User Manual Flex-X Nano
Overview
The Motion Coordinator Flex-X Nano is based on Trio’s
high-performance ARM Cortex-A55 double-precision
technology and provides up to 64 axes of coordinated
motion using the EtherCAT bus system to connect to Drives
and I/O. The Flex-X Nano is a form, fit and function
compatible replacement for the Flex-6 Nano. It is housed
in a rugged plastic case with integrated earth chassis and
incorporates two screened RJ45 Ethernet ports, a 24V dc
power connector and micro SD card slot. The upper RJ45
connector is for a standard Ethernet connection to the PC
for programming and the lower connector is for the
EtherCAT Fieldbus. Filtered power supplies (DC/DC
converters) are included so that it can be powered from
the 24V d.c. logic supply present in most industrial
cabinets.
It is designed to be configured and programmed for the
application using a PC running Trio’s Motion Perfect
application software, and then may be set to run
“standalone” if an external computer is not required for
the final system. Programs and data are stored directly to
FLASH memory, thus eliminating the need for battery
backed storage.
The Multi-tasking version of Motion-iX for the Flex-X Nano
allows up to 22 Motion-iX programs to be run
simultaneously on the controller using pre-emptive multi-
tasking. In addition, the operating system software includes the IEC 61131-3 standard run-
time environment that has access to the full library of motion functions.
Programming
The Multi-tasking ability of the Flex-X Nano allows parts of a complex application to be
developed, tested and run independently, although the tasks can share data and motion
control hardware. The 22 available processes can be used for Motion-iX or IEC 61131-3
programs, or a combination of both can be run at the same time, thus allowing the
programmer to select the best features of each.
The Flex-X Nano is fully compatible with Trio’s Robot Programming System (RPS) and the
user can decide to write programs using the powerful Motion iX functions or the RPS motion
suit which is tailored to SCARA and other industrial robot systems. Both RPS and Motion iX /
IEC programs may be run on the same Motion Coordinator thus allowing the powerful Flex-X
Nano to control many auxiliary motors as well as the robot arm(s).
