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UP Board bridges the gap once again to expand our application possibilities on a much wider level. This time we are working together with REX Controls. The R&D team of REX Controls comprises highly qualified experts with extensive knowledge and experience in automatic control, embedded control systems, modelling and simulation, robotics and mechatronics, industrial communication, machine diagnostics and other fields.

They have designed the Monarco HAT. This add on board is specifically designed with analog I/O to better suite the industrial application landscape.

When designing the Monarco HAT, REX Controls had the following applications in mind :

– Reading and archiving data from sensors
– Monitoring of machines and production lines
– Providing communication gateway between various devices
– Feedback control in non-critical applications

The UP board was successfully tested in the role of a feedback controller. With Monarco HAT, it forms a complete programmable controller. In the demonstration (see video below), a ball is stabilized on top of a rotating spool. The UP board reads the position of the ball via an ultrasonic sensor connected to the Monarco HAT. Based on this information, the necessary action is computed and the spool rotation is updated accordingly. This is done 200 times per second.

The ball position is read each 5 milliseconds, the control algorithm processes the measured data and sends an appropriate command to a DC motor controller. The ultrasonic sensor is connected to the 0-10V analog input of the Monarco HAT while the motor controller is commanded by 0-10V analog output. The algorithm was implemented in the REX Control System, whose runtime core is running on the UP board.

Technical specification of the Monarco HAT:

Power supply: 10-30 VDC
4x digital IN, 10-30 VDC, optical isolation, common GND
2x counter (pulse/DIR) or 2x encoder (A/B), up to 200 kHz
4x digital OUT, open-drain, max 40 V, 1 A per channel continuous
All with up to 100 kHz PWM
short-circuit protection (continuous)
2x analog IN, 0-10 V / 0-20 mA, 12-bit
electronic switching of voltage/current mode
protected against overvoltage and reverse polarity
500 Hz bandwidth
2x analog OUT, 0-10 V, 0.5 ms settling time, 12-bit
1x RS-485 with ESD protection
1x 1-Wire bus with ESD protection
9 LED indicators, by default mapped as digital inputs and outputs and system status indicators, user controllable
High quality push-in terminals, detachable connector
Battery-backed RTC chip for keeping the track of time
Hardware watchdog for power-cycling the UP Board in case of failure
EMC tested, CE marked