Development Tools

The PCMotion Windows® library runs a high speed dedicated communications protocol between the user application and the Motion Coordinator. It allows simple programming of user "front end" software that can be "tailored" to the application.

PCMotion Windows® library can be used in any programming language that supports Dynamic Linked Libraries (DLL) or ActiveX components such as any of the Microsoft Visual languages (BASIC, C#, C++ etc), LabView, Delphi, etc.

Program Examples _{(log in)}

Benefits

Functionality allows access to a huge range of the controllers’ features including:

• Reading and writing to axis and system parameters
• Reading and writing to controller variables (TABLE and VR)
• Running and stopping programs
• Running motion commands
• Reading and writing to the communication channels
• Loading files to the controller

32bit version

64bit version

This software is FREE.

Compatible with:
MC4, MC5, MC6xx range, Euro4xx range, Euro209, Euro205(x), PCI208, MC206(X), MC224

Please note that older software (like VB6) may be limited in operation when using PCMotion 2.0.0.0 or above.

CamGen is so simple to use, you can import a set of points from Excel and build a smooth motion profile in a few minutes.

CamGen exports TABLE statements ready to paste into a Motion Coordinator BASIC program. Or you can have more flexibility by using CamGen to write a BASIC routine, which will build the cam shapes while your machine is running. CamGen even constructs example CAM and CAMBOX statements to put into your program.

Benefits

• Easy specification of motion profiles commonly used in machinery
• Outputs files as Trio Programming Language programs or TABLE points
• Graphical display of motion position/speed/acceleration curves
• Build piecewise curves with straight, polynomial and spline sections
• Generates example CAM/CAMBOX move statements
• Import sets of points from Excel
• Will handle multiple sector CAM shapes

This software is FREE.

Compatible with:
MC4, MC5, MC6xx range, Euro4xx range, MC302X , MC302-k, MC224, MC206(X), PCI208, Euro209, Euro205(x), MC202, MC2

For MC4, MC5 and MC6 ranges, use the Cam Library feature in Motion Perfect version 4.

A compact, self-contained package designed to allow simple distribution of projects written using Motion Perfect. Simply add the project to the Autoloader folder, edit a script file to provide control of the loading sequence and send to the customer.

The Autoloader, complete with project files is small enough to distribute efficiently via email and the end user needs only minimal PC knowledge to complete the loading process.

This software is FREE.

Compatible with:
MC4, MC5, MC6xx range, Euro4xx range, MC302X , MC302-k, MC224, MC206(X), PCI208, Euro209, Euro205(x), MC202, MC2

The methods included in this ActiveX allow the user’s PC application to load complete projects or individual programs into the Motion Coordinator. If appropriate then one or more programs can be set to autorun on power up. Functionality also includes check controller type, check firmware version, load TABLE data, display progress bar and many more. The installation includes a Windows Help file with details of each method/function.

Program Examples _{(log in)}

This software is FREE.

Compatible with:
MC4, MC5, MC6xx range, Euro4xx range, MC302X , MC302-k, MC224, MC206(X), PCI208, Euro209, Euro205(x), MC202, MC2

The transfer process is optimized to compress the file and reduce transfer times, or it can be set to stream the file into a FIFO buffer on the controller. This can help reduce overall machine cycle times when file sizes can be large and so making communication time significant.

To send the files to the controller, the TextFileLoader standalone application can be downloaded (see box on the left) and used as a readymade application.

The file loading functionality is also built into PCMotion so customised interfaces can be developed. There is an example Visual Basic 2010 project available which can be used as a template or imported into any user application. Application Note .

Application msi file

Application Visual Basic file (zipped)

A "Pickup and Learn" guide introducing the fundementals of the TextFileLoader is available here.

This software is FREE.

Compatible with:
MC4, MC5, MC6xx range, Euro4xx range

Example G-Code dispatcher programs can be made available, which can then be used as the basis for a machine development. The examples cover the use of F, G, M, S and T codes controlling up to 3 axes. However, this can be easily extended to respond to other G-Codes as required and to run more than 3 axes. Besides the dispatcher, a G-Code parser is required. This, and the dispatcher, is written in BASIC so is fully adaptable by the machine builder or system programmer. Trio’s engineers can work with the customer’s software developers to help complete the G-Code project to the customer’s requirement. Please contact your Trio Distributor for details.

The Trio Motion Coordinator is not a CNC controller in the true sense. It is not a simple drop-in replacement for a full function CNC provided by companies who offer turn-key solutions in this field. However, the flexibility of the Trio software makes it ideal for designing specialized machines which use G-Code as the motion command source. Our customers have, for example, made multi-axis wood working machines which use G-Code, taking codes from a CAD-CAM system to produce machined products for specialized markets.

Installer patch... (For use with Autoloader if Motion Perfect is NOT installed)

The patch includes USB drivers that can be installed in Windows 95, Windows XP and some PCs using Windows 7. The drivers have not been updated to be fully compatible with later Windows versions and is not fully compatible with all USB hardware on modern PCs. The patch is provided for support of older legacy systems linked to the MC2xx range Motion Coordinators.

This software is FREE.