Contours - User Guide

Contours — User Guide

Version 2.0.2 · © Myostat · myostat.ca

This is the end-user guide for Contours, Myostat's multi-axis motion design and control application. Each chapter is its own page — use the index below or the page tree in the sidebar to navigate. The guide reads in order, but every chapter also stands alone.

Contents

1. Welcome to Contours — what Contours does, what you need, and the conventions used in this guide.

2. Key Concepts — projects, axes, shows, profiles, samples, and splines.

3. The Main Window — title bar, menus, tabs, chart, and status bar.

4. Working with Projects — creating, opening, saving, and backing up project files.

5. Connecting to Motors — discovering motors, linking them to axes, and using a joystick.

6. Managing Axes — creating axes, editing properties, loading motor parameters, homing, and zeroing.

7. Building Shows — creating shows, working with profiles, saving and loading profiles.

8. Recording Motion — capturing live position, speed, and torque data.

9. Editing a Recording — cleaning up recordings, smoothing, and adjusting interval and scale.

10. Importing Motion from CSV — file format and the import workflow.

11. Testing and Running Shows — the Test tab, Run and Stop, and Run To Cursor.

12. User Settings — joystick, axes defaults, and chart options.

13. Keyboard Shortcuts — quick reference for all global shortcuts.

14. Troubleshooting — common problems and their fixes.

15. Support and Resources — documentation, service desk, and company contact.

Where to start

• First time? Read Welcome to Contours and then Key Concepts. A few minutes spent on vocabulary saves hours later.

• Setting up a new project? Follow Working with Projects → Connecting to Motors → Managing Axes.

• Building a performance? Jump to Building Shows, then Recording Motion or Importing Motion from CSV.

• Something not working? Check Troubleshooting and, if needed, Support and Resources.

Contours User Guide · Version 2.0.2 · © Myostat