Quanser Aero

The Quanser Aero is an integrated lab experiment. It is designed to help teach fundamental control concepts and theories on an easy-to-use and intuitive platform. The Quanser Aero is also suitable for advanced aerospace research applications. For more information, visit the Quanser website for the Quanser Aero.

The QUARC driver name for this card is quanser_aero_usb.

• 2 single-ended analog input channels, 12-bit, ±3A
• 4 single-ended encoder input channels, 5V
• 2 single-ended analog outputs, ±24V
• 7 digital inputs
• 2 digital outputs
• 3 other outputs to drive RGB LED panel
• Integrated with MATLAB/Simulink/Simulink Coder via Quanser QUARC

To select the Quanser Aero HIL board, pass quanser_aero_usb as the card type argument to the hil_open function.

The Quanser Aero I/O channels are described below.

Clocks

There are currently no configuration options for the Quanser Aero clocks.

Analog Inputs

The Quanser Aero supports two analog inputs. The analog inputs measure the current to each motor in Amperes. Their maximum range is ±3A. Channel 0 is the current sense for motor 0 and channel 1 is the current sense for motor 1.

Analog Outputs

The Quanser Aero supports two analog outputs. The analog outputs drive the motor voltages. Their maximum range is ±24V. Channel 0 drives motor 0 and channel 1 drives motor 1.

Digital Inputs

The Quanser Aero supports seven digital inputs, which are used for diagnostics. The digital inputs are enumerated in the table below.

Digital Outputs

The Quanser Aero supports two digital outputs. The digital outputs act as enables for the motor drive circuitry. Channel 0 enables motor 0 and channel 1 enables motor 1. When the output is low, the corresponding motor is disabled. When the output is high, the corresponding motor amplifier is enabled.

Encoder Inputs

The Quanser Aero supports four encoder inputs. Each channels provide a 24-bit count value. All channels only support 4X quadrature mode.

In order to set the encoder counters to a particular count value, use the hil_set_encoder_counts function.

The encoder inputs are sampled simultaneously when measured using a single hil_read or hil_read_encoder call.

PWM Outputs

The Quanser Aero card does not support PWM outputs.

Other Inputs

The Quanser Aero supports ten other input channel, which are enumerated in the table below:

Other Outputs

The Quanser Aero supports three other output channels, allowing the color of the LED panel to be controlled. Note that each channel supports fractional values between 0 and 1, allowing full RGB color. Refer to the table below for a list of the channels:

Interrupts

The Quanser Aero card, or its driver, does not support any interrupt sources.

Watchdog

The Quanser Aero supports a watchdog timer for resetting the outputs on watchdog expiry. Namely, the analog, digital and other output channels will be reset to the user-defined values on watchdog expiry. Resetting of the outputs occurs without software intervention, and therefore may be used as a safety mechanism in the event of software failure.

To enable the watchdog, use the hil_watchdog_start function. Be sure to reload the watchdog periodically using the hil_watchdog_reload function to prevent the watchdog from expiring.

To configure the values to which the output channels are reset on watchdog expiry, use the hil_watchdog_set_analog_expiration_state, hil_watchdog_set_digital_expiration_state and hil_watchdog_set_other_expiration_state functions to set the analog, digital and other output values on watchdog expiration respectively.

Once the watchdog has expired, further I/O on the outputs is disabled until the watchdog state is cleared.

Use the hil_watchdog_clear function to clear the watchdog state. Note that stopping the watchdog does not clear the watchdog state. The watchdog state must be cleared explicitly.

Board-Specific Options

The Quanser Aero card does not support any board-specific options.

Properties

The Quanser Aero driver currently supports the following read-only properties:

Targets

See Also

• Supported Quanser Cards

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