Motion controller manufacturer Delta Computer Systems, Battle Ground, Wash., announced that its RMCTools motion control software now features XY plotting, in addition to plotting variables over time.

Engineers value XY plots in a number of ways in manufacturing and testing applications, according to Delta officials. The tool can now produce stress-strain curves. It can be used to compare valve flow versus command signal to check if a valve is within spec. It can analyze actuator position versus temperature, or it can be used to characterize hysteresis by observing variation in control variable behavior increases versus decreases. An XY plot displays all the data items in a plot relative to any other data item in the plot—the related data item is shown on the horizontal (X) axis, and the remaining data items are plotted on the vertical (Y) axis.

Delta’s XY plot feature includes a Time Slider, which tracks the progression of the plot data over time. This solves the inherent XY plot problem of not being able to track when any given data point occurred. Additional features include scaling, zooming, cursors for approximating values on the plot, and even switching from XY plotting to time or vice versa.

The powerful XY plotting feature is available now for all Delta motion controllers that use RMCTools—including the RMC200 (up to 32 axis), RMC150 (up to 8 axis) and RMC75 (1 or 2 axis). The RMC family uses RMCTools software for setup, tuning, programming and diagnostics. The new XY option adds to other special RMC capabilities such as dual-loop position-pressure/force control and a wide variety of synchronized motion options.

“Our customers continue to love the time plotting capabilities and ease-of-use of our powerful Plot Manager but, increasingly, customers in the testing market wanted more visual and data capture capability that can now be delivered with XY plotting,” said Steve Nylund, Delta Computer Systems CEO.

Delta Computer Systems
deltamotion.com