User manual

TMCM-1640 TMCL Firmware V2.00 Manual (Rev. 2.00 / 2012-JUL-31) 10

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4 TMCL™

The TMCM-1640 module supports TMCL direct mode and standalone TMCL program execution. You can store

up to 2048 TMCL instructions on it.

In direct mode the TMCL communication over USB/RS485 follows a strict master/slave relationship. That is, a

host computer (e.g. PC/PLC) acting as the interface bus master will send a command to the module. The

TMCL interpreter on it will then interpret this command, do the initialization of the motion controller, read

inputs and write outputs or whatever is necessary according to the specified command. As soon as this step

has been done, the module will send a reply back over USB/RS485 to the bus master. The master should not

transfer the next command till then. Normally, the module will just switch to transmission and occupy the

bus for a reply, otherwise it will stay in receive mode. It will not send any data over the interface without

receiving a command first. This way, any collision on the bus will be avoided when there are more than

two nodes connected to a single bus.

The Trinamic Motion Control Language (TMCL) provides a set of structured motion control commands. Every

motion control command can be given by a host computer or can be stored on the TMCM-1640 to form

programs that run standalone on the module.

Every command has a binary representation and a mnemonic:

- The binary format is used to send commands from the host to a module in direct mode.

- The mnemonic format is used for easy usage of the commands when developing standalone TMCL

applications with the TMCL-IDE (IDE means Integrated Development Environment).

There is also a set of configuration variables for the axis and for global parameters which allow individual

configuration of nearly every function of a module. This manual gives a detailed description of all TMCL

commands and their usage.

4.1 Binary Command Format

When commands are sent from a host to a module, the binary format has to be used. Every command

consists of a one-byte command field, a one-byte type field, a one-byte motor/bank field and a four-byte

value field. So the binary representation of a command always has seven bytes.

When a command is to be sent via USB interface, it has to be enclosed by an address byte at the beginning

and a checksum byte at the end. In this case it consists of nine bytes.

The binary command format for USB and RS485 is structured as follows:

Bytes

Meaning

Module address

Command number

Type number

Motor or Bank number

Value (MSB first!)

Checksum