
4-2 Using the MintMT ActiveX Control
MintDrive
II
MintController.setMintDrive2Link 0, 1, 57600, True
Creates a handle to a MintDrive
II
controller which is node number 0 connected via com port 1 at a baud
rate of 57600. The final True parameter specifies that the port should be opened for use.
FlexDrive
II
MintController.setFlexDrive2Link 0, 1, 57600, True
Creates a handle to a FlexDrive
II
controller which is node number 0 connected via com port 1 at a baud
rate of 57600. The final True parameter specifies that the port should be opened for use.
Flex+Drive
II
MintController.setFlexPlusDrive2Link 0, 1, 57600, True
Creates a handle to a Flex+Drive
II
controller which is node number 0 connected via com port 1 at a baud
rate of 57600. The final True parameter specifies that the port should be opened for use.
Note: The MintMT ActiveX control can be used to communicate with legacy controllers (EuroSystem)
and controllers running older versions of Mint (Mint v3.x and Mint v4.x) via the ASCII comms
protocol. See section 5.4 for more details.
4.3 Downloading firmware
Firmware is the operating system that runs on the controller. In the same way that a PC runs Windows,
Baldor controllers run MintMT. The firmware allows controllers to perform all the motion control, digital and
analog I/O sampling, ICM decoding and run MintMT programs.
On stand alone controller MintDrive
II
and NextMove BX the firmware is stored in non-volatile memory and
is restored at power up. Controllers that reside in the PC, NextMove PCI, do not store the firmware in non-
volatile memory and need the firmware to be downloaded each time they are powered up.
The firmware for Baldor controllers is stored in a .CHX file. The version of the firmware can be examined
before it is downloaded to the controller using the version locator utility on MintVer on the Baldor Motion
Toolkit CD. MintVer is installed with WorkBench v5 and adds the menu option MintVersion to the Windows
right click menu for firmware files.
Once a handle has been created to the controller this can be used to communicate with the controller.
Firmware is downloaded using the function doUpdateFirmware. This function accepts a string that is the
path of the firmware including the file name and extension.
For example. MintController is the name of the MintMT ActiveX control in the project.
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