Master network added to drives

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jun 7, 2007

WEG's PLC-2 card equips the CFW-09 drives for general digital control tasks, and for advanced positioning and synchronisation applications

WEG is providing OEMs and drive users with greater control and network functionality at lower cost, with the introduction of a master CANopen network to its Vectrue CFW-09 series of drives.

The CANopen network is integrated into the optional PLC-2 card for the WEG drive.

The card equips the CFW-09 for general digital control tasks, and for advanced positioning and synchronisation applications in areas such as pump control, winding, printing and packaging.

As a result, it saves the drive user the cost and complexity of a stand-alone PLC.

Epitomising the high levels of flexibility and control available from the newest generation of inverters, the combination of WEG's CFW-09 and its optional PLC2 card provides a flexible, networkable solution in applications where the frequency inverter on its own cannot provide the required level of control or interfacing.

Simply by slotting-in a PLC-02 options card into the CFW-09, the drive user is able to perform general I/O control tasks or to employ functions such as positioning with trapezoidal and "S" profiles (absolute and relative), master/slave/synchronisation between two or more motors, or electronic gearbox.

The options card offers the user 100 parameters via software or HMI, the flexibility of programming in a Windows environment using WEG's Ladder Programming (WLP) software, and the facility of an RS232 interface with standard Modbus RTU.

Also adding to what is a complete control package, are a homing or absolute feedback feature - which provides the ability to know the exact position of a motor at any given time, a real-time clock, encoder power supply and an isolated encoder input, nine digital inputs, and three relay outputs rated at 3A.

In its role as a master for CANopen networks, the PLC2 card can monitor up to eight slaves and a total of 1024 I/O points.

As CANopen interfaces are provided in the majority of WEG drives (PLC1 and PLC2 cards in the CFW-09; POS2 card in the SCA-05 and CFW- 08), the master CANopen function of the PLC2 card can provide the integration for this range of products.

In addition, it also allows the integration of third-party CANopen devices, such as remote digital and analogue I/O modules, which are already existing on the market.

CANopen is a low cost, open protocol that is widely used across all industry types.

It is highly reliable (based on CAN (Controller Area Network), flexible and offers high throughput, with data communication rates that can reach 1Mbit/s.

In addition, CANopen uses the producer/consumer module for data exchange, which optimises communication among associated equipment on a network.

The operation of the PLC-02 options card is optimised by the powerful 32-bit RISC microprocessor at the heart of the CFW-09 drives.

The level of control provided by this unit ensures the fastest dynamic response and absolute control of speed and torque in the most demanding of applications.

The CFW-09 series of variable frequency drives is designed to deliver high-performance and reliable operation across the wide power range from 1.5 to 1000kW.

The range is suited to stand-alone drive applications or can be employed as intelligent "nodes" in high-speed factory control networks.

To assist easy network integration, the drives are supported by a range of optional, plug-in Profibus DP, DeviceNet, Modbus RTU and CANopen fieldbus modules.