Modules cut drive setup time on exercise machines

AC Technology's SCM submicro AC inverter drives have provided a perfect motion control and production solution for the latest range of exercise machines from Lifestyle Engineering.

AC Technology's SCM submicro AC inverter drives have provided a perfect motion control and production solution for the latest range of exercise machines from market leading manufacturer, Lifestyle Engineering.

Using AC Tech's EPM module each machine is given its own drive parameter set in a small ruggedised chip that plugs straight into the facia of the drive.

The EPM programming unit copies the data from a master at the push of a button and has saved five hours of programming time on each batch of machines.

The SCM drives are part of AC Tech's SC range of small AC drives.

They are being used to power arm and leg movements on a range of ten machines, each with a separate program of movements.

The idea of the new machines is to capture the mature market for gym membership, with new clubs or specific suites being set up to offer the 'Motorcise' workout across the UK and the USA.

Each site uses two sets of ten machines; each set is used in sequence to offer a complete power assisted workout of around 30 minutes.

The machines were conceived by a gym owner and developed by Lifestyle Engineering.

Lifestyle has been set up by Sport Engineering which is well known throughout the industry for its 'Powerjog' range of premium quality treadmills and already have a full order book for the new machines.

Other manufacturers' drives were used in preproduction machines by Lifestyle and had to be fixed into a jig and powered up, before being programmed manually.

This process could take over 15 minutes for each machine.

Using AC Tech's innovative EPM programming unit, each machines individual drive parameter sets are downloaded onto an EPM module and then plugged straight into a drive without any power being supplied.

The drive is then fully programmed and ready to run.

The EPM module is constructed using a bespoke chip fixed inside a protective plastic cover.

It plugs into the drive facia and, since the process takes under a minute to complete, full-scale production has been speeded up significantly.

The time required by an engineer to complete a batch of twenty machines has been reduced by five hours, helping to control the fixed cost of manufacturing the Motorcise machines.

Using the EPM programming unit to download each set of parameters also improves accuracy and repeatability.

The data are copied directly from the master program each time, reducing the opportunity for human error.

As production volumes increase for the new machines, there will be no corresponding increase in workload for Lifestyle's programming engineers, freeing their time for further product development.

Malcolm Heath, the Research and Development Manager primarily in charge of design development for the Motorcise range commented on another crucial factor in their relationship with AC Tech as a supplier: "As the market for small drives becomes more competitive and products are increasingly sold as a commodity, the emphasis for us has moved towards genuine product support and flexibility.

AC Technology has been outstanding in this respect; every technical query raised by us has been answered very quickly and to our complete satisfaction.

Their flexibility was also tremendous.

For example, we required very high earth leakage protection to comply with strict US residential requirements and tough European EMC regulations, we spoke directly to AC Tech's own design engineers and they were able to manufacture drives for us with a custom capacitor and protection circuit".

Adrian Curtis, Purchasing Manager at Lifestyle added: "When searching for a supplier I was particularly pleased with the ability AC Technology has to seamlessly supply product suitable for the UK, European and US markets, including all the relevant certification and approvals.

AC Tech's sales support travels with the product and enables us to supply our product to the customer with assurances that we know can be met.

I was also able to source matched dynamic breaking units from AC Tech, these provide a variable resistance feature to the exercise program and also provide energy savings through regenerative breaking".

The SCM is part of the SC Series of submicro drives from AC Technology, a range of products that has been developed to overcome the tradeoffs which users routinely face, regarding drive size, cost and ease of set-up.

The range also includes units with integral EMC filters and DeviceNet capability for digital networking applications.

Compatible with 220 or 110V single-phase supplies and available in power ratings from 0.25 to 2.2kW, the SCM requires the smallest investment in panel space when compared to competitive variable frequency drives.

The 2.2kW unit, for example, requires just 146 x 96mm of panel space.

Although it has one of the smallest footprints of any drive, the SC Series offers a range of functions only usually found on much larger drives yet remains extremely easy to use.

Factory preset parameters allow the drive to be used as a simple speed controller straight from the box, a control terminal block provides 11 I/O terminals (all of which are finger safe) and functions can also be tapped in on front of the drive using touch buttons and an LCD screen fitted as standard.

Options include DIN rail mounting, an IP65 keypad and a dynamic braking kit.

SC Series models in general have output frequency up to 240Hz as standard and are also available for high-frequency operation at up to 1kHz.

There is also a through-hole mounting version where the heatsink is mounted outside the drive for enhanced thermal management.

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