Another solution for upgrading machines to modern controls.
North East Electronics AMC-B
The AMC-B was a fairly popular control made by NEE (North East Electronics Ltd) in the UK in the late 90s and early 2000s. These were used on quite a few CR Onsrud routers. These controls are quite obsolete. In particular, the membrane keypads of the remote pendants are usually in bad shape at this point. These controls are also severely limited by having only a small text LCD as a user interface.
We are in the process of upgrading a large CR Onsrud “Panel Pro” router to Centroid Oak controls. To simplify that process, we put together a package that makes the transition almost entirely “plug and play” without wiring changes.
Using our kit, a conversion becomes mainly a software configuration project, rather than a wiring project!
Axis Conversion
Our NAA-1 board transitions five 15-pin axis connectors used on the AMC-B to connectors that match 1:1 with the Centroid Oak axis connectors for four axes. The fifth axis (if used) connects to the Oak via an Optic-Direct additional axis board. All of this is done using standard cable jumpers. NO rewiring cables. NO expensive flying-lead cables from Centroid!
(pictures soon)
The machine we are converting did not wire the Z (index) signals from the servo drives back to the control and relied only on NAMUR proximity sensors for homing axes. We don’t like that idea. Our board allows you to add the index signal to the DSUB 9 connector on each servo drive, and routes them to the Centroid Oak. This gives you the option of doing more accurate Z index homing on all axes.
I/O Conversion
Our OIA-1 board connects to Onsrud’s custom circuit board used for I/O signals, which originally connected to the AMC-B using a 37 pin DSUB connector.
(pictures soon)
Our board also cables to the Onsrud board, but uses a standard DB37-DB37 cable. It then transitions the input and output signals used on the Onsrud router to the Centroid Oak digital inputs and relay outputs.
Onsrud routers sometimes used NAMUR proximity switches with the AMC-B controller. Because these sensors will not directly interface to standard digital input signals, our board includes converters with six NAMUR sensors. This eliminates the need to change these proximity switches or their wiring. Each converter includes an LED status indicator to simplify testing.
OIA-1 interfaces to the Centroid Oak I/O connectors using off-the-shelf discrete-wire cables with plug connectors, which greatly speeds wiring. Alternatively, our board can be built with standard screw terminal blocks.
OIA-1 also provides convenient fusing, connectors for extra ESTOP loops, and options to modify or expand functions.
Other Changes Needed
We omitted the circular DIN connector used on the AMC-B to connect to the spindle drive VFD. Since the VFD needs to interface to multiple connectors on the Centroid Oak, it just didn’t make sense to include it.
You will need to remove the DIN connector and wire your spindle drive to the analog output of the Oak (spindle speed command) and one relay (spindle RUN).
Status
Boards will be available mid-June 2025. Please contact us to discuss your project requirements and see how our boards can simplify your machine update.
Because CR Onsrud routers vary, and other machines may use the NEE AMC-B in other ways, we are open to discussing how we can help you quickly and easily transition your machine. If needed, we can make special boards for your machine as well.
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