Getting a Yaskawa Motoman back to life!

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08 Dec 2025 17:29 #339876 by antoniobeta
Getting a Yaskawa Motoman back to life! was created by antoniobeta
Hello everyone,

I'm looking for advice for making an industrial robot retrofit.I have the opportunity to bring an old 1989 Motoman L106 back to life. This robot worked at the former Santana factory, likely welding Suzuki vehicles (Samurai, Vitara, or Jimny). It comes with a YASNAC ERC cabinet that appears to be well-preserved.While I haven't conducted electrical tests yet, the drives (Yaskawa ServoPack CACR-SR units) which were reportedly operational when taken out of service about 15 years ago seems in ok state. 

My current thinking is that the most sensible approach would be to keep the original servo motors and drives, and add a modern control layer to interface with LinuxCNC.I was considering a MESA FPGA board like the 7I97 (or a 5I25/6I25 + 7I77 combo) to handle the analog 0-10V control signals required by the CACR-SR drives.The problem is that these MESA boards seem to be out of stock everywhere. I'm not sure if this is due to obsolescence or high demand. What are the viable and currently available alternatives for a robust LinuxCNC interface to control these analog 0-10V servo drives?Any information, insights, or advice on this project would be greatly appreciated!I'll share photos of the robot and the cabinet/drives below for better context!
 
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08 Dec 2025 19:56 - 09 Dec 2025 03:10 #339879 by PCW
Replied by PCW on topic Getting a Yaskawa Motoman back to life!
If you are in the EU, eusurplus.com has the 7I97T in stock

If in the US other options would be

7I80HDT + 7I36 + optional 7I84  ( 4 encoders, 4 analog outs, 4 drive enable outputs, 16 inputs, 7i84 adds 32 inputs 16 outputs )
7I36 has encoder fault detection but is only for differential encoders

7I94T + 7I83 + 7I84 +7I89 ( 8 encoders, 6 analog outs, 32 inputs, 16 outputs )

7I94T + 7I83 + 7I84 +7I85S ( 4 encoders, 6 analog outs, 32 inputs, 16 outputs, 4 step/dir channels )

7I95T + 7I83 (6 encoders, 6 analog outputs 24 inputs 6 outputs 6 step/dir channels) 

We should have more 7I97Ts around January/February and the 7I77s replacement
(7I77U) around March
Last edit: 09 Dec 2025 03:10 by PCW.
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08 Dec 2025 22:42 #339886 by tommylight
Replied by tommylight on topic Getting a Yaskawa Motoman back to life!

7I36 has encoder fault detection but is only for differential encoders

How did i miss this ? :)
Thank you.

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