A new all-in-one scanner controller has been developed by Phoenix Inspection Systems Ltd which is capable of manipulating one to four motorized axes simultaneously in a precisely controlled and coordinated manner.
Drive™ incorporates an industry-standard military-grade connector ensuring compatibility with existing scanning devices. Linear amplifiers provide 150W of motor power, for interference-free NDT signals.
Equipped with a powerful integrated touchscreen PC, Drive has built-in automated scan plans that are fully customizable. A flexible GPIO interface permits synchronized control over other equipment such as pneumatics, sensors, and cameras.
With its rugged site-ready construction, Drive provides the added advantage of remote control via Ethernet, so can remain in situ on sensitive inspection sites without an on-site inspection engineer.
Neil Hankinson, Engineering Manager at Phoenix Inspection Systems said: “Having commissioned many automated scanners with a range of third-party motor controllers, we are aware of several shortcomings with other available systems that can cause problems for ultrasonic inspections. Our focus has been to develop a control instrument that minimises electrical noise and interference and hence provides the highest quality inspection data. The drive has been produced as a stand-alone, low-noise motor controller that can pass encoder information to slave data acquisition instruments. We can also provide a motion control command library for system integrators who wish to control Drive from their software.”