text: <s>[INST] CIP Motion The reaction I've gotten from folks who attended '09 Automation Fair has been great excitement about the introduction of CIP Motion into a number of automation products; Logix, drives and maybe others. I was given an ODVA brochure, which I'm including here. What it describes does indeed sound exciting. One of my local automation specialists explained that the CLX motion instructions (all or some) can be targeted directly at the PowerFlex 755 drive upon the release of Logix v18. This combination will (they say) provide sub millisecond jitter and a highly responsive motion loop. That would eliminate a big, expensive piece in the middle for lightweight motion apps. It's still unclear to me whether a physical encoder would be required, or if an AC drive's flux vector hocus pocus could substitute in applications that can allow a bit of slop. I can think of a bunch of retrofit applications for such a thing. Undoubtedly, others who attended have better information than me. I'd be interested in it if you do. I believe this attached ODVA document is intended for redistribution. [/INST] At first sight this looks good, but also think about this:There is no sercos card anymore. The procesing power from this card must now be done by the PLC. Can the current series handle it, ore do we need to wait for the L7x series? (V18 supports the L73)The number of ethernet ip packets increases. How many drives can be controlled through a standard ENBT or EN2T card? Do we need special switches (IGMP snooping / multicasting)?Does CIP motion handle gearing between drives in different racks?Does CIP motion handle gearing between drives handled by different CPU's (on the same ethernet)? (as replacement for the SYNCHLINK)Have a nice weekendCee Ya \\n </s>