Commissioning of servo drives with OBLAC Drives
What is OBLAC Drives?
OBLAC Drives is Synapicon's browser-based commissioning and tuning software for SOMANET servo drives. The application runs in a standard web browser (Chrome recommended) and communicates with the drives via EtherCAT — no proprietary software, no installation required.
Why is this important?
Commissioning a servo drive involves dozens of parameters: motor data, encoder configuration, commutation, control loop tuning, protection functions. Without guided software, this is error-prone and time-consuming.
OBLAC Drives fundamentally simplifies this process:
- No proprietary tool —any computer with a web browser will do, whether Windows or Linux
- Guided wizard — step by step through firmware, motor, encoder, and commutation
- Automatic tuning — system identification and automatic gain calculation replace manual trial and error
- Integrated scope — real-time visualization of position, speed, and torque directly in the browser
- Configuration portability — Save parameters as config.csv and load them onto other drives
- Automated commissioning — HTTP API and WebSocket library for production environments
How does it work?
The commissioning workflow in 6 steps:
- Firmware installation — OBLAC Drives automatically detects new hardware and installs the appropriate firmware via File over EtherCAT (FoE).
- Drive designation — Assigning a unique name for multi-axis systems
- Brake configuration — Determines whether a holding brake is connected
- Motor parameters — Enter the motor data from the data sheet (torque, speed, electrical parameters) or select from a predefined motor list.
- Encoder setup — Configuration of the connected encoders; exactly one encoder must be assigned to the commutation.
- Phase alignment — fully automatic commutation offset detection
The Playground (engine test):
After completing the wizard, the Playground offers three test modes: torque, speed, and position mode with configurable reference signals (step, sine, trapezoid, ramp).
System identification and auto-tuning:
OBLAC Drives analyzes the frequency response of the system using a torque signal and derives a mathematical model of the electromechanical system. Based on this, auto-tuning calculates optimized PI gains for the speed and position control loops—with adjustable damping and bandwidth.
How does SOMANET implement this?
OBLAC Drives supports all SOMANET product lines: Node, Circulo, and Integro. The software can be run directly on a PC or via the OBLAC Drives Box (dedicated hardware with preinstalled EtherCAT driver, access via Wi-Fi).
For production, the HTTP API and Motion Master client library (WebSocket) enable complete automation: firmware testing, installation, configuration, and validation—without manual intervention.
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