Method for controlling network-type actuator module

• US 9,880,532 B2
• Filed: 10/26/2012
• Issued: 01/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robotis Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Robotis Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Byoung-Soo, Kim, Hee-Il
• Primary Examiner(s): Bodden, Evral E
• Application Number:
  US14/354,566
• Publication Number:
  US 20150120002A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,922 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/414 Structure of the control system, e.g. common controller or multiprocessor systems, interface to servo, programmable interface controller
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/33147 Address peripheral, controller
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/33166 Rs485 bus to control several modules, motors
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/33176 Rs485, mpi multipoint, multidrop interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

Described herein is a method for controlling a network-type actuator module, and provides a method for controlling a plurality of network-type actuator modules which are connected to a main controller through a multi-drop scheme including the steps of: the main controller transmitting to the actuator module one instruction packet comprising a plurality of IDs; and an actuator module, which corresponds to the ID, transmitting a status packet to the main controller, wherein the actuator module transmits the status packet according to the order of the ID, which is expressed on the instruction packet. Accordingly, unlimited information required from the plurality of actuators can be read from a single transmission of the packet instruction by flexibly expanding limitations due to limitations on the length of each field in accordance with an instruction set and a definition of a parameter.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a plurality of network-type actuator modules connected to a main controller in a multi-drop scheme, the method comprising:

transferring, by the main controller, a single instruction packet including a plurality of IDs to the actuator modules; and

in response to receipt of the single instruction packet,

transferring, by the actuator modules, each status packet corresponding to the actuator modules to the main controller, the each status packet being transferred corresponding to each of the plurality of IDs and in a sequence order of each of the plurality IDs, the sequence order being indicated by the single instruction packet,

wherein the plurality of IDs include a preceding ID and a subsequent ID, and the actuator modules corresponding to the subsequent ID in the instruction packet transfer a second status packet after the actuator modules corresponding to the preceding ID have transferred a first status packet, wherein

the first and second status packets are sent in order, and transfer of the first status packet of the preceding ID is monitored, and the second status packet is sent as soon as detection of the first status packet of the preceding ID being transferred, and wherein

a response delay between the first packet and the second packet, which is a return delay time, is removed to shorten the return delay time.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a length of data to be read from the actuator modules corresponds to the each of the plurality of IDs.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of IDs, the length of the data, and an address of the data includes 2 bytes that include an upper byte and a lower byte.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein an address of the data to be read from the actuator modules corresponds to the each of the plurality of IDs which is repeatedly represented in the sequence order of the IDs.