Hydraulic Actuator Controller

Robotics

HAC (Hydraulic Actuator Controller) is an actuator controller that allows the user to control the actuator easily, as if it were a motor. In fact, when you use this controller and a servo valve, it’s rather easy to control an actuator. The standard HAC supports 1-channel analog output (12bit), 7-channel analog input (16bit), 6-channel digital output, and CAN, UART, and SPI (each 1-channel). This makes the open-source controller compatible with analog-voltage displacement sensors, pressures sensors, encoders, etc., so these can be easily implemented to control the actuator speed, displacement, and torque.

The board is also open-source based to benefit the expanding interest in hydraulic robotics. As it’s compatible with Arduino, the Arduino development environment can easily be used for programming. However the HAC framework is made with several performance improvements over a basic Arduino board, including an ARM Cortex M4 processor (96 MHz). The default example code is already installed on the HAC, and its control loop update rate is 5 kHz. It also has compliance control in addition to the basic position, speed, and torque controls, making use easy and automatic for students or other users who are not robotics experts.

In addition, there are several different shield boards that can go on top of the HAC, and users can select the type of shield board that best fits their application. The HAC v2.0 shield board comes in 8 different types all supports serial and CAN interfaces basically. Except for SP, NP and LP shield boards, Others can adopt a wireless Zigbee module (option).

The HAC-B shield board is the Basic board, which supports the basic analog voltage output type position or pressure sensors.
The HAC-P shield board is made to support the basic analog voltage output position sensor, as well as the mV/V-type strain gauge based pressure sensor or load cell.
The HAC-N shield board can support an analog sin/cos-type output encoder, as well as an analog voltage output pressure sensor.
The HAC-L shield board can support an AC output LVDT or RVDT (5-6 wire) displacement sensor, as well as an analog voltage output pressure sensor.
The HAC-S shield board supports an digital output type(SSI, RS422) encoder, as well as an analog voltage output pressure sensor.
The HAC-SP board is a combination of S and P boards. It support a digital output type (SSI, RS422) encoder, as well as the mV/V-type strain gauge based pressure sensor or load cell.
The HAC-NP board is a combination of N and P boards. It support an analog sin/cos-type output encoder, as well as the mV/V-type strain gauge based pressure sensor or load cell.
The HAC-LP board is a combination of L and P boards. It support an AC output LVDT or RVDT (5-6 wire) sensor, as well as the mV/V-type strain gauge based pressure sensor or load cell.

Aside from these boards, when the user needs a shield board with other functions, we offer I/O pin mapping so the user can custom-build his or her own board for the relevant application.
(* KNR Systems can’t guarantee support for boards that users have made or customized themselves. Please see the forum for information regarding help with customization.)