The launch of a powerful new single-axis motion controller for Mitsubishi Electric’s latest generation of highly-dynamic servo drives brings yet another strong addition the company’s lineup of control and drive components for machine automation. Designed for demanding movement sequences on single-axis systems, the new controller supports synchronisation of the drive system with any other processes. It is an attractively-priced solution for many common drive tasks, for example in the packaging industry.

The new MR-MQ100 motion controller is specially designed to be used with the powerful servo amplifiers of the MR-J3-B series. It can control the servo amplifier for a single axis at high speeds with great precision. Simultaneously, it can also synchronise movement with an external master encoder or a virtual axis. In addition to point-to-point positioning the controller can also be used for complex movement sequences, for which it is equipped with an encoder input, four high-speed digital inputs for registration mark identification and two digital outputs.

The compact controller module does not need support from an external programmable logic controller. A control terminal, a computer or other controllers can be connected directly to the integrated Ethernet port. The device uses a 24V DC power supply and is connected to the servo amplifier via the high-speed optical SSCNET III (Servo System Controller Network), which supports data rates of up to 50 megabits per second. Bus cycle time is just 0.44 milliseconds and plug-and-play installation is quick and easy, without need for complex configuration.