11.1.3 MOTF Part Sensor Configuration

The Part Sensor Input can be configured on any of the following ports:

• X901 PortB ( see 10.4.2.2 GPIO Port B Configuration Procedure)

• X906 PortC ( see 10.4.2.3 GPIO Port C (Binning) Configuration Procedure)

• X403 GpioE ( see 10.4.2.5 GPIO Port E Configuration Procedure).

• X907 Laser ( see 7.2.1 Laser Configuration Procedure)

A Part Sensor can then be connected to this input, and used to trigger MOTF processing for target parts when they reach a pre-determined position as they travel along the belt.

We recommend selection of a part sensor with a fast response time, so as to minimize the lag between part detection and delivery of the signal transition to the SP-ICE-3 Card.

Long response times combined with belt speed fluctuations will result in variations of the exact position at which each part is marked.

• For example, a part sensor with a response time of 10ms operating in a system with belt speeds between 20m/min and 30m/min will result in a positional variation of up to 1.6mm (= 30/60 * 10ms – 20/60 * 10ms).

For some applications, it is appropriate to mount the part sensor some distance away from the position at which the part is to be marked.

The part sensing logic of the MOTF module on the SP-ICE-3 Card is sensitive to very fast signal transitions on the part sensor input.

Depending on the environment and the locally encountered electrical noise level, the sensitivity of the input may effectively be too high, with noisy transitions causing false part detection.

In such cases, it can be helpful to reduce the sensitivity of the input by enabling the built-in debounce and suppression mechanism: After an initial part detection, the part detection logic can be configured to ignore any events for either a certain amount of time (debounce time) or a certain distance (suppression distance), or the combination of both. Once, the debounce time has expired and the belt has traveled farther than the suppression distance, the part detection module will again react to new part sensor events.

The debounce mechanism is particularly suitable where the part detection is implemented by a mechanical switch (i.e. a micro-switch), which tends to ring multiple times after each push and release event.

The suppression mechanism based on distance is particularly suitable where the part detection is implemented with an optical sensor and when marking printed parts. The print on the part may confuse the optical sensor resulting in false detection events. Enabling the suppression mechanism and setting the suppression distance to the part's length will eliminate this issue.