5. Connecting to Motors

Supported connection types

Contours can reach CoolMuscle motors over:

• Ethernet — motors identified by IP address and MAC address on your local network.

• Serial — motors connected to a COM port (including USB-to-serial adapters).

Each motor reports its own serial number, which is what binds a physical motor to a project axis even if its IP address or COM port changes between sessions.

Discovering available motors

1. Make sure every motor is powered and physically connected (network cable, serial cable, or USB adapter plugged in).

2. Choose Connections › Manage Connections, press Ctrl+M, or click the “Manage” button on the bottom right of the status bar.

3. If discovered motors do not appear, choose Refresh. The status bar updates to show the current search state.

The Connections view has two panels. The left lists every axis in your project and the motor (if any) it is linked to; the right lists every motor Contours has found.

Figure 2. The Connections view. Drag a row from the right motor list (2) onto an axis in the left list (1) to link them. Manage, connect and get connection in the status bar (3).

Linking a motor to an axis

1. Drag a motor from the right panel onto the axis row on the left that should control it.

2. The axis now shows the motor's connection type, address, and serial number.

3. Repeat for every axis you want to drive from a live motor.

If you link the wrong motor to an axis, right-click the axis and choose Remove Connection, then drag a different motor onto it.

Connecting and disconnecting

Linking is just a reference. To actually open communication, connect the axis:

• Right-click a single axis and choose Connect or Disconnect.

• Use Connect All / Disconnect All in the Connections view toolbar to handle every axis at once.

• Or use the Connect All Axes checkbox on the status bar. Its three states (checked, indeterminate, unchecked) reflect whether all, some, or none of your linked axes are connected.

Note. Some axis properties can only be edited when the motor is disconnected. If a property is greyed out, disconnect the axis first, make the change, then reconnect.

Using a joystick

A joystick is optional but highly recommended for recording. To attach one:

1. Plug the joystick in before launching Contours, or restart the application so it can enumerate the device.

2. Open Project › User Settings and go to the Joystick section.

3. Select your device from the list. The status bar will then read Joystick Acquired: <name>.