What Are Brushless servo drives?

Brushless servo drives are DSP based all-digital, precision servo drive amplifiers, which are able of supplying “16 A peak” current constant, as well as “32 A peak” up to 230 VAC. The brushless servo drives are designed to perfectly control the position or velocity and torque of a number of brushless torque and servo motors. The design of this servo drive simplifies the commissioning and set up of the brushless servo motors, as the system software of brushless servo drives needs little more than the ordinary ones.

Features of brushless servo drives:

• Several models which cover the major parts of the requirements of the servo application
• Line operated, 50/60 Hz, 115-240 VAC, single or three phase
• The complete digital design of brushless servo drives simplifies the drive tuning and drive set up and removes the analog drift
• Complete fault protection and “optically isolated I/O”
• PWM, ±10VDC, encoder-follower and step-direction control inputs accommodated
• Internal regenerative power control circuit, which requires an external resistor
• Graphical client interface based on PC for motion control, monitoring and commissioning. This interface is attached with the drive through an “optically isolated USB port”.

Benefits of brushless servo drives:

• High efficiency or power saving- The original drive technology of brushless servo drives use low power and offer a high efficiency. It represents a great money saving technique on the 24/7 application than the ordinary servo drives
• High inertial loads- The brushless servo drives use “sophisticated motion control algorithms” to take the advantage of high-torque capacity, offering direct-drive of high inertia loads such as the belt drives and flywheels. It is much more than the traditional servos. This servo drive also provides a smooth responsive pointing control.
• More torque in a lesser price- Brushless servo drives provides 2-4 times more constant torque in lesser price ($300-400 less) than the conventional servo motors.

Working of the servo system

When we talk about the servo system and there functions we know that it is to convert the mechanical motion into a higher and an amplified version of the same kind of motion or the energy. When there is a need to enhance the frequency or the velocity which is again a type of the mechanical motion the work of the servo systems come into being and it is to amplify it. The servo systems are used a lot these days because these have a list of advantages linked to it. The servo systems are known to give high performance rates and also work with a high precision which is great. These are some of the reasons that man today prefers to use the servo systems. Today there are much different kind of models available in the market. The best of the servo systems look the best. These are very small and compact in size but when we talk about the performance of these there is nothing which can beat these. These prove themselves to be very efficient in the work of amplification.

Most of the servo systems these days are the choice of the customers. These are made just the way the customers want it. The basic and the common work of the servo system are kept the same and there are changes which are incorporated in the system as per the needs of the customers. The best feature of the servo system is that these are very friendly to the user and the desired performance can be achieved just by tuning the system well as per the need of the people. These have high efficiency also. There are synchronizations and the gearing option which is also inbuilt makes the efficiency of the output even more. There are temperature control sensors which are mounted on the servo systems. It regulates the temperature. If there is a rise in temperature above the standard point, then it should be controlled because it affects the optimum efficiency of the servo systems.

The servo system is insulated and hence people are happy because the chances of accidents are also less. Some of the features are so great that the servo systems are must wanted by the customers. A servo system is the one people prefer over the other kinds of amplification unit. The standard features are very good and some of the additional features are built by the makers as and when the user demands.

Understanding Motion Control Drives

Motion control is a term that describes a range of applications that involve movement in specific routes designed to precision performance. Earlier motion control applications require only an object to be moved from one place to another without paying too much heed to speed or change of motion. On the other hand, there are machine tool applications which require the exact coordination of all aspects of motion, including a high degree of synchronization for multiple simultaneous movements.

Motion control drives finds heavy usage in the robotics industry. Motion control drives are known to monitor the motion performance of the mechanism. The feedback and the subsequent rectification, if needed, makes it ideally placed to be used in the robotics field. These drives are connected to motors that can be AC or DC. Further categorization can be made of DC brushed, DC brushless, AC Induction, AC synchronization and Stepper.

The motor amplifier or servo drive is designed to takes commands from the motion controller. These signals are incorporated in the analogue version where the voltage with low current is converted to high current signals in order to drive the motor. Motor drives come in many various types and makes and are fitted when matched to a specific motor they need to run. Along with matching the motor technology, the drive needs to ensure a balance of voltage, a continuous current and the balanced correct peak current.

The feedback of the mechanism’s performance can be taken of different parameters like back EMF, current, velocity, acceleration, position and many more. It’s because the control of these parameters will ensure the overall control of the motion of the object. Some of the sources for these feedbacks are:

• Hall effect sensors
• Encoder
• Potentiometer
• Tachometer
• Acceleration specific sensor

A motion control drive’s range of applications is far more specialized than any other manufacturing applications. Motion control drives must be capable of:

• Zero-speed holding torque
• Quick start/stop cycles
• Repeatable velocity and torque profiles
• High accelerating torque
• Synchronization
• Precise speed control
• Positioning capabilities

Motion control can operate two levels – the linear or the rotational axis. A linear axis application like a vehicle in motion has a pre-defined traversing range with predefined end stops. The rotational axis has a vast and almost never-ending traversing range when applied. A rotary table on the other hand travels a pre-defined yet short distance. They have a selected path or direction for moving point to point.

Custom Servo drives - an Overview

Custom servo drives are a kind of cost effective and optimized servo drive which are designed according to the customers applications to meet their needs of form, cost, fit and function specifications. Mostly known as the “special electronic amplifiers”, a custom or standard servo drive is commonly used to control the motors of the electric servo.

Over the decades, the technology of servo controls has changed a lot with its size, rotational speed, and torque. Custom servo drives are one of the major developments in the world of servo drives. The custom servo is almost similar to its digital counterparts. They have the same gears, motors and cases and most importantly they have a “Feedback potentiometer or Pot” like the digitals.

Designs of the custom servo drives:

• Optimized packaging- form factors, special connectors
• Multi Axis- two and three axis packages and systems based on racks
• Power Ratings-voltage and custom current ratings
• Java Beans-“fill in the blanks” standard indexer functions
• Enhanced Firmware-standard compensation filters
• Performance Edge-temperature compensation, low noise
• Feedback-special encoders

Classification of custom servo drives:

Custom servo drives can be classified based on the shapes, electric circuitry, sizes, type of feedback, input power variations, command and performance signal. Every factor has a great value in making the decision of the actual price of the custom servo drive.

Usage of custom servo drives:

Nowadays, custom servo drives are usually used in various industries like packaging, robotics, textile, factories of CNC machining and printing. With the increasing usage, the need of custom servo controls has increased a lot.

Advantages of using custom servo drives:

• Power saving ability:  In a custom servo drive, no power is sent to the servo motor when the car is idle. When the signal of moving the car is received, the power is sent to the servo motor up to a maximum voltage and then the servo responses. The servo doesn’t responses until the power reaches the maximum. This helps to save the excess power from being wasted. 
• Immense Standing Torque: The quotients of the standing torques of the custom servo drives are very high.
•  Monitoring: The custom servo drive is able to monitor the feedback signals from the motors by making some subsequent adjustments.

It is a fact that custom servo drives are very essential for the industry which totally depends on the motion control. So, to grow your industry, switch on to custom servo drives.