Version: 1.0.0

Once you have added your motors and assigned them to an axis, you may now create a show.

Select the "Create" tab and then select "new" to create a new show. You will see that it creates a new show called Show 1 and will have all of your axes listed beneath. You can change the name of the show in the properties window beneath.

Once you have created the show, you can now record the motion. Select the "Record" button.

When you select to record a new show, it will give you a few options before you begin recording.

Interval

This is how often the position/speed from the joystick is sampled and transmitted to the motor, in milliseconds. You can specify a number by typing the interval you want, using the arrow buttons to the right of the number to increase or decrease the interval in increments of 10ms, or use the slider below the value to increase or decrease the value of the interval in increments of 100ms.


You can then select what type of control you want to record. You can choose from the following options:

Manual

In Manual mode the motor will be disabled and can be moved by hand. The position data will be sent to the software as you move the axis and it will record the motion.

Analog Position Control

Using the analog input on the motor, the motor will move from within the range programmed in the axis properties.

Analog Speed Control

Using the analog input on the motor, the motor speed will be adjusted from within the range programmed in the axis properties.

Joystick Position Control

Using a joystick or gamepad connected to the computer, you can control a series of motors. Each axis on the joystick (X, Y, Z, etc.) will control one axis of the system. This can be selected in the Axis Properties. The motor will move from the Joystick position range setting, to - Joystick position range setting when the joystick axis is moved from one extreme to the other. The position range can also be configured in the Axis Properties. To connect a joystick/gamepad in contours, see Connecting a Joystick/Gamepad.

Joystick Speed Control

Using a joystick or gamepad connected to the computer, you can control a series of motors. Each axis on the joystick (X, Y, Z, etc.) will control one axis of the system. This can be selected in the Axis Properties. The motor will move when the joystick axis is moved, using the Joystick Speed Range setting as the extremes of the joystick range. If the joystick is left at the rest position the speed will be set to 0 and the motor will be stationary. The speed range can also be configured in the Axis Properties. To connect a joystick/gamepad in contours, see Connecting a Joystick/Gamepad.

You can also select which axes to record from here. Simply select the check box for any axes that you wish to record for this show, and uncheck any axes that you do not want recorded.


Recording Motion

Once you have created the show and selected the axes and method of control, you can press the 'record' button and the software will begin recording the motion.

When recording, the graph will begin to display the position for the axis being recorded. If you wish to temporarily pause the recording you can click the pause button, and then resume using the record button at any time.

If the motor position changes while the recording is paused, the change will be reflected as an almost instantaneous position change when the recording is resumed. This could result in problems when trying to replay the recording. It is possible for this to occur if using the manual recording mode if the axis moves at all while paused.

When you are finished recording a motion, press the stop button. If you wish to re-record the motion, you can simply press the record button again to overwrite.

If you are happy with you recording, press the save button to save it. Otherwise press cancel to erase the recording.





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