Flexible servos suit demanding motion tasks

High-performance brushless servomotors are ideal for individual use for demanding motion control applications.

Aerotech's high-performance brushless servomotors are well proven as integrated components within its wide range of linear and rotary positioners but are also available for individual use for demanding motion control applications.

A choice of three core technologies is available with many options to allow motion system designers to select the best drive solution to meet their specification and budget.

The BM series is a brushless DC, high-performance servomotor based on industry standard NEMA and IEC frames with neodymium-iron-boron magnets for up to 270,000rad/s2 acceleration, maximum speeds to 10,000rev/min and with peak output torques from 1.4 to over 90Nm.

A skewed stator in combination with an eight-pole rotor minimises torque ripple and provides smooth velocity performance with excellent position stability at a reasonable cost.

The standard BM range covers ten models with a 4000-line count encoder and many options are available including increased encoder resolution, encoders with amplified sinewave output, resolver feedback, sealing for IP65 level protection, vacuum preparation (10e-6torr), brakes and gearboxes.

For applications requiring superior velocity and position control, the BMS series has a slotless rotor design with zero cogging for an ultrasmooth velocity performance and in-position stability that has proven to be superior to brush type DC servomotors with the added advantage of increased reliability and maintenance-free operation.

Available in NEMA 23 and 34 frames with high-performance neodymium magnets, these motors are capable of 10,000rev/min speed with 85,000rad/s2 acceleration and peak torque to more than 13Nm.

BMS motors have been developed specifically for exacting positioning and smooth low-speed control and are ideal for machine tool, scanning and electronic gearbox applications found on advanced packaging machinery.

A wide range of encoder options are available with resolutions from 4000 counts per revolution in the standard model to over 4,000,000 counts per revolution with an amplified sinewave encoder and a multiplier box when used with Aerotech's amplifiers and motion controllers.

Other options include IP65 level protection, vacuum preparation, brakes and gearboxes.

Aerotech is a world leader in linear and rotary positioning systems based on direct-drive motor technology.

From this state-of-the-art expertise, the S series frameless rotary motor range combines a separate slotless stator coil and a permanent magnet rotor, which can be built into OEM applications from small feed rolls on packaging machines to large diameter drums for printing equipment.

Available in diameters from 50 to 240mm and in winding lengths up to 150mm, the S series can produce peak torques up to 80Nm.

As the stator and rotor are supplied as separate components, installation is straightforward.

The open frame design allows customised mechanical interfacing as well as special electrical windings to provide specific speed/torque characteristics to match application requirements.

The S range includes its own hall board for six-step or for sinusoidal commutation.

Direct-drive technology offers numerous application advantages such as the removal of couplings, ballscrews and gearboxes from the power transmission system for backlash free, faster and more precise positioning.

Direct-drive has been proven to provide the quickest payback when "true cost of ownership" factors such as increased accuracy, faster throughput, reduced maintenance and longer life are considered.

Aerotech provides a wide range of high-performance servo amplifiers to complement its brushless servomotor range.

The new Ndrive range offers both PWM and linear amplifier designs from 10 to 100A peak current output in three basic versions covering packaged with direct-online power supply, packaged for separate power supply and rack mounting variants.

Used with the A3200 digital automation platform with its high-speed, distributed control architecture based on the IEEE1394 FireWire protocol, Ndrives independently process position and velocity motion updates at 20kHz loop closure rates, avoiding the processing bottleneck associated with hardware based single processor control systems.

All Ndrives come complete with local I/O for switches and sensors and an optional 10/100Base-T Ethernet interface available for third party I/O and PLCs.

Aerotech's A3200 is a software based machine and motion control system that runs on standard Windows based PCs with no additional hardware.

Its Firewire network may be linked to a selection of "soft" machine control modules such as HMI, Vision and PLC providing a completely integrated solution for up to 32 motion axes and with an expansion capability to 64 axes.

Programming and software development tools for the Automation 3200 include native RS274 G-code with an optional software development kit used to program the unit with Windows based ActiveX components as well as other languages including C, C++, VisualBasic and LabView.

FireWire data transfer rates are up to 3.2Gbit/s over optical fibre - 30 to 1000 times faster than competing motion networks.

The nonproprietary FireWire architecture is available on standard PCs and is fully deterministic, maintaining a consistent performance with no system degradation as the number of axes increase.

The comprehensive list of motion control commands available on the A3200 range from simple point-to-point and interpolated moves to velocity and cubic spline profiling, electronic gearbox, fast position capture and high-speed registration moves.

As an alternative, Aerotech's Soloist range can provide a motion control and integrated drive solution for single axis or an Ethernet or USB networked solution for multi-axis applications.

This full-featured multitasking, intelligent drive range comprises direct-online powered or DC bus powered versions with the ability to run stand-alone from preprogrammed commands or in host mode from a Windows based PC or programming terminal via its Ethernet or USB interface.

The Soloist is equipped with dual encoder inputs, high speed interrupt, programmable digital and analogue I/O and many other advanced features, making it suitable for a wide variety of demanding manufacturing applications.

Aerotech also supply brushed DC servomotors and stepper motors for stand-alone applications.

Comprehensive technical support and product training are available for all Aerotech products, which are supplied complete with performance and calibration related documents and a CD with interconnection drawings to help integrators with their own system documentation.

Specification and technical information including speed/torque curves for Aerotech motors are available for download from the company's website.

Back to top