IPG Laser Support for the Maestro Controller

Overview

This article describes the behavior of the FARO^® Maestro^® Controller for IPG laser types.

The newer revisions of the IPG laser extension board have the capability of automatically detecting the following different IPG laser types:

• Type B
• Type D
• Type E

The board supports but does NOT auto detect:

• Type EG

There are electrical differences between Type B, D, and E which the hardware can detect on power up. Type EG has a logical difference in how it uses the status codes and cannot be detected by the hardware – and therefore needs to be configured specifically for that Type.

The purpose of this article is to describe the behavior of the device such that “compatible” IPG lasers can be investigated and used with the Maestro. If a compatible laser has an electrical difference than the ones outlined here, the Maestro might choose an electrically incompatible mode of operation.

Officially FARO only supports genuine IPG lasers with this Maestro type, but it is known that some (but not all) compatible lasers work just fine. This article is intended to help troubleshoot any compatibility issues a user might experience.

The following table is not a complete specification of the IPG laser interface, but provides the key electrical differences among the supported types: