Altivar IMC Drive controller gives ATV61 and ATV71 PLC control functions

Altivar IMC option card from Schneider Electric card extends the capability of Altivar 61 and Altivar 71 variable speed drives by providing them with a practical PLC capability at a low cost.  The option card boosts the expansion capability of machines and allows us to meet the OEM market’s requirements in terms of performance, simplicity of use and openness.

Many VSD applications can benefits from some additional control functions without the expense of buying an installing an added controller. The IMC card (designated VW3A3521) was developed with two criteria in mind: low cost and practicality.

Uses FDT/DTM technology

The Altivar IMC card can be used in conjunction with one other Altivar 61 and 71 specific card, such as I/O expansion card or communication card.  As standard it provides both analogue and digital I/O, and extends communications through a built-in Ethernet port and a CANopen master. The CANopen is totally transparent due to FDT/DTM technology, and gives access to all the other devices in the system architecture

The Altivar IMC integrated controller card has eight tasks to suit different machine requirements (cyclic, event-triggered, free). A task can be synchronised with the task of the drive in which it is embedded. This task manages the speed reference, the torque reference, the speed feedback, the torque feedback, the number of encoder pulses feedback in order to increase machine performance.

SoMachine software configuration

Configuration and programming of the IMC card is made using Schneider Electric’s SoMachine software platform using:

– IEC 61131-3 programming languages: Instruction List (IL), Ladder Diagram (LD), Function Block Diagram (FBD), Sequential Function Chart/Grafcet (SFC) and Structured Text (ST)

– CFC (Continuous Function Chart) language.

– PLCopen function blocks are used for managing motion control and axis control.

Reduce machine development time

The ease of use of PLCopen function blocks significantly reduces the time needed to program motion control and independent axis control on machines. The use of a single SoMachine programming software environment offers a number of advantages, such as a single project file; a single software program, and single download for the whole application.

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