tip Help Text is now available for most button and data box controls. Even though this is not part of the Help Menu, it is a very good way to get help with the Athena program. Just move the mouse pointer over the button or data box of interest. After a .5 second delay, help text should appear on the screen near the mouse pointer. After 5 or 6 seconds it will disappear. If you are not finished reading it, move the pointer away from the button or text box and then back to it, and the help text will reappear.

 

TEST BUTTONS

The Test buttons are located just below the menus. These buttons allow execution of the various tests: Data Display, Line Levels, Count Test, Continuous Count Test, Phase Test, and Memory Test. Depending on the feedback selections only some of these buttons will be available. Buttons which are not applicable to a particular selected feedback device will be disabled.

The Exit to Windows button is not a test but is included with this group. It allows you to shut down the
Athena program and return to the Windows operating system.

 

DATA DISPLAY BUTTON

Data Display is selected to read an encoder signal and display the count, commutation states and other information. The details for the Data Display vary with the particular encoder, so read the section that applies to the particular encoder or family of encoders for details.

 

LINE LEVELS BUTTON

Line Level Check provides for measuring the proper incremental encoder output voltages over a 0 to 14.9
volt range.

Warning: Voltages above15.0 VDC may damage the TI-5000JX input circuitry Measurement of serial encoder outputs is not implemented at this time. See the section on incremental encoders for further details.

 

COUNT TEST BUTTON

The Count Test will verify that the encoder is incrementing the correct number of counts per revolution while turning the encoder slowly by hand. This test is the only count test implemented for serial encoders. Refer to the section on a particular encoder or family of encoders for further details.

 

CONTINUOUS COUNT TEST BUTTON

The Continuous Count Test will verify that the incremental encoder is incrementing the correct number of counts per revolution for a large number of turns and may be conducted at high speeds. The Continuous Count Test is available only for incremental encoders. It lets the operator ensure that the correct number of counts occur from one index pulse to the next. This test may be run continuously without operator interaction to check for an accumulated error. Refer to the section on incremental encoders for more detail.

 

PHASE TEST BUTTON

The Phase Test is only available for incremental encoders. This test will measure and display the phase angle from the rising edge of A to the rising edge of B. It will also measure A and B symmetry angles from the rising edge to falling edge of a particular pulse (A or B respectively). See Section 3.2.1 for more discussion on this topic.

 

MEMORY TEST BUTTON

The Memory Test is only used with certain serial encoders which include memory in the encoder and which are currently supported by the system. Memory Test software licensing will be required to conduct memory tests on these encoders.

 

MISCELLANEOUS BUTTONS

Depending on the Test that is currently selected using the test buttons, just described, various other buttons will appear on the current test screen. These buttons are discussed in the following sections. Please note that all the buttons discussed may not appear in all of the test screens.

 

SELECT FEEDBACK BUTTON

The Select Feedback button allows selection of feedback manufacturer and type along with setting up various parameters that may apply to the various types of feedback that you will be testing. The selection window can be accessed by pressing the Select Feedback button. This button is available from within most tests, and the various selections available on this window are discussed below.

 

ENCODER/RESOLVER RADIO BUTTONS

The Select Feedback Window includes a Select Encoder frame and a Select Resolver frame. Each of these frames includes a radio button that determines whether an encoder or resolver is to be selected for testing.

Note that the radio buttons are shaded pale blue indicating that they are a Windows control that allows a
user selection entry.

If the Encoder Feedback radio button is selected, the various selections options for encoder feedback, such as manufacturer and type, are enabled and available to the user. If the Resolver Feedback radio button is selected, no further setup is done in the setup window. Additional setup will be done in the Data Display test window. The Data Display is the only test available for resolvers.

 

ENCODER MANUFACTURER MENU

The first step in encoder feedback selection is to select the encoder manufacturer. This is done using the Encoder Manufacturer dropdown menu. Note that this menu is shaded pale blue to indicate that it is a control that allows user selection entry. Incremental and parallel absolute encoders are so similar regardless of manufacturer, that it generally is not helpful to specify a manufacturer. Instead these types of encoders are selected as a generic type: Generic Incremental Encoder or Generic Parallel Absolute Encoder in the dropdown menu for the manufacturer.

The properties of serial encoders are very specific to different manufacturers, so it is necessary to select a particular manufacturer when serial encoders are in use. The menu lists all manufacturers supported by the current software revision so that the user can easily determine which manufacturers are currently supported. However, even though a manufacturer appears in the list, that manufacturer is supported on a given unit only if the unit is licensed for that manufacturer. That can be determined from the System Setup menu. If a manufacturer is not licensed, a message box will pop up during the selection warning that the support license must be purchased before the selection will be available.

 

ENCODER TYPE MENU

When the encoder manufacturer selection has been made, the encoder type can then be selected using the Encoder Type dropdown menu. The contents of this menu are completely dependent upon the encoder manufacturer that has been selected.

If the manufacturer selection is Generic Incremental Encoder, the type will default to AB Quadrature and the Type control will be disabled since there is currently no other valid choice. If the selection is Generic Parallel Absolute, the Encoder Type Menu defaults to the one and only selection of 10 Bits Various Formats.

For encoder manufacturer name selection (such as Fanuc, Mitsubishi, etc.), the Encoder Type menu will contain the various types of serial encoders that are supported for the selected manufacturer. The user must select the encoder type corresponding to the particular encoder that he wishes to test.

 

MOTOR MANUFACTURER (MEMORY) MENU

Modern serial encoders are increasingly making use of memory. The encoder memory is typically used to store motor parameters and sometimes even commutation information. This information may be read from the encoder by the drive when the drive powers up so that the drive knows exactly what kind of motor is connected to it.

Since this information is essential to the drive, this information must be intact and readable for the motor to function properly on the drive. The TI-5000JX support is being expanded to support checkout of this memory data to the greatest extent possible. If motor alignment data is included in the memory, this data is translated into static alignment lockup angles when possible.

The details of the memory storage vary greatly from one motor manufacturer to the next. Even though two manufacturers may be using the same Stegmann Hiperface or Heidenhain Endat encoder, the way data is stored in the memory will generally be completely different. Therefore the Memory selection is based on Motor Manufacturer rather than encoder type. Manufacturers who use a particular brand of encoder will be shown when that encoder has been selected. This selection will be disabled for encoders that do not include memory.

 

COUNTS PER REVOLUTION BUTTON

The Counts Per Revolution button is disabled for all serial encoders. Serial encoders automatically select the correct counts per revolution when the type is selected.

The button will be enabled for Generic Incremental Encoder selection. The user should enter the number of counts per revolution expected from the encoder under test. This will be four times the number of pulses per revolutions (PPR) or number of lines per revolution. If you do not know the correct number to enter, either use your best guess or let it default to a selection. When you run a Count Test, the correct number will be determined by the test and can be entered at that time. Any number below 10,000,000 will be accepted by the software. However, the correct number will be evenly divisible by 4 since the counts per revolution value is always 4 times the number of pulses per revolution.

The number of counts per revolution must be correct in order for the Mechanical Angle and Electrical Angle in the Data Display test to display correctly. 

 

DISPLAY PINOUT BUTTON

The Display Pinout button is available from all tests, and it will bring up a window containing the J1 and J2
terminal block pin designations for quick reference.

 

SAVE REPORT TO FILE BUTTON

The Save Report to File button is available from all tests, and it will allow saving a report of the current test results to a disk file. It will bring up a window that allows a comment line to be specified for the report. If no comment is desired, simply click the OK button on the window. After the comment window, a file selection window will appear in which the filename and path may be specified for the report file. The report will then be saved to the specified file.

 

PRINT REPORT BUTTON

The Print Report button is available from all tests, and it will allow a report for the current test to be sent
directly to a printer for printing rather than storing on a disk file.

 

POLES MENU

The Poles Menu is selectable in the Data Display test. This control allows you to change the number of poles for the motor associated with the selected feedback. The number of poles (and counts per revolution) must be correct in order for the electrical angle to display correctly in the Data Display test. This angle must be correct if it is to be used for feedback alignment purposes.

Pole selections of 2 – 8 are allowed for Indramat motors (although 6 and 8 poles are the only numbers we
have encountered).

Pole selections of 2 – 16 are allowed for Heidenhain Endat and Stegman Hiperface encoders.

All other encoder selections allow pole selections of 2 – 36.