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8. Once a peripheral has been activated, either press the Home icon in Zaber Console or turn a knob on the X-
MCC to move the peripheral associated with that axis. Most Zaber positioners will only move at reduced
speed in one direction until they reach a home sensor at one limit of travel. Then they will move in both
directions over full travel.
Initialization
Always connect peripherals to the controller when the controller is not powered. Peripherals should not be
connected or disconnected while the controller is powered on.
Every time the controller is powered up or reset, you should return the motorized peripheral(s) to the home position.
This is achieved by sending the
home
command to the individual device or all devices. Until this is done, most
devices will only allow motion in one direction, towards the sensor.
On stepper motor peripherals, a park command can be used to allow the device to be turned off and then used at a
later time without the need to home the axis. See the
tools parking
command for details.
Using the Device
Several commonly used ASCII commands are shown below. For a full list of available commands, please refer to
the
Protocol Manual
.
Command
Description
/1 1 get
pos
Query the current position of Device #1 Axis #1.
/1 1
move abs
10000
Move Device #1, Axis #1 to position 10000 increments.
/2 1
move rel
-12800
Move Device #2, Axis #1 in the negative direction by 12800 increments.
/1
stop
Decelerate and stop ALL axes on Device 1.
An axis number of 0 or no axis number implies all axes on the device, or the device
itself.
/
move vel
153600 Move ALL devices and ALL axes in the positive direction at the speed 153600.
A device address of 0 or no device address implies all devices in the chain.
Modifying Device Settings
Here are some examples if you would like to customize particular device settings. Refer to the
Protocol Manual
for
detailed descriptions of each setting.
Command
Description
/1 set
maxspeed
100000
Set the speed of all axes on the device.
/1 get
maxspeed
Query the maximum speed of the axis.
/1
system restore
Restore all the settings of Device 1 to the default.
Activating Peripherals
Important:
The X-MCC should always be powered down before disconnecting or connecting a peripheral
device.