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This document contains the LabVIEW 2012 NI SoftMotion Module known issues that were discovered before and since the release of the LabVIEW 2012 NI SoftMotion Module. Not every issue known to NI will appear on this list; it is intended to only show the severe and more common issues that can be encountered.
Each Issue appears as a row in the table and includes these fields:
Issue ID—Contains the number in at the top of each of the cells in the first column. When you report an issue to NI, you may be given this ID, you can also find IDs posted by NI on the discussion forums or in Knowledge Base articles.
Legacy ID (optional)—Contains the legacy CAR ID, if an issue has a legacy ID from NI's legacy/deprecated bug reporting database. This ID appears on a separate line directly below the Issue ID in the table, or to the right of the Issue ID in the table of contents (separated by a space).
Issue Title (in italics)—Describes the issue in one sentence or less.
Problem Description—Describes the problem in further detail. The brief description given does not necessarily describe the problem in full detail, and it is expected that you might want more information on an issue. If you would like more information on an issue feel free to contact NI (contact information below) and reference the ID number given in the document.
Workaround—Provides possible ways to work around the problem. The workarounds that appear in the document are not always tested by NI and are not guaranteed to resolve the issue. If a workaround refers you to the NI KnowledgeBase, please visit www.ni.com/kb/ and enter that KB number in the search field to locate the specific document.
Reported Version—Contains the earliest version of the NI SoftMotion Module the issue was reported in. If you discover the issue appears in an earlier version of the NI SoftMotion Module than is reported in this field, you can report that to NI (contact information below) to have the field updated.
Resolved Version—Contains the version the issue was resolved or was no longer applicable. If an issue has not been resolved "N/A" will be reported.
Date Added—Contains the date the issue was added to the document (not the reported date).
Contacting NI
Feel free to contact NI regarding this document or issues in the document. If you are contacting NI in regards to a specific issue, be sure to reference the ID number given in the document to the NI representative. The ID number contains the current issue ID number as well as the legacy ID number (use the current ID number when contacting National Instruments). You can contact us through any of the normal support channels including phone, email, or the discussion forums. Visit the NI Website to contact us. Also consider contacting us if you find a workaround for an issue that is not listed in the document so that we can add the workaround to the document.
Known Issues by Category
The following items are known issues in LabVIEW 2012 NI SoftMotion Module sorted by Category.
| ID | Known Issue | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AKD Servo Drive | ||||||
| 300628 Return |
Disconnecting the EtherCAT cable on an AKD EtherCAT servo drive requires a reinitialize or reboot to recover. Workaround: Reinitialize the NI SoftMotion Module or reboot the controller. Refer to the Reinitialize example in the <labview>\examples\Motion\ConfigurationAPI\Reinitialize directory for an example showing how to programmatically reinitialize the NI SoftMotion Module.
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| 326491 Return |
The Anti-Resonance Filter Type setting on an AKD EtherCAT Axis is not updated in Kollmorgen WorkBench. When you set the Anti-Resonance Filter Type in the Velocity Loop page of the Axis Configuration dialog box, your setting is not updated in the Kollmorgen WorkBench software. In WorkBench, you may get a warning about the values not matching the filter type. Workaround: You can ignore this warning. All of the correct parameters have been sent to the drive and it will behave as expected.
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| Axis Interface | ||||||
| 159805 Return |
No error is returned when writing an analog value when the analog output is already in use. Using the Analog Line function to write an analog value to the analog output should return an error if the output is already being used by the PID controller. However, no error is returned. This issue only applies to unbound axes, not to the NI 9514 or NI 9516 drive interface modules used in Scan Interface mode. Workaround: None.
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| 356868 Return |
User-defined variable axes cannot easily switch between single and periodic position compare. User-defined variable (UDV) axes should be able to use the Periodic Position Compare FPGA VI to perform both periodic and single compare operations by using a period of 0 to enable a single compare. However, a period of 0 is not currently supported by the NI SoftMotion Module. Workaround: You can use a pulse width of 1 and a period of 1 to generate a single compare with the Periodic Position Compare VI.
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| Configuration | ||||||
| 298886 Return |
Encoder velocity filter distances greater than 1 do not work. Setting the Encoder Velocity Filter Distance to a value greater than 1 causes the velocity returned to never update. This is only apparent if you are using the Encoder Velocity Filter Distance only (setting the Velocity Filter Time to 0 to disable it). Workaround: None.
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| 304423 Return |
NI 951x module cannot be enabled after switching the servo axis from torque mode to interpolated position mode. In some cases, the NI 951x module does not work correctly when switching the servo axis from Torque mode (disabling the Run position loop on hardware checkbox) to Interpolated Position mode (enabling the Run position loop on hardware checkbox). This issue only occurs if you deploy a change to the NI Scan Engine Scan Rate at the same time. Workaround: First deploy the switch to Interpolated Position mode, then deploy the change to the NI Scan Engine Scan Rate.
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| 305115 Return |
Setting the closed-loop stepper correction profile velocity to 0 returns error -77037 (NIMCDM_invalidDataError). When configuring a closed-loop stepper axis using the instructions found in the "Configuring a Closed-Loop Stepper Axis (NI SoftMotion Module)" topic in the NI SoftMotion Help, error -77037 is returned when the correction profile velocity is set to 0 when you attempt to enable the drive. Workaround: Set the correction profile velocity to 0.01 instead of 0.
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| 349494 Return |
After a system reboot or system re-initialization, the position error limit is not properly scaled using user units. After rebooting, the position error limit uses the default scaling, and does not take into account any user-specified unit scaling. Workaround: Redeploy the axis after reboot. The deploy must be a meaningful deploy, meaning that at least one axis parameter must have been changed.
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| 352516 Return |
Rebinding an axis to a different hardware resource can cause parameters to be outside of the valid range. When you bind an axis to a different hardware type than what it was originally configured with, it can cause parameters to fall outside the valid range for the new hardware type. Workaround: When you are rebinding axes, make sure to check that the axis configuration parameters are still valid.
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| 360277 Return |
When the NI Scan Engine is set to boot into Configuration Mode and you try to deploy changes to an axis, you will get error -70235 (NIMC_resourceNotSet) This error only occurs when you set the RT target to boot into Configuration Mode and you try to deploy new settings to an axis while still in Configuration Mode. Workaround: If you have already received error -70235, you must reboot the target to clear it. To avoid getting this error, either have the NI Scan Engine boot into Active Mode or switch the NI Scan Engine from Active Mode and then back to Configuration Mode before deploying changes to an axis.
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| EtherCAT | ||||||
| 296911 Return |
Axis properties cannot be set while in configuration mode for NI 951x modules in a 9144 chassis. Any axis properties configured using property nodes when the NI Scan Engine is in Configuration mode are reset to the values configured in the Axis Configuration dialog box when the NI Scan Engine switches to Active mode. Workaround: Any axis properties that cannot be set in Active mode must be configured using the Axis Configuration dialog box rather than the NI SoftMotion axis property node.
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| 300628 Return |
Disconnecting the EtherCAT cable on an AKD EtherCAT servo drive requires a reinitialize or reboot to recover. Workaround: Reinitialize the NI SoftMotion Module or reboot the controller. Refer to the Reinitialize example in the <labview>\examples\Motion\ConfigurationAPI\Reinitialize directory for an example showing how to programmatically reinitialize the NI SoftMotion Module.
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| 332899 Return |
Powering an AKD EtherCAT slave when the master is already powered can put NI SoftMotion into a bad state. If you power up an AKD EtherCAT slave when the master is already powered, you may get error -77055 (NIMCDM_axisCommunicationWatchdogError) when trying to enable the drive. Workaround: Reboot the EtherCAT master. Prior to NI SoftMotion 2011, you can switch the NI Scan Engine from Active to Configuration mode, then back to Active mode to clear the error. For NI SoftMotion 2011 and later, you can reinitialize the NI SoftMotion Module to clear the error. Refer to the Reinitialize example in the <labview>\examples\Motion\ConfigurationAPI\Reinitialize directory for an example showing how to programmatically reinitialize the NI SoftMotion Module.
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| Express VIs | ||||||
| 304109 Return |
Trying to use NI SoftMotion Express VIs that are not supported in NI SoftMotion Module Lite returns an ambiguous error. The error returned is "This node is not executable because an unexpected error occurred during code generation." This is because the selected Express VI is only supported in NI SoftMotion Module Standard or NI SoftMotion Module Premium. Go to ni.com/info and enter nismpkg for more information about the NI SoftMotion Module options. Workaround: None.
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| 349912 Return |
A function block and express VI with the same caption can cause the function block to break. If you have a function block and express VI on your block diagram with the same caption and you change the timing model of the express VI, the function block will break. When you double-click the function block, you receive error 56004: Cannot configure function block properties. Workaround: Make sure that function blocks and express VIs do not have the same caption. If you encounter this error, replace the function block with a new function block of the same type and then change the caption.
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| Function Blocks | ||||||
| 252626 Return |
Changing the method of a function block that uses network or local variables removes the variables from the project. When changing a function block with a network or local variable to a different method, the variable disappears from the LabVIEW project and the following internal error is displayed when LabVIEW restarts:. "The last time you ran LabVIEW, an internal error or crash occured at SharedVariableNode.cpp, line 2814." Workaround: This error will not close the LabVIEW development environment and can be ignored during restart. Any time you change the method of a function block that uses network or local variables you must open the function block Properties dialog box and and change the variable scope back to the original scope.
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| 349912 Return |
A function block and express VI with the same caption can cause the function block to break. If you have a function block and express VI on your block diagram with the same caption and you change the timing model of the express VI, the function block will break. When you double-click the function block, you receive error 56004: Cannot configure function block properties. Workaround: Make sure that function blocks and express VIs do not have the same caption. If you encounter this error, replace the function block with a new function block of the same type and then change the caption.
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| Installation | ||||||
| 164539 Return |
Error: niecatsv.dll not found when booting the RT controller with NI SoftMotion installed. This error is incorrectly reported. niecatsv.dll is not required to use NI SoftMotion unless you are using NI SoftMotion with an EtherCAT device. Workaround: Ignore the error or install support for EtherCAT.
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| Interactive and Tuning | ||||||
| 349432 Return |
Resetting an axis position on an RT target to +/- 1x10^68 or greater causes the target to lock up. When you reset the axis position past +/- 1x10^68 the target locks up until it is rebooted. This occurs for all axis types. Workaround: None.
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| 349872 Return |
When you have a digital input mapped to Drive Fault and the input is active, the Interactive Test Panel dialog box returns the wrong error. It returns error -77125: "No property data to get. The property is empty so no data was retrieved from it." It should return error -70217: "A required resource is in a fault state or the Drive Fault/Alarm line is active." The correct error is reported if you are using Express VIs, function blocks, or the property/invoke node API. Workaround: None.
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| Motor Control VIs | ||||||
| 364012 Return |
The Periodic Position Compare FPGA VI does not work correctly when the period input is 2. When the compare period is 2 and the pulse width is 1, the period of the compare output will be 4 instead of 2. Compare periods greater than 2 work as expected. Workaround: None.
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| 364801 Return |
The PI Flux/Torque Loop FPGA VI returns incorrect values. When using a non-zero Ki value with the PI Flux/Torque Loop VI, the Quad Voltage and Direct Voltage outputs will not be correct. This can lead to overcurrent faults. Workaround: Refer to KB 601HGIOG for more information.
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| NI 951x Comm Module | ||||||
| 300583 Return |
Trying to check the NI 951x module firmware version when the module is not deployed returns a misleading error. The error message states "An error occurred while updating firmware over EtherCAT. Please reboot the RT Controller and try again." To properly resolve the error you must deploy the module, not reboot the target. Workaround: Deploy the module.
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| NI SoftMotion Engine | ||||||
| 221697 Return |
Contour Move Update Points returns error -77104 (NIMCDM_bufferCanNotWriteError) when used with a Finite contour move. Calling the Update Points method when running a Finite contour move returns error -77104. This error is misleading as the buffer cannot be updated when executing a Finite contour move. Workaround: To update points when executing a contour move use the Continuous Contour method instead.
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| 227752 Return |
Using a contour table configured for one axis with a multi-axis contour move does not immediately return an error. The move will start on the single axis, but as the buffer points are consumed NI SoftMotion eventually returns error -77032 (NIMCDM_bufferNotUpdatedError). Workaround: None.
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| 231035 Return |
You can preempt a coordinate move with an axis move. NI SoftMotion currently allows you to preempt a coordinate move with an axis move. This is unsupported and can lead to undesired effects on the motion system. Workaround: Stop the coordinate move before executing a move on an axis resource.
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| 231425 Return |
Profile Complete and Move Complete are True when the drive is disabled during a move. The Profile Complete status is incorrectly set to TRUE when the drive is disabled during a move. Because the Profile Complete status is always included in the Move Complete Criteria, Move Complete is also true when the drive is disabled even when it is not included in the Move Complete Criteria. Workaround: None.
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| 235309 Return |
Relative to Capture moves on a coordinate resource function as regular relative moves. Coordinate resources do not support the Relative to Capture straight-line move mode. Using this move mode on a coordinate move is the same as executing a straight-line move using the Relative mode. Workaround: None.
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| 236390 Return |
NI 951x Module Cannot Clear Position Error When Performing Coordinate and Single Axis Moves on the Same Axis. When performing both coordinate and single axis moves in the same VI it is possible to have a position error occur that cannot be cleared even by switching the NI Scan Engine to Configuration mode and back to Active mode. The error typically occurs after writing a setpoint greater than the maximum step length specified on the module. Workaround: Perform individual axis moves by using a coordinate move that only moves a single axis.
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| 251637 Return |
Distributing an NI SoftMotion application to a Windows machine results in a missing DLL. Creating a LabVIEW executable and installer for an application using the LabVIEW NI SoftMotion Module and running it on a computer without NI LabVIEW installed results in nimclv.dll being reported missing. Workaround: Copy dm*, nism*, nimc* from [labview]\resource to the same directory as the executable.
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| 252820 Return |
Starting an Index reference move with an active limit causes the axis to move until the opposite limit is reached. Starting a Find Index reference move on an active forward or reverse limit correctly returns error 77025 (NIMCDM_limitSwitchActiveError ), but the axis continues moving until the opposite limit switch is encountered. Workaround: Move off of the active limit before executing a Find Index reference move.
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| 255747 Return |
Resetting an NI 9512 drive interface module to 1E+25 (from 0) results in "Position Error Exceeded" status to be TRUE. Resetting an NI 9512 drive interface module to 1E+25 or higher (from 0) causes the "Position Error Exceed" status to be TRUE. This is because exceeding the module max step size turns on the "Position Error Exceeded" status. When "Position Error Exceeded" status becomes TRUE due to this error, you cannot clear it by disabling and enabling the axis. Workaround: To properly clear this status, unplug the module from the cRIO chassis and plug it back in.
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| 298886 Return |
Encoder velocity filter distances greater than 1 do not work. Setting the Encoder Velocity Filter Distance to a value greater than 1 causes the velocity returned to never update. This is only apparent if you are using the Encoder Velocity Filter Distance only (setting the Velocity Filter Time to 0 to disable it). Workaround: None.
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| 325655 Return |
Starting a move that has a final position larger than 1E16 will produce error -77109 (NIMCDM_parametersDefineOutOfRange). Workaround: None.
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| 327032 Return |
Disabling a drive or performing an immediate stop could cause the reported commanded velocity to be incorrect. If you disable the drive or perform an immediate stop during a move, the reported commanded velocity does not change from the last reported value. The actual commanded velocity to the drive is still correct. Workaround: None
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| 329767 Return |
The Reported Velocity is incorrect for certain axis types. If you are using an NI 951x axis, an AKD EtherCAT axis, or an unbound axis, the reported velocity does not correctly use the Steps Per Unit setting in the Axis Configuration menu. Workaround: In your code, multiply the returned velocity by the value of Steps Per Unit to get the actual velocity.
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| 356333 Return |
Starting a new move while another move is in progress can cause a hang The hang occurs when a move is in progress and you start another move in the same direction. If the move parameters would not allow the motion to stop at the specified position without moving in the opposite direction, the move does not start and the VI hangs. Workaround: Abort the VI.
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| 356790 Return |
Clearing a fault on an axis in a coordinate space causes the axis to re-enable If you perform a coordinate space enable and an axis in the coordinate space gets a fault, upon clearing the fault, the axis automatically re-enables. Workaround: Disable the coordinate space before clearing the fault.
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| Other | ||||||
| 323627 Return |
Rebooting a CompactRIO after performing a long move with an NI 9512 could put the NI Scan Engine into fault mode. After performing a move longer than 2,147,483,647 steps in the same direction, rebooting the CompactRIO, and transitioning the NI Scan Engine to Active mode, the scan engine may enter a fault state. The fault is intermittent and may continue to occur after future reboots. Workaround: Prior to NI SoftMotion 2011, you can switch the NI Scan Engine from Active to Configuration mode, then back to Active mode to clear the fault. For NI SoftMotion 2011 and later, you can reinitialize the NI SoftMotion Module to clear the fault. Refer to the Reinitialize example in the <labview>\examples\Motion\ConfigurationAPI\Reinitialize directory for an example showing how to programmatically reinitialize the NI SoftMotion Module.
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| 342652 Return |
Disabling or Enabling one axis in a coordinate space will disable or enable all axes. If you perform a move on a coordinate space and then enable or disable an individual axis, all other axes in the coordinate space will enable or disable. Workaround: None.
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| 342896 Return |
Disabling an axis in a coordinate space can cause a timeout error. If you have two or more axes in a coordinate space and you use the Power function block, express VI, or method to enable the coordinate space, you will get error -70027 when trying to disable any individual axis. You will still be able to disable all of the axes together. Workaround: Enable/Disable the individual axes instead of enabling/disabling the coordinate space.
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| 357667 Return |
Relative to capture moves do not work on user-defined variable (UDV) axes. When performing a relative to capture move with a UDV axis, the move always occurs as if the capture was at position 0. Workaround: Implement your own relative to capture move by reading the captured position, adding your desired offset, and performing an absolute move to that position.
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| Properties and Methods | ||||||
| 319192 Return |
Certain axis properties cannot be read or written programmatically. The following axis properties can be set in the Axis Configuration page, but not programmatically from LabVIEW: Brake, Use Multiple Gain Sets, AR Filter Type, Digital Output Mapping, DAC Scaling Coeff, Analog Input Scaling units, Encoder Units, and Stepper Units. If you try to read or write these properties from LabVIEW, you will either get error -77037 (NIMCDM_invalidDataError) or -77004 (NIMCDM_invalidAttributeError). Workaround: Set these properties using the Axis Configuration dialog box.
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| 335246 Return |
A Velocity-Time contour move must have a velocity change between move segments. When doing a Velocity-Time contour move with the Solve Profile method, you will get error -77108 (NIMCDM_parametersDefineImpossibleMove) if you have two consecutive move segments with the same velocity. Workaround: Making the velocities differ by even a small amount allows you to meet the timing constraints.
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| 341045 Return |
Some Method and Property Inputs do not Have Range Checking The following SoftMotion methods and properties only support certain values, but NI SoftMotion does not return an error if you use an unsupported value: 1) The Line input of Read Analog Line, Write Analog Line, Read Digital Line, and Write Digital line should not have inputs less than 0 or greater than the number of valid lines. 2) Any method or property with an enum or ring input may not work correctly when using an unsupported value. Refer to the NI SoftMotion Module Help for supported values. 3) The Position Compare Period property should not be set to a value less than 0 (the minimum value depends on your hardware). Function Block and Express VIs also fail to return an error when using these unsupported values. This Known Issue replaces previous Known Issues 117781 and 207784. Workaround: Only use valid values for all properties and methods.
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| SolidWorks Interface | ||||||
| 297066 Return |
Moving an NI SoftMotion Module project using SolidWorks axes from Windows XP to Windows 7 does not update the log file path. By default, a LabVIEW project containing a SolidWorks axis on Windows XP saves log files to "C:\Documents and Settings\<labview>\...". If you move this project to a computer running Windows 7, the log file path does not change and the selected path does not exist. Workaround: Manually change the log file path in the Assembly Properties dialog box. Right-click the SolidWorks assembly in the Project Explorer window and select Properties from the shortcut menu to display the Assembly Properties dialog box.
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| Trajectory Generator | ||||||
| 221638 Return |
Preempting a move in the opposite direction can return error -77070 (NIMCDM_startPendingError). NI SoftMotion automatically performs a decelerate stop move when commanding a move in the opposite direction. If you command a second move before the stop has completed, error -77070 is returned. Workaround: Wait for the direction to change before starting a new move.
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| 296142 Return |
Blending a Spherical or a Helical arc to a Circular arc causes velocity spikes when used with the "At Decelerate" blend mode. This is an error in reporting only and does not have an adverse affect on the motion system. Workaround: None.
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| 330144 Return |
The Solve Profile method can fail on33 moves that have an acceleration greater than the deceleration. The Solve Profile method may fail on a move with a much faster acceleration than deceleration. On a real-time target, NI SoftMotion returns error -77108 (NIMCDM_parametersDefineImpossibleMove). On Windows, LabVIEW may crash. Workaround: None
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Document last updated on 8/6/2012
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