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RESOLUTE™ absolute encoder system with RKLA30 linear and partial arc scale

Features

  • Protocols: BiSS®, DRIVE-CLiQ, FANUC, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Yaskawa 
  • Readhead size: 36 x 16.5 x 17.2 mm
  • Resolutions to 1 nm at 100 m/s
  • ±5 µm/m accuracy at 20 °C
  • Side cable outlet version available
  • Optional Advanced Diagnostic Tool

Benefits

  • Narrow 6 mm wide scale suitable for space limited applications
  • Suitable for partial arc measurement
  • Excellent motion control performance
  • High dirt immunity
  • Less than 10 nm RMS jitter for improved positional stability
  • ±40 nm Sub-Divisional Error for smooth velocity control

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What is RESOLUTE?

RESOLUTE is a true-absolute fine-pitch optical encoder system with excellent metrology performance. Its patented technology is capable of 1 nm resolution at speeds up to 100 m/s. Ultra low SDE and jitter result in a linear encoder system with better velocity control performance and high positional stability.

The Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation 2015

 

Winner of a Queen's Award for Enterprise 2015 in the Innovation category

What is RKLA30-S scale?

RKLA30-S is a narrow, low profile stainless steel tape scale featuring 30 µm pitch absolute scale code. It is accurate to ±5 µm/m and available in lengths up to 21 metres. The RKLA30-S is mastered to the machine substrate giving improved metrological performance when the scale ends are rigidly fixed to the substrate.

The flexible RKLA30-S scale is also suitable for partial arc measurement where the small cross-sectional area allows it to be wrapped around a drum, shaft or arc.

Why choose this encoder system?

Easy fault finding and servicing

The Advanced Diagnostic Tool ADTa‑100 acquires comprehensive real-time data from RESOLUTE™ encoder readheads. The information is displayed via the user-friendly ADT View software interface. Whilst in most cases the integral set-up LED on the encoder is sufficient for setting up the system, the ADT can be used to aid more challenging installations. The ADT can also report on encoder performance and assist system fault finding to avoid lengthy machine downtime.

Excellent motion control performance

RESOLUTE's industry-leading performance is the result of a sophisticated, reliable and innovative method of operation. Crucially, the system uses a single track non-repeating “bar code” scale format with a nominal pitch of 30 µm. With its sophisticated optical design the RESOLUTE readhead captures a near-instantaneous image of this scale which, when analysed, allows a unique position to be identified at speeds of up to 100 m/s. The system allows position to be determined with resolution as small as 1 nanometre (1 billionth of a metre) and with low noise (jitter below 10 nm RMS) and SDE (Sub-Divisional Error, the error within a scale period) of just ±40 nm. This provides encoder feedback of superior fidelity, to ensure smoother velocity control and rock-solid positional stability.

Narrow, robust and versatile scale

RKLA is a robust, 6 mm wide stainless steel encoder tape scale with a thickness of 0.15 mm. This allows the scale, when rigidly fixed to a machine axis, to become ‘mastered' to the machine substrate, matching its thermal expansion coefficient and behaviour. Differential movement between the scale and the machine is thus minimised.

RKLA partial arc encoder scales

RKLA encoder scales can be conveniently cut to required length and mounted on a simple cylindrical substrate with no requirement for complex mounting features or tightly toleranced alignment surfaces.

Interface option 

DRIVE-CLiQ interface

  • Required for DRIVE-CLiQ protocolDRIVE-CLiQ interface for use with the RESOLUTE true-absolute optical encoder
  • Also available in dual head input for high accuracy rotary systems
  • Displays communication alarms
  • Duplicates readhead LED

  

No interface is required for the other available protocols.

Optional Advanced Diagnostic Tool ADTa-100

Advanced Diagnostic Tool ADTa-100

The RESOLUTE encoder system is compatible with the Advanced Diagnostic Tool ADTa-100 and ADT View software. They provide comprehensive real-time encoder data feedback to aid more challenging installations and diagnostics. The intuitive software interface can be used for:

  • Remote calibration
  • Signal optimisation over the entire axis length
  • Digital readout of encoder position (relative to the scale)
  • Exporting and saving data
  • Setting zero

Protocols

ProtocolDescriptionData sheetCompatible products
BiSS®

Renishaw supports BiSS C (unidirectional) open protocol for absolute encoders. BiSS is a high-speed serial protocol, perfect for dynamic axes that require high acceleration, silky-smooth velocity control, excellent bi-directional repeatability and rock-solid positional stability.
RESOLUTE with BiSS is available in both linear and rotary (angle) encoder versions, compatible with a wide range of industry-standard controllers, drives, DROs and PC counter cards.

RESOLUTE BiSS

BiSS compatible product page

DRIVE-CLiQ

RESOLUTE with Siemens DRIVE-CLiQ serial interface is available for linear and rotary applications. DRIVE-CLiQ is the innovative, powerful communications interface to connect encoder and direct measurement systems with SINUMERIK and SINAMICS drive components.

RESOLUTE DRIVE-CLiQ

N/A

FANUC

RESOLUTE with FANUC serial interface is available for rotary and linear applications.
RESOLUTE brings many advantages to high-performance machine tools that use FANUC controllers. Higher speed, rugged and reliable pure serial communications, superior contouring performance and greater servo stiffness. Furthermore, the non-contact format eliminates backlash, shaft wind-up (torsion) and other hysteresis errors that plague traditional enclosed encoders.

RESOLUTE FANUC

N/A

Mitsubishi

RESOLUTE with Mitsubishi serial communications interface is available in rotary and linear forms. RESOLUTE is compatible with the J4 series of servo drives, and the MDS-D2/DH2/DM2/DJ drives for machine tool applications.

RESOLUTE Mitsubishi

N/A

Panasonic


RESOLUTE with Panasonic serial communications interface is available in linear and rotary forms. Compatible with the A5 and A6 series of drivers, it provides high resolution repeatable feedback for better servo and speed control.

RESOLUTE Panasonic

N/A

Yaskawa

RESOLUTE with Yaskawa serial communications interface is available in rotary and linear forms, and is compatible with Sigma-5 and Sigma-7 SERVOPACKs.

RESOLUTE Yaskawa

N/A

Technical specifications

Measuring standard

Narrow stainless steel tape scale with self-adhesive backing tape, for mounting directly to a substrate

Suitable for partial arc applications (minimum radius for partial arc: 50 mm*)

Readhead size (LxWxH)

36 mm x 16.5 mm x 17.2 mm

Scale pitch

Nominal 30 μm

Coefficient of thermal expansion at 20 °C

10.1 ±0.2 μm/m/°C

Accuracy grade at 20 °C

±5 μm/m

Scale length

Up to 21 m 

Maximum speed

(See data sheet for details)

Up to 100 m/s

Protocols

BiSS C                            Mitsubishi

DRIVE-CLiQ†                  Panasonic

FANUC                           Yaskawa

Resolutions

BiSS C: 50 nm, 5 nm and 1 nm

DRIVE-CLiQ, FANUC, Mitsubishi and Yaskawa: 50 nm and 1 nm

Panasonic: 100 nm, 50 nm and 1 nm

Sub-Divisional Error (SDE)

±40 nm

Electrical connection

Up to 10 m cable lengths with D-type connectors (9 pin or 15 pin), flying lead, FANUC compatible connector, LEMO, and M12

Power supply

5 V ±10%, max 250 mA @ 5 V (terminated)

Vibration (operating)

300 m/s2 max @ 55 Hz to 2 000

Shock (non-operating)

1 000 m/s2, 6 ms, ½ sine

Operating temperature

0 °C to +80 °C

Sealing

IP64

Refer to data sheets for full details.

* For smaller diameters, contact your Renishaw representative.

Downloads

Data sheets

Installation notes

White papers

Technical drawings

How it works

RESOLUTE communicates bi-directionally in purely serial format, using a variety of industry-standard protocols, of both proprietary and open standard. 

RESOLUTE™ encoder optical scheme with annotations

The process begins...

The controller initiates operation by sending a demand message to the readhead, instructing it to capture the absolute position on the linear or rotary scale at that instant. The head responds by flashing a high-power LED source to illuminate the scale. The flash duration is as brief as 100 ns to minimise image blur on moving axes. Crucially its timing is controlled within a few nanoseconds to preserve the relationship between demanded and reported position, one of the essential features that makes RESOLUTE ideally suited to very high specification motion systems. 

 

 

Single track scale

The scale is essentially a single track of full-width contrasting lines, based on a nominal period of 30 µm. The absence of multiple parallel tracks gives important immunity from yaw errors and much more lateral tolerance in head position.

Image acquisition

The scale is imaged, via an aspheric lens which minimises distortion, onto a custom detector array designed specifically for RESOLUTE. The optical arrangement, with a folded illumination path but direct imaging, is highly compact yet stable thus assuring the fidelity essential for excellent metrology.

Data decoding and analysis

Once captured by the detector, the image is transferred via an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) to a powerful Digital Signal Processor (DSP). Specially developed algorithms then obtain a true absolute, but relatively coarse position from the code embedded in the scale. This process is checked, and corrections are made by further algorithms in the DSP which exploit redundancy and intentional restrictions in the scale code. Meanwhile other routines calculate a very high resolution fine position, which is then combined with the coarse position to provide a truly absolute and very high resolution location.

Final checks and data output

After final error checking procedures this information is uploaded in the appropriate protocol to the controller as a pure serial word representing position to within 1 nm. Protection against electrical noise disturbance is provided by addition of a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC). The entire process can take as little as a few microseconds and be repeated up to 25 000 times per second. By a variety of techniques, including adjusting the light flash duration to the axis speed, this performance is achieved at up to 100 m/s while, crucially, preserving exceptionally low positional jitter at lower operating speeds.

And the result is...

An encoder with generous installation tolerances: RESOLUTE allows ±0.5° in yaw, pitch and roll and an impressive ±150 µm in rideheight. Meanwhile the generous optical footprint and advanced error correcting procedures confer excellent immunity to optical contamination, both particulate and greasy smears. All this while maintaining 1 nm resolution at 100 m/s: RESOLUTE is the answer to the toughest absolute challenge.