Parker’s Electromechanical Automation Division announces the release of the Aries Controller single-axis servo drive/controller. The Aries Controller combines the versatile and cost-effective Aries digital servo drive platform with the advanced control capabilities of the ACR servo controller.

The Aries Controller is configured, tuned and programmed using Parker’s comprehensive ACRView professional software environment. The ACRView environment also supports Parker’s traditional analog multi-axis controls and drives and the ETHERNET Powerlink motionbus system. “This versatility now enables machine designers and end-users to take advantage of the high-performance ACR servo control for both single- and multi-axis projects without switching between or relearning different control languages and software environments,” says Marc Feyh, product manager for Parker’s Electromechanical Automation Division. Benefits of the common control language and software include reduced time to market and lower overall motion system costs.

Motion capabilities of the Aries Controller include absolute and relative motion, jogging, gearing and camming. A secondary encoder input is included for 1½ axis and dual-loop applications, and EnDat absolute encoders are also supported in addition to standard quadrature and Parker Smart Professional encoders. Drive connectivity includes an Ethernet port for communications, setup, programming and diagnostics and INDUSTRIAL HMI connectivity.

Application development is further enhanced with the use of Parker’s recently released ACR MotionCOMponents Tool Kit, which allows a software developer to quickly and easily build a custom user interface for PC-based motion control applications.