THORLABS ODC001 User manual

a dvanced p ositioning t echnology
OPTODC SERVO MOTOR DRIVER
Model Number ODC001

THORLABS
About the Company
Thorlabs is a broad based optical technologies company with expertise in the design and
manufacture of an extensive array of innovative photonics products. The product range
covers optical and opto-mechanical components, tables and vibration control,
nanopositioning solutions, test and measurement systems, and laser sources.
Founded in 1989 Thorlabs has become a well known supplier for quality photonics
products for manufacturing and research with an annually published catalog present in
almost every optics laboratory worldwide. Thorlabs has set standards for fastest possible
delivery of its products combined with an excellent customer service. Overnight delivery
of most products, and quick and competent technical support, are widely acknowledged
by its customers.
Besides this main mission Thorlabs is eager to enhance its product spectrum
continuously. Together with specialized strategic partners, like Nova Phase and Menlo
Systems GmbH, Thorlabs investigates the newest optical technologies to provide new
and innovative solutions to its customers.
Thorlabs Inc. has its headquarters in Newton, New Jersey. Subsidiaries are located in
Tokyo (Japan), Karlsfeld (Germany), Ely (UK) und Gothenburg (Sweden).
Trademarks
Windows is a trademark of Microsoft
Corporation.
ActiveX is a trademark of Microsoft
Corporation.
Visual Basic is a trademark of Microsoft
Corporation.
LabVIEW is a trademark of National
Instruments Corporation.
THORLABS is a registered trademark of
Thorlabs Inc.
Revision History
Issue No. Date Summary
1 100106 Initial Issue

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Contents
1 For Your Safety ......................................................................................... 3
Safety Information ..........................................................................................................3
Warnings ........................................................................................................................4
Declarations Of Conformity ............................................................................................4
For Customers in Europe .......................................................................................4
For Customers In The USA ....................................................................................4
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive .......................................5
Compliance ............................................................................................................5
Waste treatment on your own responsibility ..........................................................6
Ecological background ...........................................................................................6
2 Overview and Setup .................................................................................. 7
Introduction .....................................................................................................................7
Mechanical Installation ...................................................................................................8
Siting ......................................................................................................................8
Environmental Conditions ......................................................................................9
Electrical Installation .....................................................................................................10
Connecting To The Supply .................................................................................10
Connecting a motor ..............................................................................................10
Installing APT Software for PC Operation ....................................................................11
Introduction ..........................................................................................................11
Software Installation .............................................................................................11
Software Upgrades ..............................................................................................11
APT PC Software Overview .........................................................................................12
Introduction ..........................................................................................................12
APTUser Utility .....................................................................................................13
APT Config Utility .................................................................................................14
APT Server (ActiveX Controls) ............................................................................15
Verifying Software Operation .......................................................................................17
Initial Setup ..........................................................................................................17
3 Standalone Operation ............................................................................. 18
Introduction ...................................................................................................................18
Front Panel Controls and Indicators ............................................................................18
Potentiometer Operation ..............................................................................................18
Button Operation ..........................................................................................................19
Homing .................................................................................................................19
Go to Position ......................................................................................................19
Teaching Go To Position Values ..........................................................................20
Jogging ................................................................................................................20
Switching Between Button Modes ........................................................................20
Continued...

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4 PC Operation - Tutorial ...........................................................................20
Introduction .................................................................................................................. 21
Select the Stage Type (using APTConfig) ................................................................... 21
Using the APT User Utility ............................................................................................ 23
Homing Motors ............................................................................................................. 25
Moving to an Absolute Position .................................................................................... 26
Changing Motor Parameters ........................................................................................ 27
Jogging ......................................................................................................................... 28
Graphical Control Of Motor Positions (Point and Move) .............................................. 29
Setting Move Sequences ............................................................................................. 31
Creating a Simulated Configuration .............................................................................34
Stage/Axis Tab ............................................................................................................. 37
5 Software Reference .................................................................................38
Introduction .................................................................................................................. 38
GUI Panel ..................................................................................................................... 38
Settings Panel .............................................................................................................. 40
Moves/Jogs Tab .................................................................................................. 40
Stage/Axis Tab .................................................................................................... 43
Advanced Tab ..................................................................................................... 46
Appendices
A Rear Panel Connector Pinout Details ...................................................49
Rear Panel Motor Control Connector ........................................................................... 49
B Preventive Maintenance .........................................................................50
Safety Testing .............................................................................................................. 50
Cleaning .......................................................................................................................50
C Specifications and Associated Products .............................................51
Specifications ............................................................................................................... 51
Associated Products .................................................................................................... 52
D DC Motor Operation - Background .......................................................53
How A DC Motor Works ............................................................................................... 53
Positive and Negative Moves .............................................................................. 53
Velocity Profiles ................................................................................................... 53
Positioning a Stage ...................................................................................................... 54
General ................................................................................................................ 54
Home position ...................................................................................................... 54
Limit Switches ...................................................................................................... 54
Minimum and Maximum Positions ....................................................................... 55
Error Correction ............................................................................................................ 56
Backlash correction ............................................................................................. 56

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Chapter 1
For Your Safety
1.1 Safety Information
For the continuing safety of the operators of this equipment, and the protection of the
equipment itself,the operator should take note of the Warnings, Cautions and Notes
throughout this handbook.
The following safety symbols may be used throughout the handbook:
Warning. An instruction which draws attention to the risk of injury or death.
Caution. An instruction which draws attention to the risks of damage to the product,
process or surroundings.
Note. Clarification of an instruction or additional information.

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Chapter 1 For Your Safety
1.2 Warnings
• The unit must be connected only to a DC supply of 12-15V, 1A regulated. Thorlabs offer
a compact, multi-way power supply unit (OPS008), allowing up to eight OptoDrivers to
be powered from a single mains outlet. A single way wall plug supply (OPS001) for
powering a single OptoDriver is also available.
• Only personnel trained in the servicing and maintenance of this equipment should
remove its covers or attempt any repairs or adjustments.
• If this equipment is used in a manner not specified by the manufacturer, the protection
provided by the equipment may be impaired. Do not operate the instrument outside its
rated supply voltages or environmental range. In particular, excessive moisture may
impair safety.
• This unit is intended for operation in the temperature range 5° to 40°C, 20% to 80% RH.
1.3 Declarations Of Conformity
1.3.1 For Customers in Europe
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the EC Directive
89/336/EEC ‘EMC Directive’.
Compliance was demonstrated by conformance to the following specifications which
have been listed in the Official Journal of the European Communities:
EMC EN61326: 1997
1.3.2 For Customers In The USA
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A
digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to
provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is
operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses and can
radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the
instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.
Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likelyto cause harmful interference
in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own expense.
Changes or modifications not expressly approved by Thorlabs Ltd. could void the
user’s authority to operate the equipment.

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ODC001 Servo Motor Driver
1.4 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive
1.4.1 Compliance
As required by the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive of
the European Community and the corresponding national laws, Thorlabs offers all
end users in the EC the possibility to return "end of life" units without incurring
disposal charges.
This offer is valid for Thorlabs electrical and electronic equipment
• sold after August 13th 2005
• marked correspondingly with the crossed out "wheelie bin" logo (see Fig. 1)
• sold to a company or institute within the EC
• currently owned by a company or institute within the EC
• still complete, not disassembled and not contaminated
Fig. 1.1 Crossed out "wheelie bin" symbol
As the WEEE directive applies to self contained operational electrical and electronic
products, this "end of life" take backservice does not referto other Thorlabs products,
such as
• pure OEM products, that means assemblies to be built into a unit by the user (e. g. OEM
laser driver cards)
• components
• mechanics and optics
• left over parts of units disassembled by the user (PCB's, housings etc.).
If you wish to return a Thorlabs unit for waste recovery, please contact Thorlabs or
your nearest dealer for further information.

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Chapter 1 For Your Safety
1.4.2 Waste treatment on your own responsibility
If you do not return an "end of life" unit to Thorlabs, you must hand it to a company
specialized in waste recovery. Do not dispose of the unit in a litter bin or at a public
waste disposal site.
1.4.3 Ecological background
It is well known that WEEE pollutes the environment by releasing toxic products
during decomposition. The aim of the European RoHS directive is to reduce the
content of toxic substances in electronic products in the future.
The intent of the WEEE directive is to enforce the recycling of WEEE. A controlled
recycling of end of life products will thereby avoid negative impacts on the
environment.

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Chapter 2
Overview and Setup
2.1 Introduction
The OptoDCDriver is a very compact single channel DC servo controller and driver
designed to operate with a variety of DC brushed motors up to 5V operation equipped
with encoder feedback. This driver unit (a direct replacement for the DCX-MC110B
controller modules featured in earlier editions of the Thorlabs catalogue) contains a
full embedded controller and driver circuit that can be operated with and without a PC.
Although compact in footprint, this unit offers a fully featured motion control capability
including velocity profile settings, limit switch handling, “on the fly” changes in motor
speed and direction for more advanced operation, control over the closed loop PID
parameters and adjustment of settings such as lead screw pitch and gearbox ratio
allowing support for many different actuator configurations.
When used with the extensive range of Thorlabs DC motorized opto-mechanical
products, many of these parameters are automatically set to allow “out of the box”
operation with no further tuning required.
The OptoDCDriver has been specifically designed as a member of the APT controller
family. The APT family includes a range of high specification motor and piezo
controllers (both in bench top and rack based formats) specifically aimed at high
resolution positioning applications. By inheriting much of the functionality developed
for these high end variants, the OptoDCDriver is built on a flexible and powerful
motion control capability with full and complete software support. It is perfectly
feasible to mix operation of the OptoDCDriver with any other member of the APT
controller family through the same unified software interfaces, both graphical and
programmable. For the first time, positioning and motion control applications
deploying any of the complete range of Thorlabs motorized/piezo actuated nano-
positioning and opto-mechanical hardware is easily achieved in minimum time via a
common PC software platform.
Fig. 2.1 OptoDC Servo Motor Driver

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Chapter 2 Overview and Setup
Designed as a direct replacement for the earlier ThorlabsDC controller module (DCX-
MC110B) and associated PCI carrier board (DCX-PCI100), the new OptoDCDriver is
contained in a very compact (2.5" x 2" x 1.6") housing incorporating easily accessible
local motor move controls for manual motor control and positioning. We have taken
care to keep the footprint to a minimum allowing the possibility, in many opto-
mechanical applications, of locating this driver on the optical table in close proximity
to the motorised apparatus being driven. A base plate optionallows easy mounting to
optical tables in a stacked side by side configuration for control of multiple motor
channels. Use of this driver solution within the photonics R&D environment is further
considered by an overall black finish and by elimination of any stray light generation
(the LEDs found on the front panel can be disabled by using a software command).
In the remainder of this handbook, operation of the unit is described for both front
panel and PC operation. Tutorial sections (Chapter 3 and Chapter 4) provide a good
initial understanding on using the unit and reference section (Chapter 5) covers all
operating modes and parameters in detail.
2.2 Mechanical Installation
2.2.1 Siting
The OptoDCDriver is designed to be bolted to a breadboard, optical table or similar
surface. If desired, the baseplate can be removed and the unit can be stood on its
rubber feet - see Section 2.2.3.
Caution.
When siting the unit, it should be positioned so as not to impede the operation of the
front panel buttons.
Ensure that proper airflow is maintained to the rear of the unit.