Configuring outputs

Applies to: IOcan · Standalone controller. What this means

An output takes a value from a controller, map or input and puts it somewhere — a pin, a CAN frame, or another output. Every output shares the common IO settings; each type adds its own.

Hardware outputs

Bound to a physical pin.

Output Drives Page
PWM Output A pin with a duty-cycle signal — solenoids, valves, lamps PWM Output
Analog Output A real voltage through a DAC Analog Output
Tacho Output A square wave whose frequency follows RPM. Standalone controller only Tacho Output

Availability differs per device — IOcan has no analog voltage output and no tacho output, and its switched outputs are not solenoid drivers. See which device has which IO.

Communication outputs

Output Sends Page
CAN Bus Output A signal packed into a raw frame you define CAN Bus Output
CAN Object Output A named object a CAN preset transmits CAN Object Output

See Working with the CAN bus.

Routing outputs

No pin of their own — they shape or fan out a value on its way to real outputs.

Output Does Page
Map Output Passes the value through a 1D lookup, then forwards it Map Output

Rules that apply to all outputs

  • One thing commands an output. Assigning the same output to more than one controller function gives undefined behaviour, and pointing a strategy at both a Map Output and its target is the common way to do it by accident.
  • One output per pin. A second output on the same pin raises fault 0x0014 and is not created.
  • The pin must have the right hardware. A power stage is required for PWM and Tacho outputs (0x0081 if absent); a DAC for an Analog Output (0x0082).
  • Outputs do nothing on their own — they must be driven. An undriven output sends its default value, which usually reads as a stale value rather than an unconfigured one.
  • Order of creation matters for the routing outputs. A Map Output must be created after its target exists.

Not documented yet

Four output types exist in the configuration schema and the firmware but have no page here. Two of them you cannot create directly at all — the configuration software builds them for you:

Output Status
Power Output The protected switched output — soft start, hiccup retry, over- and undercurrent limits, with optional error and warning outputs. Not documented because its settings cannot currently be trusted: the firmware decodes its configuration block using the wrong message descriptor, so the values you enter are unlikely to reach the driver intact. Reported to the maintainers; this page will follow the fix.
Current Output Closed-loop current control — a current setpoint with a resistance estimator, resistance min/max limits, temperature compensation from an input you nominate, dither, and its own peak-and-hold and interpolation stages. This is the output for a proportional solenoid that needs repeatable force, and it is the reason the PWM output's Mode and Current limit fields do nothing — current control was never on that type. Undocumented, and the highest-value page missing from this section.
Splitter Output Forwards one value to several outputs at once. Not something you create. When you point more than one output at the same source, the configuration software inserts a splitter for you — it is an implementation detail of that assignment, not a type in the list.
Digital Output A plain on/off pin. Used internally for pull-up and enable lines rather than configured directly.