The current plan for the CTRIO2 is to have it operate in 2 modes:
Mode 1 is a compatibility mode that will allow it to be a drop in replacement for the existing CTRIO. It will look and work the same, and provide modest performance improvements...for instance outputs will run at 64k, instead of 25k...but the scan times will be dramatically faster. The key careabout for this mode is compatibility.
The new mode 2 is the exciting part, and it is here that new stuff will happen. The feature set for this mode is pretty wide open, which is the primary motivation of this thread. PLCGuy...take heart, this new mode, in concert with some other system improvements in the pipe, will completely change the way this module works with the PLC. You will definitely like it.
As for the D4-HSC...help me understand what you like about it, and we'll see what we can do.
For the output behavior, I'm kinda thinking along the line of 5 key functions: 1) an improved Dynamic Position, 2) an improved Dynamic Velocity, 3) an improved Home Search, 4) a new Registration function, and 5) a new Primitive function. The Primitive function would be a script type IBox that would allow you to construct complex moves from fairly simple commands. For all the stuff that the canned routines doesn't do, the Primitive box would answer the call.
The big questions are: 1) What would a registration box look like, and 2) What primitives do folks need?
One thing we also can do with the new hardware...inputs and outputs can be assigned to any function. Rather than Ch1/Ch2 A/B/C/D, it will be just 8 inputs that can be assigned wherever. Outputs will be a little less flexible, but should still be better than before.