From Robh:
I would like the output of a force transducer to be read in as in input to the KINARM robot with a BNC connectioin.
My question is how to do it with the specific model of the force transducer that I have.
Specifications of the force transducer:
Model #: Futek LMD300 (refer to “Futek_LMD300.pdf”)
The transducer itself is connected into the P5 port of a Futek IPM 500 (refer to page 5 of “Futek_IPM500_manual.pdf”).
Futek IPM 500 connects with a male BNC connector to a female BNC connector on a Cambridge Electronic Design (CED) Micro1401-3
The Micro1401-3 connects to a computer through a USB connection
My intention is to feed the output of the force transducer into Simulink code at the same point that I would input
the output of the KINARM robot arm. I believe that the most appropriate way to do this would be with an “Inport” block.
How would I go about doing this?
Yes, you would want to use an analog input block to read data in from the BNC connectors. Specifically I suspect that the BKIN custom analog input block that can read either the PCI-6071E or PCI-6229 card should work for you. You will need to connect the BNC cable from the Futek unit into a BNC connector on the KINARM’s break out panel, for example the BNC labeled ACH5. In the analog input block you would need to specify the channel as [5]. You would have to consult the Futek documentation to see what it outputs for voltages so you know what to set the Range Vector value at as well as the Input Coupling Vector. You can use a From Tag to get the KinData structure. The KinData structure contains all of the current kinematics for the system. You can look at the section 10.2 of the Creating Task Programs guide for details of the structure.
I hope that helps, if not let me know and I’ll try to help provide more information.