Gold Lion

Gold Lion The Ultimate Motion Control Solution for Military Applications

The Gold Lion is a network-based, multi-axis motion controller that operates in conjunction with Elmo's ExtrIQ Line to provide the most comprehensive and advanced control system that is verified and qualified to operate in extreme environmental conditions.
This motion controller is based on the most advanced, easy to use and cost effective distributed motion control architecture which enables the motion processing tasks to be shared between the controller and the servo drives. It contains a rich feature set that combines sophisticated motion control and advanced communications with full programming capabilities.

The Gold Lion uses standard protocols over its various communications channels, combined with IEC and C programming and the PLCopen motion interface. The host communication is over an Ethernet or USB network whereas communication with the devices is via EtherCAT or CANopen. Elmo implements protocols "by the book" to enable interoperability with other compatible devices, increase network efficiency and reduce implementation time.

The Gold Lion is designed to be embedded on a board within the motion control application.

Gold Lion Features

Top level multi-axis motion controller

• Upper level (host) communications and protocols:
• Ethernet, TCP/IP, UDP (Fast Binary Protocols, Modbus, Ethernet/IP, Telnet, FTP, HTTP)
• USB 2.0
• EtherCAT master for distributed networking, with redundancy capabilities and distributed clock management support
• CANopen master distributed networking
• Controls up to 100 axes simultaneously
• Distributed intelligence: tasks are split between the Gold Lion and the ExtrIQ servo drives
• Significant increase in the motion system's computation power and performance
• Simpler high-level motion control interfaces, using the PLCopen standard
• Faster and better motor control, improved event response times
• Releases the Gold Lion's resources for the machine's synchronized motion control
• Reduces the communication load
• The protocol implementation allows nodes to be easily added, removed and modified
• CANopen communication protocols: DS 301, DS 305, DS 401, DS 402
• Rich, high-level, multi-axis programming environment with a large amount of memory:
• Native C programming using the PLCopen for Motion API
• IEC 61131-3, PLCopen
• Ready-for-use application program templates for common automation applications
• Advanced data recording and live scope features for single and multiple axes
• Network statistics for diagnostics

Distributed Motion Control Architecture

The Gold Lion's distributed motion control architecture lends itself to an intelligent and modular design of the overall motion control system, enabling optimal selection of the servo drive for each axis. When coupled with Elmo's ExtrIQ Line network drives, the implementation of the overall motion system is extremely efficient. The intelligent servo drives execute the highly demanding local position, velocity, current and vector real-time control algorithms, and they also handle the local axis and I/O sequences using the drive's programming capabilities. Together with a wide variety of special functions and features, Elmo's drives have very high axis level performance.

The Gold Lion is a state-of-the-art, multi-axis motion controller. Its role is to supervise and synchronize the operation of the overall machine axes and I/Os. Using IEC-61131-3 or C programming, as well as a complete ready-to-use API for PLCopen functions, EtherCAT (or CANopen) master functionality and a wide variety of program templates for common applications, the user can easily create programs for machine control and NC axis synchronization. With up to 100 axes in the system and up to 16 axes in synchronized motion as well as a cycle time as low as 500 ?s and 1 ?s accuracy of the overall system distributed clock, the Gold Lion meets the needs of your application.

The Gold Lion is equipped with Ethernet and USB communication channels to communicate with the host computer, PLC or HMI, and supports standard communication protocols such as Modbus, Telnet, FTP and Ethernet/IP.