Animatics Integrated Servo Motors

January 2011

Combi-what-ic?

The excitement about Combitronic™ comes when you realize the endless possibilities for applications. At the most recent Animatics Institute all attendees were given a SmartMotor™ and their CAN address number was placed on their name tag for all to see. Soon after the Combitronic presentation and explanation, “Bob” in one corner realized that with a few keyboard swipes, he could move “Joe's” SmartMotor from across the room! “Joe” plotted revenge, and then made all attendees’ SmartMotors mimic the program he was running: whenever his SmartMotor made a move, every other SmartMotor mimicked that movement in real-time.

Since the launch of our new website, you have probably heard or read the word “Combitronic”. Perhaps you are not quite sure what it is, what it does, why it matters to YOU, and what it CAN DO for you.

Combitronic is a new, patent-pending communications protocol developed by Animatics for the SmartMotor. With Combitronic, you can link up to 120 SmartMotor servos over CAN, and any SmartMotor can access any other SmartMotor servo’s control, motion and I/O function data. Essentially, any SmartMotor can read from, write to, and control any other SmartMotor.

With conventional systems, this would take a massive amount of time writing communication code and learning a new fieldbus protocol. With Combitronic communication, all you do is address SmartMotors with a colon follow by their CAN address. The sample code below highlights the simple addressing:

With Combitronic technology and SmartMotor servos, the machine NO LONGER NEEDS A PLC.

If you still want a host HMI/PLC, of course you can have one. Connected over CANopen or DeviceNet, Combitronic runs between SmartMotor servos over the same connection as the host, without any data collision and without loss or slowing during data transfer. Want a more visual explanation, visit www.animatics.com.

Visual Explanation of	TTR Application using

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All integrated motor products made by Animatics are covered by patent number 5,912,541