Servo Drives Add Features

A variety of new servo drive products from leading suppliers are providing standard product solutions and advanced features required for specialized automation control applications. Some products maximize efficiency using a variety of techniques that include cold plate designs and regenerative power supplies. One product line is physically tiny, weighing only 21.5 gm (less than an ounce). Another incorporates safe-off functionality that allows users to restart machines faster and reduce downtime in the event of unplanned maintenance. Others add feedback options, offer smaller footprints, safety features or otherwise meet a wider range of specialized needs. The net effect is a greater variety of standard products to meet a spectrum of engineering requirements that might have required customized products in the past.

HIGH-POWERED COMPAX3 DRIVE

Parker Electromechanical Automation has released two higher-powered additions to the Compax3 family of all-digital, industrial servo drives. These new drives increase the current output for the 230V ac models to 10A and 15A RMS. Drive power levels are now available ranging from 300W up to 20kW of continuous motor shaft power. The new higher-powered Compax3 drives contain the same features and benefits as their lower-powered versions including auto-tuning, internal function generator and support for Stegmann single and multi-turn absolute encoders for use with limit switches and homing routines. All Compax3 drives ship with the Compax3 ServoManager software package for commissioning the drive. The ServoManager program provides diagnostic screens, graphical tuning utilities, an OS download tool, HTML Help tools, an S-curve acceleration calculator and a motor configuration wizard to be used with non-Parker motors. The ServoManager package is provided free of charge and may be downloaded from the Parker website.

NEW SAFE-OFF FEATURE IN KINETIX 6000 DRIVES

Machine builders requiring precision high-power capacity provided by Allen-Bradley Kinetix servo drives can now safely and efficiently power down their motion control systems in a wide range of high-speed applications, including packaging, material handling and converting. The new TUV-certified Allen-Bradley Kinetix 6000 Safety servo drive with GuardMotion from Rockwell Automation incorporates a safe-off functionality that allows users to restart machines faster and reduce downtime in the event of unplanned maintenance. TUV Rheinland has certified the safe-off feature as suitable for risk reduction applications up to SIL 3 according to IEC 61508, meaning it is well-suited for most functional safety applications. This feature is also certified for category 3 according to EN 954, a European standard developed for the safety of machinery, ideal for low complexity safety-related systems. The feature is an addition to the Allen-Bradley Kinetix 6000 servo drives introduced by Rockwell Automation in 2002.

SERVO DRIVES

The MicroFlex e100 from Baldor is an Ethernet Powerlink (EPL) compatible single-phase servo motor drive family. It is based on the company's successful MicroFlex single-axis drive concept, a smart drive installed in systems around the world. The drives provide a dual-port Ethernet hub interface to support simple daisy-chain connection, plus a CANopen interface for I/O expansion. The range offers users a choice of drives capable of delivering continuous output currents of 3, 6 or 9A. Support for the CiA DS402 positioning drive profile provides system builders with an elegant means of offloading the host motion controller, allowing simple commands to activate remote functions such as absolute or incremental moves, changing target positions on the fly, and performing homing sequences.

Motors can be tuned using an intuitive Windows front end which provides full auto-tuning capabilities. Extended capabilities include programmable notch filters to reduce or remove resonance in a machine.

MULTI-AXIS SERVODRIVES EMPHASIZE EFFICIENCY

The ACOPOSmulti series of servodrives from B+R Automation offers high efficiency for multi-axis machines that are commonly used in the plastics, packaging, print and textile industries. The drives incorporate both a feed-through heat sink, with IP65 protection for releasing heat outside the switching cabinet, and a “cold plate” variant for connecting to a cooling circulation system using water or oil. This eliminates fans and/or air conditioning in the switching cabinet. All power supply modules are able to regenerate power. Instead of being converted to heat, kinetic energy absorbed during braking is converted to electrical energy that is regenerated into the power supply. The integrated power regeneration system provides an efficient and environmentally-friendly solution for avoiding heat build-up in the cabinet. Like all other modules in the ACOPOSmulti series, the power supply module has a network connection. This allows data about power consumption, and machine efficiency to be recorded and analyzed.

ARIES DRIVE OFFERS RESOLVER FEEDBACK OPTION

Parker Automation has added a resolver feedback option to its Aries family of low-cost, all-digital servo drives. Users can choose the Aries drive for use with resolver feedback in addition to smart encoders, quadrature encoders and Heidenhain EnDat absolute encoders. The new resolver option adds the capability of solving applications requiring the advantages that rugged resolver technology can offer. A resolver feedback device is essentially made out of the same materials as the motor, contains no electronics and is less susceptible to the effects of temperature, humidity, dust, vibration and shock. In addition, the Aries family now features seven power levels ranging from 100 to 3,000W of continuous motor shaft power. All Aries drives ship with the Aries Support Tool (AST) software which provides diagnostic screens, graphical tuning utilities, an OS download tool and a configuration wizard for use with non-Smart Encoder motors.

FEATHERWEIGHT CURRENT MODE SERVO AMPLIFIER

The ultra-light (.76 oz or 21.5 gm) Castanet analog servo amplifier from Elmo Motion Control supports current levels up to 3.3 amps. The drive can operate as a current mode standalone device or as an integral part of a multi-axis motion system. Available in two different models, the 60-V servo amplifier furnishes a continuous current up to 3.3 amps (60-V input) and the 100-V model provides 2.5 amps. This 330W peak and 180W continuous miniature servo amplifier delivers high power density. With Elmo's FASST technology, there is no need for any additional external cooling up to 40C ambient. The drive operates from a dc power source in current mode and controls both dc brush and brushless motors. External power supplies are used to support 7.5 to 96V operation. Important operating features include high current loop bandwidth (> 4KHz), high output linearity and reliability (MTBF > 550,000 hours).