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.

Contours searches every network adapter in the PC and talks to each Ethernet motor through the adapter it was found on, so your motors can be spread across more than one network port.

Note. Give each Ethernet motor a static IP address on the same subnet as the PC's network adapter. A motor never gives itself an automatic (169.254) address, and one set to DHCP waits until a DHCP server gives it an address. If a motor is cabled straight to the PC, give the PC's network port a static address on the motor's subnet as well.

Discovering available motors

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

2. Contours searches for motors when it starts. While a search runs, the status bar shows Searching for motors….

3. To open the Connections panel under the chart, choose Connections › Manage, press Ctrl+M, or click the connection count on the right of the status bar (for example 0 of 3 axes connected).

4. If a motor does not appear, click Find motors in the panel, or choose Connections › Find motors. While the search runs, its progress shows beside the Motors heading, and Find motors is unavailable until it finishes.

A search takes a few seconds. Bluetooth serial ports, such as those added by wireless earbuds, are skipped, and a COM port that doesn't answer within about 3 seconds is left out of that search, so one unresponsive port can't hold up the others. A serial motor that has been switched off drops out of the list at the next search.

The Connections panel is a single card. Its heading carries Connect All (or Disconnect All), Find motors, a pin and a close button. Below it are two lists side by side:

• Axes, on the left, lists every axis in your project: its Status light, its Name, the Serial No of the motor linked to it, a Connected box, and, on a linked row, an unlink button.

• Motors, on the right, lists every motor Contours has found: its Serial No, the Axis it is linked to, and its Address (IP address or COM port). Click the small information button beside a network motor's address to see its MAC address. A motor already linked to an axis is greyed out.

Click a column heading to sort that list. Otherwise the rows stay where they are, so a motor doesn't jump away when you link it.

Figure 3. The Connections panel. Drag a motor from the Motors list (2) onto an axis in the Axes list (1) to link them. The status bar (3) shows how many axes are connected; click the count to open or close the panel.

Keeping the panel open

The panel closes when you change tab, project, show, axis or profile. To keep it open, click the pin in its heading. A pinned panel:

• stays open as you work, and opens again the next time you start Contours

• hides while the Record screen is open and on the Test tab, where the panel isn't available, and comes back when you leave them.

Closing the panel, with the close button in its heading, Ctrl+M, Connections › Manage or the status bar's connection count, also unpins it.

Linking a motor to an axis

1. Drag a motor from the Motors list onto the axis row that should control it. You can also drag an axis onto a motor.

2. The axis now shows the motor's serial number, and the motor shows the axis's name and is greyed out.

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

While you drag, the Drag to link badge between the lists turns orange and says where to drop. The rows you can drop on are tinted orange and the others fade: a motor goes on an axis that doesn't have one yet, and an axis on a motor that isn't linked.

If you link the wrong motor to an axis, click the unlink button at the end of the axis's row, then drag a different motor onto it. Unlinking a connected axis disconnects it first.

You can also link a motor from the axis itself: choose it in the Motor list on the axis's General tab (see chapter 6).

Connecting and disconnecting

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

• Tick an axis's Connected box in the Connections panel to connect it, and clear it to disconnect. Connect and Disconnect on the axis's Axis Setup controls bar do the same (see chapter 6).

• Click Connect All in the panel's heading to connect every linked axis that isn't connected yet. Once they all are, the button reads Disconnect All.

• Or use the Connect All box on the status bar: tick it to connect every linked axis, clear it to disconnect them all. It shows a dash when only some are connected, and a click then disconnects them all. It is unavailable while the Record screen is open.

Beside that box, the connection count (for example 2 of 3 axes connected) has a dot that is green when every axis is connected, yellow when some are, and grey when none are.

A progress window stays up while Contours connects. If a motor doesn't answer after a few tries, a message names the axis that could not connect.

The Status light on each axis row shows the motor's state. Point at it to read the state, and click it to enable or disable the motor.

Note. Enabled, Find home, Go home, Read from motor and Write to motor in the Axis Setup window need the axis connected, and are greyed out until it is.

Caution. Wait a few seconds after disconnecting a motor before you connect it again. A motor that is disconnected and reconnected in quick succession can stop responding until it is switched off and on again (see chapter 16).

If a connection is lost

If a motor's connection drops (a network cable is pulled, a serial motor's USB adapter is unplugged, the network fails, or the motor loses power or resets), Contours closes that connection and carries on:

• A message at the bottom of the window says, for example, Lost the connection to Pan.

• The axis shows as not connected everywhere, and you can connect it again once the motor is back.

• If you were recording with that axis, the take stops as if you had clicked Stop, and a message explains what Save will keep (see chapter 10).

After you plug a network cable back in, the motor can take 30 to 50 seconds to accept a connection again, because it is still holding the old one. If connecting fails, wait a little and try again.

A motor that resets, or a USB adapter that is unplugged, is noticed within about a second, and a pulled network cable within about 5 seconds. Contours can't yet detect a lost Ethernet motor set up for UDP, or a serial motor that is switched off while its USB adapter stays plugged in (see chapter 16).

Using a game controller

A game controller (joystick or gamepad) is optional but highly recommended for recording. To attach one:

1. Plug the controller in at any time. Contours detects controllers being plugged in and removed.

2. Choose it on the Controller card of Project › Options (see chapter 14), or on the Controller card of any axis's Controller tab (see chapter 6).

3. The status bar then reads Controller (<name>). With no controller, it reads No controller.

Each axis's Controller tab sets which stick axis moves it, its direction, its ranges and its Responsiveness Gain.