These instructions are intended for qualified technical personnel. Prior commencing with any activities…
• you must carefully read and understand this manual and
• you must follow the instructions given therein.
EPOS4 Module 50/8 and EPOS4 Compact 50/8 positioning controllers are considered as partly completed machinery
according to EU Directive 2006/42/EC, Article 2, Clause (g) and are intended to be incorporated into or assembled with
other machinery or other partly completed machinery or equipment.
Therefore, you must not put the device into service,…
• unless you have made completely sure that th e other machinery fully complies with the EU directive’s requirements!
• unless the other machinery fulfills all relevant health and safety aspects!
• unless all respective interfaces have been established and fulfill the herein stated requirements!
–stay safe,
–be fast,
–end up with set
up and ready-to-go
equipment.
The purpose of the present document is to familiarize you with the EPOS4 Module 50/8 and EPOS4
Compact 50/8 positioning controllers. It will highlight the tasks for safe and adequate installation and/or
commissioning. Follow the described instructions …
•to avoid dangerous situations,
•to keep installation and/or commissioning time at a minimum,
•to increase reliability and service life of the described equipment.
The present document is part of a documentation set and contains performance data and specifications,
information on fulfilled standards, details on connections and pin assignment, and wiring examples. The
below overview shows the documentation hierarchy and the interrelationship of its individual parts:
About
About this Document
Figure 1-1 Documentation structure
1.1.2Target Audience
The present document is intended for trained and skilled personnel. It conveys information on how to
understand and fulfill the respective work and duties.
maxon motor control
EPOS4 Positioning ControllerDocument ID: rel8399
EPOS4 Module/Compact 50/8 Hardware ReferenceEdition: November 2018
If not stated otherwise, the described details are valid for both the plug-in module and the stand-alone
compact version (chapter “1.2 About the Devices” on page 1-8).
Throughout the document, the following notations and codes will be used.
NotationMeaning
(n)refers to an item (such as part numbers, list items, etc.)
denotes “see”, “see also”, “take note of” or “go to”
Table 1-1Notation used
1.1.4Symbols & Signs
In the course of the present document, the following symbols and signs will be used.
Typ eSymbolMeaning
Indicates an imminent hazardous situation. If not
avoided, it will result in death or serious injury.
Indicates a potential hazardous situation. If not
avoided, it can result in death or serious injury.
Indicates a probable hazardous situation or calls
the attention to unsafe practices. If not avoided, it
Safety alert
DANGER
WARNING
(typical)
CAUTION
may result in injury.
Prohibited
action
(typical)
Mandatory
action
(typical)
Information
Table 1-2Symbols and signs
Indicates a dangerous action. Hence, you must not!
Indicates a mandatory action. Hence, you must!
Requirement /
Note / Remark
Best practice
Material
Damage
Indicates an activity you must perform prior
continuing, or gives information on a particular item
you need to observe.
Indicates an advice or recommendation on the
easiest and best way to further proceed.
Indicates information particular to possible damage
of the equipment.
For easier legibility, registered brand names are listed below and will not be further tagged with their
respective trademark. It must be understood that the brands (the list below is not necessarily concluding) are protected by copyright and/or other intellectual property rights even if their legal trademarks are
omitted in the later course of this document.
The present document – including all parts thereof – is protected by copyright. Any use (including reproduction, translation, microfilming, and other means of electronic data processing) beyond the narrow
restrictions of the copyright law without the prior approval of maxon motor ag, is not permitted and subject to prosecution under the applicable law.
Capabilities of the
device, included features, and supported
motors.
maxon motor control’s EPOS4 Module 50/8 and EPOS4 Compact 50/8 are small-sized, full digital, smart
positioning control units. Their high power density allow flexible use for brushed DC and brushless EC
(BLDC) motors up to approximately 400 Watts with various feedback options, such as Hall sensors,
incremental encoders as well as absolute sensors in a multitude of drive applications.
The devices are specially designed to be commanded and controlled as a slave node in a CANopen or
EtherCAT network. In addition, the units can be operated via any USB or RS232 communication port of
a Windows or Linux workstation (the Module thereby requires an external transceiver). Moreover, the
integrated extension interface of the Module allows pooling with optionally available communication
interfaces or other additional functionalities.
Latest technology, such as field-oriented control (FOC), acceleration/velocity feed forward, or dual loop,
in combination with highest control cycle rates allow sophisticated, ease-of-use motion control.
Thanks to its smart design, the EPOS4 Module 50/8 can either be used in combination with EPOS4 CB
Power connector boards as a compact, integrated solution or be incorporated into customer-specific
motherboards for single axis or multi axes motion control systems. The controller is available in the following configurations:
•EPOS4 Module 50/8 (504384)
Plug-in module for use with maxon motor control EPOS4 connector boards or customer-specific motherboards
•EPOS4 CB Power CAN (520884)
Connector board for initial commissioning or combination to a compact solution providing all
connectors, including CANopen and RS232 interface
•EPOS4 CB Power EtherCAT (604594)
Connector board for initial commissioning or combination to a compact solution providing all
connectors, including EtherCAT interface
•EPOS4 Compact 50/8 CAN (520885)
Fully integrated, compact, ready-to-use assembly of plug-in module and CANopen connector
board
•EPOS4 Compact 50/8 EtherCAT (605298)
Fully integrated, compact, ready-to-use assembly of plug-in module and EtherCAT connector
board
For easier legibility, in the later course of this document naming of components will be as follows:
Short formMeaning
CBa connector board (EPOS4 CB Power CAN, EPOS4 CB Power EtherCAT)
Compactany type of Compact 50/8 version
Compact CANEPOS4 Compact 50/8 CAN
Compact EtherCATEPOS4 Compact 50/8 EtherCAT
EPOS4
all controller versions (Module and Compact) as well as other EPOS4
positioning controllers as a whole
ModuleEPOS4 Module 50/8
Table 1-4Abbreviations
Find the latest edition of the present document as well as additional documentation and software for
EPOS4 positioning controllers also on the Internet: http://epos.maxonmotor.com.
In addition, you may wish to browse the EPOS video library. It features video tutorials that provide easy
to follow instructions on how to get started with «EPOS Studio» and shows you tips and tricks on how to
setup communication interfaces, and so on. Explore on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/album/4646388
maxon motor control
EPOS4 Positioning ControllerDocument ID: rel8399
EPOS4 Module/Compact 50/8 Hardware ReferenceEdition: November 2018
•Make sure that you have read and understood the note “READ THIS FIRST” on page A-2!
•Do not engage with any work unless you possess the stated skills (chapter “1.1.2 Target
Audience” on page 1-5)!
•Refer to chapter “1.1.4 Symbols & Signs” on page 1-6 to understand the subsequently used
indicators!
•You must observe any regulation applicable in the country and/or at the site of implementation
with regard to health and safety/accident prevention and/or environmental protection!
DANGER
High voltage and/or electrical shock
Touching live wires causes death or serious injuries!
• Consider any power cable as connected to live power, unless having proven the opposite!
• Make sure that neither end of cable is connected to live power!
• Make sure that power source cannot be engaged while work is in process!
• Obey lock-out/tag-out procedures!
• Make sure to securely lock any power engaging equipment against unintentional engagement and
tag it with your name!
Requirements
• Make sure that all associated devices and components are installed according to local regulations.
• Be aware that, by principle, an electronic apparatus can not be considered fail-safe. Therefore, you
must make sure that any machine/apparatus has been fitted with independent monitoring and safety
equipment. If the machin e/appa ratus shou ld brea k down , if it is operated incorrectly, if the control unit
breaks down or if the cables break or get disconnected, etc., the complete drive system must return –
and be kept – in a safe operating mode.
• Be aware that you are not entitled to perform any repair on components supplied by maxon motor.
Electrostatic sensitive device (ESD)
• Wear working cloth and use equipment in compliance with ESD protective measures.
The described device has been successfully tested for compliance with the below listed standards. In
practical terms, only the complete system (the fully operational equipment comprising all individual components, such as motor, servo controller, power supply unit, EMC filter, cabling etc.) can undergo an
EMC test to ensure interference-free operation.
Important Notice
The device’s compliance with the mentioned standards does not imply its compliance within the final,
ready to operate setup. In order to achieve compliance of your operational system, you must perform
EMC testing of the involved equipment as a whole.
Generic
Applied
Electromagnetic Compatibility
IEC/EN 61000-6-2Immunity for industrial environments
IEC/EN 61000-6-3
IEC/EN 55022
(CISPR22)
IEC/EN 61000-4-3
Emission standard for residential, commercial and lightindustrial environments
Radio disturbance characteristics / radio interference
Radiated, radio-frequency, electromagnetic field immunity test
>10 V/m
IEC/EN 61000-4-4Electrical fast transient/burst immunity test ±2 kV
IEC/EN 61000-4-6
Immunity to conducted disturbances, induced by radiofrequency fields 10 Vrms
Specifications
Standards
Environment
IEC/EN 60068-2-6
MIL-STD-810F
SafetyUL File Number
ReliabilityMIL-HDBK-217F
Table 2-7Standards
Others
Environmental testing – Test Fc: Vibration (sinusoidal,
Reliability prediction of electronic equipment
Environment: Ground, benign (GB)
Ambient temperature: 298 K (25 °C)
Component stress: In accordance with circuit diagram and
nominal power
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
• Module: 245’451 hours
• Compact CAN: 210’109 hours
• Compact EtherCAT: 197’129 hours
maxon motor control
EPOS4 Positioning ControllerDocument ID: rel8399
EPOS4 Module/Compact 50/8 Hardware ReferenceEdition: November 2018
IMPORTANT NOTICE: PREREQUISITESFOR PERMISSIONTOCOMMENCE INSTALLATION
EPOS4 Module 50/8 and EPOS4 Compact 50/8 positioning controllers are considered as partly com-pleted machinery according to EU Directive 2006/42/EC, Article 2, Clause (g) and are intended to be
incorporated into or assembled with other machinery or other partly completed machinery or
equipment.
WARNING
Risk of injury
Operating the device without the full compliance of the surrounding system with the EU Direc-
tive 2006/42/EC may cause serious injuries!
• Do not operate the device, unless you have made completely sure that the other machinery fully
complies with the EU directive’s requirements!
• Do not operate the device, unless the other machinery fulfills all relevant health and safety
aspects!
• Do not operate the device, unless all respective interfaces have been established and fulfill the
requirements stated in this document!
3.1Generally applicable Rules
Setup
Generally applicable Rules
Maximal permitted supply voltage
• Make sure that supply power is between 10…50 VDC.
• Supply voltages above 56 VDC, or wrong polarity will destroy the unit.
• Note that the necessary output current is depending on the load torque. Yet, the output current limits
are as follows:
– continuous max. 8 A
– short-time (acceleration) max. 30 A
Hot plugging the USB interface may cause hardware damage
If the USB interface is being hot-plugged (connecting while the power supply is on), the possibly high
potential differences of the two power supplies of controller and PC/Notebook can lead to damaged
hardware.
• Avoid potential differences between the power supply of controller and PC/Notebook or, if possible,
balance them.
• Insert the USB connector first, then switch on the power supply of the controller.
maxon motor control
EPOS4 Positioning ControllerDocument ID: rel8399
EPOS4 Module/Compact 50/8 Hardware ReferenceEdition: November 2018
Pin Assignment for Connector Boards & Compact Versions
3.3Pin Assignment for Connector Boards & Compact Versions
As an alternative to developing an own motherboard, ready-made connector boards are available to
combine the Module to Compact versions. They comprise all required connections.
For in-depth details on connections chapter “3.4 Connection Specifications” on page 3-47.
3.3.1EPOS4 CB Power CAN (520884) / EPOS4 Compact 50/8 CAN (520885)
Setup
Figure 3-12 EPOS4 CB Power CAN (left) / EPOS4 Compact 50/8 CAN (right)
Pin Assignment for Connector Boards & Compact Versions
MAKE&BAKEYOUR OWN
If you decide not to employ maxon motor’s prefab cable assemblies, you might wish to use the prepackaged kit that contains all connectors required to make up your own cabling.
EPOS4 Connector Set (520859)
ConnectorSpecificationQuantity
Connectors
X1Molex Mega-Fit, 2 poles (171692-0102)1
X2Molex Mini-Fit Jr., 2 poles (39-01-2020)2
X3aMolex Mini-Fit Jr., 4 poles (39-01-2040)1
X3bMolex Mega-Fit, 4 poles (171692-0104)1
X4Molex Micro-Fit 3.0, 6 poles (430-25-0600)1
X6Molex CLIK-Mate, dual row, 10 poles (503149-1000)1
X7 / X9Molex CLIK-Mate, single row, 8 poles (502578-0800)2
X8Molex CLIK-Mate, single row, 7 poles (502578-0700)1
X10Molex CLIK-Mate, single row, 5 poles (502578-0500)1
X11 / X12Molex CLIK-Mate, single row, 4 poles (502578-0400)2