Hi petrasvestartas4359, Those are good questions. The specific answers will depend on your application and synchronization requirements. In general, the ClearCore is capable of synchronizing the motion of several axes across multiple controllers. The expected latency will depend on which communication protocol you are using and how your software is designed. For an application-specific answer, I encourage you to reach out to our tech support directly. They are happy to discuss your requirements and determine if ClearCore is a good fit for your application. You can contact our applications engineers by filling out a contact request form on our website (teknic.com/contact/) or by giving us a call at 585-784-7454. Best, Bradley N. -Teknic OEM Applications Engineer

Hi Muhammed, At the current time, Teknic products do not support the EtherCAT protocol. Best regards, Erik M - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer

Hi petrasvestartas4359, Thank you for your comment. I understand your frustration with the Atmel Studio environment. While we do not currently have a video tutorial for ClearCore with Atmel Studio, we have developed the ClearCore Arduino Wrapper. This wrapper allows customers who do not require all the functionality of a full-featured IDE to develop software in an easy-to-use environment. We have also developed 45+ examples that demonstrate many of ClearCore’s features including motion, I/O, and networking. The ClearCore motion and I/O controller is capable of communicating with other devices over various serial and ethernet protocols. However, since ClearCore was designed to be a highly configurable standalone controller, you will need to develop and load a program to establish this communication. Based on your description, I recommend checking out the Serial Command Parser example and User Guide (linked below). By default, this example will establish a serial connection with a device via the USB port and provide a list of simple commands to control the motor using a serial monitor. This example can also be easily converted to use other serial and ethernet protocols. A full list of example programs can be found in the ClearCore Library Online Documentation (HERE: teknic-inc.github.io/ClearCore-library/index.html). ClearCore Serial Command Parser: • Code: teknic-inc.github.io/ClearCore-library/_serial_comm_examples_2_clear_core_command_protocol_2_clear_core_command_protocol_8cpp-example.html • User Guide: teknic-inc.github.io/ClearCore-library/ClearCoreCommandProtocol_UserGuide.pdf That said, the ClearCore Library does not natively support CNC control, and converting ClearCore into a CNC controller would be a significant software project. If you are looking to build a CNC machine, I recommend looking into a dedicated CNC controller. If you have any questions about the ClearCore Library, don’t hesitate to reach out. You can contact our applications engineers directly through our website (teknic.com/contact/) or by giving us a call at 585-784-7454. Best, Bradley N. -Teknic OEM Applications Engineer

@@TeknicInc thank you, the provided Atmel example helped. I managed to enable the motor and rotate the shaft. I would like to run 6 motors, but the CleaCore board has only 4 slots. I know I can connect two ClearCore boards. But then, how can I send a command from USB to control the rest of 5 and 6 motors? The documentation says: "e0, e1, e2, and e3" are the possible options. Would it work with "e5" and "e6" ? I would like to know an answer before buying extra ClearCore board and motors.

​@@petrasvestartas4359 Hi petrasvestartas4359, I’m glad you were able to successfully use the Serial Command Parser example. To control additional motors on another ClearCore device, you will need to do three things. 1. Add code to the program running on the first ClearCore to manage two additional motors. 2. Modify the Serial Command Parser to pass along these commands to the second ClearCore via the COM or Ethernet ports. The ClearCore is capable of communicating via several different protocols including SPI, TTL, Ethernet TCP, Ethernet UDP, and Modbus. Examples demonstrating how to configure the ClearCore for each of these communication methods can be found in the ClearCore Online Documentation (HERE: teknic-inc.github.io/ClearCore-library/SdkExamples.html) or on our Downloads Page (Here: teknic.com/downloads/). 3. Load another modified version of the Serial Command Parser into the second ClearCore that can receive commands via your chosen protocol. Best, Bradley N. -Teknic OEM Applications Engineer

@@TeknicInc Dear Bradley, Thank you for your answer, according to you and support via Teknic email queries, there are no really examples for this. You also just pointed to the general SDK website. I will try to buy another board and test it myself. But this answer slows down my progress a lot. I will not buy more equipment from Teknic, until I can manage to understand this communication. For now it is very difficult to know each step and whether each step will work. But I ll try... Fingers crossed...

Hi star child, I am an applications engineer at Teknic and came across your comment. Thank you for your interest in ClearCore! The quick answer is that there are some advantages to the Atmel Studio IDE (now named Microchip Studio), but neither IDE will limit your ClearCore’s functionality. If you have used the Arduino IDE before, then you can use the Arduino wrapper to make your programming experience more familiar to what you have done in the past. You (and others reading this post) may be interested in more detail, so I will elaborate below. Both the Microchip Studio IDE and the Arduino IDE are effective and capable IDEs; you can use the full functionality of ClearCore through either. Both IDEs give you access to Teknic’s C++ Motion and I/O library (either directly or through the Arduino wrapper), as well as about 50 example programs to help get you started (here is a link to the Microchip Studio examples: teknic-inc.github.io/ClearCore-library/). The Arduino IDE examples can be accessed through our website here: www.teknic.com/downloads/ Since both IDEs sound so similar, you may wonder why you would choose one over the other. Professional programmers tend to gravitate towards the Microchip IDE as it enables more powerful code debugging and has a more exhaustive feature set (including Visual Assist/IntelliSense and a clear project/solution structure). These features often times come at the expense of a longer learning curve for first time Microchip Studio users. The Arduino IDE on the other hand is used by millions of people around the world, so there is a very robust community for support (which is particularly helpful if you haven’t done C++ programming before). Although it lacks a number of features, one potentially significant downside to the Arduino IDE is that it doesn’t support some of the advanced diagnostic capabilities which professional programmers and complex machine designers have come to expect. Most high-volume OEMs and customers working on complex machines tend to use the Microchip Studio for full machine development for the reasons mentioned above. In particular, the Microchip Studio IDE enables the use of a hardware debugger (www.teknic.com/ATATMEL-ICE-BASIC/). The hardware debugger allows these customers to set breakpoints, single step through code, examine variables, and more while the code is executing on ClearCore (which, as you might imagine, can be quite beneficial). This functionality does not exist in the Arduino IDE. If you have any additional questions or comments, you can contact a Teknic engineer at 585-784-7454 from 8AM-6PM (M-F) or use the "Contact" form on Teknic's website: www.teknic.com/contact/ Best regards, Ian R - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer

Hi Jonathan, We don't have anything specific about how to wire up a light curtain, but the ClearCore documentation ( teknic.com/files/downloads/clearcore_user_manual.pdf ) has examples for how to wire to just about any kind of electronic component. I imagine the manufacturer of the light curtain will give you a schematic for their outputs that you could cross reference against our documentation. It's difficult to give you more specific information without knowing more about your system, but if you have a particular light curtain model and part number in mind and can't figure out how to wire it to ClearCore, feel free to contact us at teknic.com/contact/ or you call us at 585-784-7454. Best regards, Tom T. - Teknic Servo Systems Egnineer

@@TeknicInc I know how to wire the light curtain and a digital input. How to I make the clear core stop servo motion and resume properly when light curtain is broken / unbroken,

@@jonathanhornell-kennedy4521 Hi Jonathan: The optimal answer depends on whether you are using Teknic’s ClearPath-SD series, ClearPath-MC series, or a servo or stepper from another manufacturer. The preferred choice will also depend on the level of safety protection that you want. For example, relying on software for a safety system is often not acceptable because software is historically perceived (often rightly so) to be less reliable than hardware. Even if your own application code is not involved, the safety system of your application might not be considered safe by some authorities if the firmware in a processor (like in the ClearCore) is involved. “Resuming properly” can have different definitions based on different application requirements. For example, if re-homing the machine after power cycling the “hazardous” voltage (bus power) is undesirable, providing logic power backup may be required to keep the logic-level power alive when “hazardous” power is cut. Some common approaches to creating safety systems include (but are not limited to): 1. Use a relay/contactor to cut AC to the servo’s bus power supply. Dynamic braking (on a ClearPath servo) will stop or slow the axis. External brakes are also an option for loads subject to gravity or tension. ClearCore could be involved here if software involvement is acceptable: a. ClearCore could be completely uninvolved and everything is controlled through an SSR for example. b. ClearCore could control the contactor and brakes based on the light curtain input, but this relies on software. c. A hybrid approach where ClearCore monitors the light curtain state so other things can happen, but removing motor power is still handled by other hardware. The software running on ClearCore could also test the integrity of the system upon start-up to give some helpful redundancy without relying on the software to kill power. 2. Use ClearCore to command the motor to make a controlled stop when a digital input is triggered. Once the motion has stopped, you could choose to leave the drive enabled, disable it, or remove power to the drive. How you stop the motion depends on the type of servo being controlled. Here are some potential options when using either a ClearPath-SD servo or a ClearPath-MC servo (some other servos might have similar options): a. If you use a ClearPath-SD servo (i.e., with Step&Dir inputs), the light curtain digital input to the ClearCore could be configured as an “EStopConnector” which will automatically ramp the command to 0 RPM when triggered. You have the ability to preconfigure a separate EStopDecelMax decel rate for this EStop function. b. When using the ClearPath-MC, you could program ClearCore to stop the motion at any time by using the inputs related to the specific operational mode used for that axis. You could also preconfigure a ramped stop function upon disable in ClearPath-MC. (This applies to every MC operational mode except “Spin On Power Up” and the various torque modes.) If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact Teknic directly at teknic.com/contact/ or give us a call at 585-784-7454. Best regards, Tom T - Servo Systems Engineer

Hi Jens Peterson, ClearCore has 13 programmable digital and analog I/O points. Four of the I/O points can be configured as analog inputs (0-10 volts). Two of the I/O points can be configured as variable, bi-directional outputs (H-Bridge). We breakdown the configuration options for each of the 13 I/O points on ClearCore, here: teknic.com/products/io-motion-controller/ ClearCore is programable, so you can program the ClearCore to read an analog input (between 0-10 volts) and output a corresponding signal via the H-Bridge outputs. Just be sure that the devices you plan to use with ClearCore are electrically compatible with ClearCore’s I/O points. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out to us directly through our "Contact Us" form (www.teknic.com/contact/) or give us a call at 585-784-7454. Best regards, Ian R. - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer

Hi Tr Liiv, It's a touchscreen from 4D Systems (GEN4-ULCD-43DCT-CLB). We talk to it via TTL UART serial communication. 4D Systems provides a number of software tools to help get started with your application, including an Arduino library (directly compatible with ClearCore's Arduino wrapper). To make wiring easier, here is a link to a break-out board for the 4D systems HMI: 4dsystems.com.au/products/4d-clearcore-adaptor/ As a note, if your application requires some elements that are outside the 4D Systems' standard library, you may need to create some of your own (we ended up with a pretty sophisticated UI for this project and created many of our own elements outside of the standard library). Please feel free to give Teknic a call at 585-784-7454 if you have any questions, or fill out a "contact request" at www.teknic.com/contact/ . Mark D. - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer

Hi John, Thank you for your compliments and feedback. I will be sure to add the request for a ClearPath SC compatible I/O and motion controller to our feature request backlog. Our engineering teams use this backlog to determine which tasks or projects to pursue next. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at www.teknic.com/contact/ Best regards, -Ian R., Teknic Servo Systems Engineer

Hi Michael, We have internally discussed sharing the code for this project, but it is not documented as nicely as we would like our code to be for public release, so at the moment that task is on the back burner. The good news is that we have published quite a few code examples for the machine’s controller, “ClearCore”, as well as other detailed information (including electrical schematics, and mechanical information). You can find this information here: www.teknic.com/products/io-motion-controller/ (and downloads here: www.teknic.com/downloads/?download=1&clearcore=1#clearcore_2) If you have any other questions or suggestions, please feel free to reach out to us directly through our "Contact Us" form (www.teknic.com/contact/) or give us a call at 585-784-7454. Best regards, Tom T. - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer

I am using Mach4 and sending commands to my tool carousel kit prototype using ethernet. I use the ClearCore and the SDSK motors with a bunch of analog and induction sensors. Works really well but you need to write the software. The ClearCore doesn't come out of the box programmed except with a Arduino compatible bootloader and a program to flash the LEDs. Since you can use Arduino compatible code just port GRBL to the ClearCore. That is my next project. Personally, I am getting rid of Mach4. It isn't bad but it isn't needed anymore. It takes a whole PC for what could easily run on a ClearCore and almost any Gcode loader will give you 100% of what the Mach3 or 4 UI have.

@@adeeperbluegreen Thank you for the information! Good luck with your project.

Hi @Machine 27, I'm an Applications Engineer at Teknic and I’m glad that you found ClearCore impressive! ClearCore is a programmable motion and I/O controller that you can use to generate Step and Direction signals for ClearPath SD motors (and other Step and Direction servo or stepper drives), but ClearCore is _not_ a native CNC controller. There is _currently_ no off-the-shelf software compatibly for Mach or any other CNC controller. The Motion commands in ClearCore's standard C++ “Motion and I/O Library” are targeted for use on machines that primarily perform “point-to-point” motion. In other words, people use this library when they need an axis to move from point A to point B, but they don’t need the axis to follow an arbitrary velocity vs. time profile (these arbitrary velocity vs. time motion profiles are what you need in most CNC applications). If you haven’t already seen it, here is an overview of ClearCore's capabilities: www.teknic.com/products/io-motion-controller/. ClearCore’s source code is freely available through the Downloads page on our website (www.teknic.com/downloads/). It would be possible for an experienced software developer to program ClearCore to interpret G and M-code commands, or stream position/velocity commands from a CNC controller like Mach, but at the moment, Teknic does not have any plans to do this. We would, however, be happy to support anyone who wants to take on this challenge. Once that programming was completed, ClearCore could coordinate multi-axis Step & Direction motion (along with reading and writing motion related I/O) based on commands from upstream CNC software like Mach3. If someone were to take this on, that individual would bypass the high-level motion commands of ClearCore’s Motion and I/O library (because it is designed for point to point moves rather than path-following). You would then program ClearCore at a lower level to send out a variable number of pulses on a fixed heartbeat (5kHz). By varying the number of pulses per sample time you could create the arbitrary velocity vs. time profiles that are required for CNC machining. If any user is interested in developing this front end interface, and they feel they have the experience and background to develop this type of functionality, please give us a call at 585-784-7454, or use our "Contact Us" form online at www.teknic.com/contact/. Best regards, Jon K. - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer

@@TeknicInc Thank you for the response. Your company's motors have become the "go-to" for many of the hobbiest cnc people (myself included). A turn key device from Teknic that could run Mach3 / Mach4 would have a good market I would think.

Hi Will F, Thank you for your kind words about ClearCore. For this specific project, Teknic used a touch screen from 4D Systems (GEN4-ULCD-43DCT-CLB) and communicated via "TTL" UART serial communication. 4D Systems provides a number of software tools to help get started with your application, including an Arduino library (directly compatible with ClearCore's Arduino wrapper). Here is a link: 4dsystems.com.au/gen4-ulcd-43dct-clb As a note, if your application requires some elements that are outside the 4D Systems' standard library, you may need to create some of your own (we ended up with a pretty sophisticated UI for this project and created many of our own elements outside of the standard library). I hope this information helps. Please feel free to give Teknic a call at 585-784-7454 if you have any questions, or fill out a "contact request" at www.teknic.com/contact/ . Bridgette G. - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer

@@TeknicInc Bridgette, Thank you for the details! This HMI with the ClearCore knocks about $3,500 off of the control package I am looking to replace! Awesome product, can't wait to try one out. I think uploading your Bartender code to the Clearcore example library would super helpful to new users looking to swap over from competitors.

Hi Randy, Thank you for taking the time to comment and provide us with some feedback! It’s interesting that you mention project details, because Teknic is seriously considering publishing a build log or BOM for this project. If/when we create and post something like this, we’ll be sure to place a link in the video’s description. In the meantime, if you’re interested in learning more about the machine’s controller (ClearCore), you can find detailed product information (including software examples, electrical schematics, and mechanical information) here: www.teknic.com/products/io-motion-controller/. If you have any other questions or suggestions, please feel free to reach out to us directly through our "Contact Us" form (www.teknic.com/contact/) or give us a call at 585-784-7454. Best regards, Jon K - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer

Hi henri, The ClearCore library does not currently support CNC-specific functionality. A user with a strong software background could technically program a ClearCore to interpret G-code and M-code commands. However, this is a large software undertaking (typically more appropriate for machine manufacturers) - so most users will have an easier time implementing a different controller for their CNC machine(s). If you have the experience and intend to invest the time to create the necessary CNC functionality, we'd be interested in discussing this project with you. If you have further questions, feel free to reach out to us directly through our "contact us" form (www.teknic.com/contact/) or call us at 585-784-7454. Thanks, Aaron B. - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer

Hi Craig, thanks for the positive comments about ClearCore! You mentioned GRBL, so I was wondering if you expect to use ClearCore as a CNC controller. The reason is that although a user with a strong software background could program a ClearCore to interpret G-code and M-code commands, the ClearCore library does not currently have native support for such CNC-specific functionality. ClearCore is a great fit for most I/O and point-to-point motion applications, but using it for CNC would require a significant amount of effort. If you have the experience and intend to invest the time to create the necessary CNC functionality, we'd be interested in discussing this project with you. If you have further questions, feel free to reach out to us directly through our "contact us" form (www.teknic.com/contact/ ) or call us at 585-784-7454. Thanks. Best regards, AbeA. - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer

@@TeknicInc Thanks for the fast response. I understand your statements in terms of G/M code control functionality. I'll call you.

Hi John Boon, Thanks for watching the video and for your comment. Teknic will be developing more support resources for the ClearCore I/O and motion controller in the near future (including videos on how to setup and use the product). That said, this video and support documentation process takes some time to complete because we create all of our support documentation and videos internally. If you subscribe to Teknic's UKposts channel and click on the notification bell, you will be notified when the new video is released. In the meantime, you may be interested in the large amount of example application code that can be found on Teknic's website: teknic-inc.github.io/ClearCore-library/SdkExamples.html This code is created so that you should be able to copy the code into your IDE and run it without any trouble. The examples are well commented and should give you a good idea of what to expect when working with ClearCore. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us directly through our "Contact Us" form (www.teknic.com/contact/) or give us a call at 585-784-7454. Best regards, Mark D - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer

Hi Petras, Thank you for your interest in Teknic’s products. I apologize that you didn’t get a response to your message(s). I looked into our system and could only find one record of you contacting us (this took place in May of 2023), so I don't know what happened to your second request. One of Teknic's Applications Engineers reached out to you back in May, and he will reach out to you again to help determine what happened to your other message. Concerning support, Teknic provides free pre-sales and post-sales support to customers. Please feel free to give Teknic a call at 585-784-7454 if you have any questions, or fill out a "contact request" at teknic.com/contact/ Best regards, Ian R., Teknic Servo Systems Engineer

@@TeknicInc Thank you Ian for your reply I filled the form once more with very precise questions, I will be looking forward to the reply.

Hi AeroGarage, I'm glad to hear that you love your ClearPath servos! We definitely understand your desire for a ClearCore CNC controller. It would be a very clean solution. While ClearCore isn't currently a native CNC controller, a user with a solid software background could program a ClearCore to interpret G-code and M-code commands. Teknic has no plans to do this at the moment, but we'd be happy to discuss with anyone who wants to pursue this idea. If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to give us a call at 585-784-7454 or use our "Contact Us" form on Teknic's website: www.teknic.com/contact/ Best regards, Bridgette G. - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer

Hello Robert Fontaine, Thanks for watching the video and for your comment. The UKposts user "Machine 27" posted a similar comment on this video about CNC control and the ClearCore Motion and I/O Controller. One of our applications engineers replied to Machine 27's comment with some relevant details regarding the capabilities of Teknic's ClearCore and how they relate to the requirements of a CNC controller versus a point-to-point controller. As a quick summary, the ClearCore is not natively a CNC controller, but someone with extensive experience could potentially program a ClearCore to interpret G-code and M-code from a CNC controller. Please see our response to Machine 27 for more details. If you have any additional questions or comments, you can contact a Teknic engineer at 585-784-7454 from 8AM-6PM (M-F) or use the "Contact Us" form on Teknic's website: www.teknic.com/contact Best regards, Tom T - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer