Baldor Electric Company is launching a ground-breaking 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 centralized control and distributed ‘intelligent drive’ scenarios for example, in both cases with substantial savings in the electrical power components typically required.
The initial launch of MotiFlex e100 provides drives rated for output powers up to 16 A, in five steps of 1.5, 3, 6, 10.5 and 16 A. 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/sec, 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 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 high power machinery builders 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 utilized by the other axes, 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
Filed Under: Factory automation, Drives (servo) + amplifiers, Motion control • motor controls