Baldor is launching a 'groundbreaking' range of three-phase ac motor drives.
In addition to introducing the flexibility of Ethernet Powerlink and TCP/IP connectivity into the high-power machine building sector, a focus on modularity, combined with novel design features, provides users with significant potential for saving costs.
The new drives - the Motiflex e100 range - can be used in both centralised control and distributed 'intelligent drive' scenarios; in both cases, substantial savings can be made in the number of electrical power components typically required.
The initial launch of Motiflex e100 provides drives rated for output powers up to 16A in five steps of 1.5, 3, 6, 10.5 and 16A. A selection of higher-power versions will follow in 2007.
Compatibility with the Ethernet Powerlink protocol introduces great flexibility into electrical system building. Each drive features an Ethernet hub, enabling systems to be built using a simple daisy-chain connection scheme.
The high-speed and deterministic Ethernet Powerlink network, operating at 100 Mbits/s, cuts cabling substantially and can greatly reduce the costs of building large multi-axis systems. For example, a single Baldor Ethernet Powerlink machine controller can manage systems with up to 16 interpolated axes.
In terms of core performance as an ac drive, a Baldor development team has been working for over three years on Motiflex. The resulting design incorporates a large range of features that serve to liberate builders of high-power machinery to make savings and improve machine performance.
Each Motiflex drive can operate independently, or as part of a shared dc bus system. When operating in a shared dc bus system, power regenerated back into any drive during the deceleration phase of an axis may be utilised by the other axes, thereby saving energy costs. As each drive has a local capacitor bank, an external braking resistor is often not required - because the total capacitance of the system may be sufficient to store the energy without reaching the over-voltage limit.
Unlike traditional shared dc bus systems, Motiflex drive systems do not require a separate power supply unit. Instead, the ac-dc converter stage in each drive is capable of supplying power not only to itself, but also to a drive or combination of drives of the same total rating.
For many multi-axis applications, this will often mean that the highest-rated drive will be able to power the rest of the system.
Furthermore, this approach almost invariably results in the need for fewer electrical components and simpler system building, as only one set of contactors, fuses or MCBs, terminal blocks, and one EMC filter is needed for the whole system. Alternative approaches on the market today can require the same ac components for each drive, or the addition of separate power supplies and capacitor banks with fixed ratings that often mean they may be oversized for the application in question.
The drive's control electronics can draw power from the main ac-dc power supply or from a 24V DC linking system on the front panel. Using the 24V dc supply ensures that the control and communications status are maintained if the system is used in an application subject to safety shutdowns, where the mains supply is disconnected.
Configuration flexibility has been at the core of the design requirements. Each drive incorporates a universal encoder input (incremental encoder, Endat, SSI, sincos, multi-turn and single-turn) and built-in I/O (three digital inputs, two digital outputs, a +/-10V analogue input, brake control output, plus Canopen and USB ports).
A further two 'option card' slots provide an expansion capability that allows users to precisely configure the local attributes of the drive, and/or provide an upgrade path. The choice of expansion options includes analogue and digital I/O, resolver feedback, encoder feedback, and fieldbus interfaces including Profibus, Modbus and Devicenet. The Canopen interface and the fieldbus expansion option provide great flexibility to employ the drive as a gateway for interfacing with other machine control systems such as PLCs.
A further innovative expansion option for the drive is a plug-in machine controller compatible with Baldor's Mint motion language. This option allows a Motiflex e100 to be used as a standalone 'intelligent drive', providing a distributed motion system that can cut hardware costs dramatically.
This low-cost Mint card is also Ethernet Powerlink compatible, and will control up to three further daisy-chained Motiflex e100 drives, providing a low-cost automation system for many common multi-axis requirements. If more axes are required, Baldor's panel-mounting Nextmove e100 controller is available.
For more information, visit www.baldormotion.com/epl
"
