Creative Conners Stagehand Mini2, Manual

Page: 6 / 33

Stagehand Mini 2 Manual
Page 6
Typical Applications
The Stagehand Mini
2
cannot power a machine directly. Unlike our Stagehand Pro AC, Stagehand AC, or
Stagehand DC, the Mini
2
lacks an internal power amplifier opting instead to output low‐power control signals
that can be used with almost any external amplifier. This offers enormous flexibility, at the cost of requiring you
to fabricate housings for the amplifier you want to use and then do a bit more wiring to connect the pieces
together.
There are two common reasons to choose a Stagehand Mini
2
for an automation project. The first is that you
need to control a piece of equipment that can’t be powered by a dedicated Stagehand. Examples of such a
machine (as of July 2014) are: a brushless dc motor, an electro‐hydraulic valve (servo or proportional), a motor
with a horsepower rating higher than 10HP. The second common reason to choose a Stagehand Mini
2
is that
you may have an existing inventory of amplifiers (VFD’s or DC regen drives) and want to preserve that
investment. In either situation, the Mini
2
is a great way to get your machine running on the Stagehand platform
and cue it with our Spikemark software.
The primary control output from the Stagehand Mini
2
is a speed signal and an enable circuit for each of its two,
independent controllers. The enable circuit informs the amplifier when it should start listening to the speed
signal supply power to the machinery. The speed signal indicates both how fast and in what direction the
machinery should move.
To sense how the amplifier and machinery are responding to the control output, the Mini
2
expects a quadrature
encoder signal as input. That signal is useful in measuring how far and fast the machinery is moving. The
control output and encoder input form the minimum closed‐loop system that is required for motion. Any
machine/drive combination that you connect to the Mini
2
must accept the control signals and provide an
encoder signal in return.
Let’s take a look at some common scenarios that show how this works in practice. Keep in mind that since the
Mini
2
has two independent controllers, you can hook up two different machines to the Mini and cue each from
Spikemark.
Stagehand Mini
2
with a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD)
Whether you have an old VFD that you’d like to control with Spikemark, or you have a brand‐new 20HP VFD
your system will look similar to the diagram below.