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Real-time DC Motor Control Network for Laparoscopic Surgery
Summary: The client was hired to improve upon a prototype of a medical robot used in laparoscopic surgery. I was involved with the selection and specification of the operating system (QNX Neutrino RTOS), single board computer (Versalogic Panther PC104), DC motors (Maxon, Pittman, APIMotion, MicroMo), communications hardware (RS422 PC104 card from Sealevel), and communications protocol (in-house fixed-length packet).
The program consisted mainly of a timer-triggered realtime loop and RS422 communications to the PIC motor controllers. Work was also done on the communications protocol and command setpoint filtering to smooth the motor motion. Software development was all done in C. Work was also done to create a bootable image for installation on Campact Flash and DiskOnChip. Some work was also done with the serial port to display messages on an LCD panel and to allow the user to select the operating mode using a foot switch.
Realtime DC motor control network diagram
Technologies used: C, DC motors, MicroChip PIC QNX Neutrino RTOS, RS422 communication
Client: TechEn, Inc.
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Indianapolis, IN 46205
info@sampledsystems.com
317-361-0812