KBD101 K-Cube Brushless Servo Driver

Thorlabs KBD101 Brushless DC Motor

This Thorlabs KBD101 Brushless DC Motor can be controlled via USB communication.

Prerequisite

Please download and install the Thorlabs Kinesis Software, which installs .dll files necessary to communicate with the motor. This means you'll also need a computer running on Windows OS. Make sure to choose the right 32-bit or 64-bit version.

Example

Below, we provide an example showing you how to communicate with your brushless motor controller. The API is implemented as a wrapper on top of Thorlabs .dll.

from tlkbd101 import TLKBD101

def main():
    serial_number = "12345678"  # Replace with your KBD101 device's serial number
    dll_path = "path/to/your/dll/files"  # Replace with the folder path name where the Thorlabs Kinesis DLL files are located

    motor = TLKBD101(serial_number, dll_path)

    # Connect to the KBD101 device
    motor.connect()

    # Home the KBD101 device
    motor.home()

    # Set velocity parameters in real units (acceleration and max velocity)
    motor.set_velocity_parameters_real_units(5.0, 20.0)

    # Move the motor to the given position in real units
    target_position = 10.0
    motor.move_to_position_real_units(target_position)

    # Get the current position of the motor
    current_position = motor.get_position()
    print(f"Current position: {current_position}")

    # Disconnect from the KBD101 device
    motor.disconnect()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

This example code does the following:

1. Imports the necessary modules and the TLKBD101 class from the tlkbd101.py file provided.
2. Defines a main function that:
   • Creates an instance of the TLKBD101 class with the given serial number and path to the DLL files.
   • Connects to the KBD101 device.
   • Homes the KBD101 device.
   • Sets velocity parameters in real units (acceleration and max velocity).
   • Moves the motor to the given position in real units.
   • Gets the current position of the motor.
   • Disconnects from the KBD101 device.

Make sure to replace the serial_number variable with your KBD101 device's serial number and dll_path with the correct path to your Thorlabs Kinesis DLL files. Typically the dll files are located in C:\Program Files\Thorlabs\Kinesis.