The ED2 has a hardware counter chip which is capable of high speed counting, and can monitor both ports simultaneously. The ED2 also has a microprocessor which can read the counter chip or communicate serially to absolute encoders to query them for their current positions. After the ED2 has obtained a raw count, depending upon how the ED2 was configured, it takes the raw count and multiplies it by a user configurable scale factor. The ED2 has two display registers. This means that it can keep track of two encoders at once. The user toggles between these display registers to select which encoder channel is currently displayed on the LCD. If the user does not need or want more than one display, this can be disabled when the user configures the unit.
The count display is set to the preset value when the user presses the preset button. If an external reset signal is encountered the ED2 will display its minimum value, not its preset value. The preset value is entered by the user during unit configuration.
Programming the ED2 is done through a PC running Windows 95/98/NT. The windows ED2 configuration program, ED2CONF, is run on a PC which is connected to the SEI Port of the ED2 through a US Digital AD2B or SEI-USB adapter.
Although the unit has been programmed at the factory, the parameters may be changed to meet the users specific requirements. To configure the ED2, connect a cord from the SEI adapter to the SEI Port of the ED2, and flip the selector switch on the back of the unit to SLAVE.
Then start the ED2CONF program on the PC, making sure it is set up to communicate with the same COM port to which the SEI adapter is connected. ED2CONF allows the user to configure the ED2 using easy point and click menus. Configurations can be saved to disk on the PC, so that commonly used configurations can be quickly downloaded into the ED2.
This is a very flexible unit that allows the firmware to be downloaded in the field. For other personalities, functions, or controller operations, please contact technical support.