Gearing up for the future

Servo Components & Systems has unveiled a new range of small brushless planetary gear motors, along with a new range of multi axis servo drives with CANopen or EtherCAT communications, high current and small form factor.

The small form factor LRPX 16, 22, 32 or 40mm Ø BLDC motor has peak operating efficiency at low RPM, allowing custom integration with a planetary gearbox. Although small, the planetary gear motor range offers continuous torque capability up to 15Nm, with speeds up to 2500 rpm. Incremental encoders are also included to provide complete control.

High torque at low speed

“Traditional BLDC motors have peak performance at high speeds,” states the company. “These speeds are simply too high to make efficient use of a gearbox and, even when a traditional BLDC motor is paired with a custom high-speed gearbox, there are typically noise and heat issues that make it prohibitive for discerning applications.

"The LRPX motor range carefully integrates the unique low-speed motor with a custom planetary gearbox. The result is a small form factor BLDC motor that can produce high torque at low speed and offers smooth operation with low noise.”

The MP3 or ME3 are 3-axis, high-performance, DC powered servo drives for position, velocity, and torque control of servo and stepper motors via CANopen or EtherCAT communications. Using advanced FPGA technology, the servo drive is said to provide a significant reduction in the cost per node in multi-axis systems.

Each of the three axes within the drive operates as either CANopen or EtherCAT nodes under DSP-402 for motion control devices. Supported modes include: Cyclic Synchronous Position/Velocity/Torque, Profile Position-Velocity, Interpolated Position Mode (PVT), and Homing.

Command and control

Running steppers in servo mode allows control of position/velocity/torque. In microstepping mode stepper command pulses and master encoder for camming or gearing is supported. Eighteen high-speed digital inputs with programmable functions are provided. There are six CMOS high-speed outputs. Three mosfet outputs that are 24V compatible can power motor brakes.

An SPI port is provided with one high-speed input and three high-speed digital outputs. If not used for SPI, the input and outputs are programmable for other functions. An RS-232 serial port provides a connection to Copley’s CME2 software for commissioning, firmware upgrading, and saving configurations to flash memory.

Drive power is transformer-isolated DC from regulated or unregulated power supplies. “An AuxHV input is provided for ‘keep-alive’ operation, permitting the drive power stage to be completely powered down without losing position information, or communications with the control system.”

High performance, compact packages

The New AccelnetPLUS Micro Modules are said to CANdeliver high performance in compact PCB-mounted packages (77x59x20mm). EtherCAT and CANopen versions are available. Multi-axis models deliver optimal cost per node. “Higher-resolution current loops enable AccelnetPLUS to meet the needs of the most demanding applications. 3A-15A continuous to 6A-30A peak, 14-90VDC.”

Meanwhile, adds Servo Components & Systems, the New ArgusPLUS “sets new levels of performance, connectivity and flexibility”. EtherCAT and CANopen versions are available. A wide range of absolute encoders are supported. Both isolated and high-speed non-isolated I/O are provided. 30A continuous, 60A peak