Stepnet is a 100% digital stepping motor amplifier which can operate in two control modes,
stepper or servo. In stepper mode, conventional microstepping techniques are used. In servo
mode, stepping motors fitted with encoders can be operated as DC brushless servo motors in
closed loop current, velocity or position modes.
Stepnet can operate as a stand-alone amplifier or as a networked CANopen or DeviceNet node. It
can also be controlled using the Copley ASCII interface over a serial connection. The multi-drop
feature allows CME 2 or other ASCII serial controller to use an RS-232 serial connection to one
amplifier as a gateway to other amplifiers linked together by CAN bus connections. The Stepnet
can also be controlled by a Copley Virtual Machine (CVM) program running on the amplifier.
Stepnet amplifiers can be networked with Copley Accelnet and Xenus digital servo amplifiers.
When operating as a stand-alone amplifier, Stepnet can accept incremental position commands
from step-motor controllers in Pulse and Direction or Count Up/Count Down formats, as well as
A/B quadrature commands from a master-encoder. Pulse to motor position ratio is programmable
for electronic gearing. In servo mode Stepnet can also accept PWM torque or velocity commands.
Stepper Mode
In stepper mode, the amplifier operates as a traditional, open position loop, stepper amplifier. With
the addition of optional encoder feedback in stepper mode, the amplifier can monitor and report
actual motor position and optionally apply a proportional gain to correct following error. Also, a
position-tracking window can be set up along with a programmable following error warning and
fault.
Servo Mode
In servo mode with motor encoder feedback, the amplifier operates as a true, closed loop, servo
amplifier controlling a stepper motor. Using motor encoder feedback, the amplifier can monitor
actual motor position and velocity and correct its output so the motor follows the commanded input
precisely. The amplifier can be configured to accept current, velocity, or position commands.
Use of the amplifier in servo mode can result in quieter operation and reduced power
consumption.