A motor drive can run on DC power, or use AC power like the 15V4150 GV3000 Drive from Reliance.
There are several things to consider when sourcing a drive to use with a motor. These include
Function. What will the components be doing? Make sure to choose drives and motors designed for the same purpose.
Location. Industrial components are specifically designed to hold up to the more rigorous demands of the factory floor. Some products may be rated for outdoor use while others might be restricted to inside locations only.
Compatibility. Unless you need a conversation-starting paperweight, an incompatible drive is worthless.
Cost. What’s your budget? Hint: this is where reconditioned and surplus products really shine. They’re often a fraction of the cost of new.
While all of these factors are important and should be a part of your decision-making process, none of them make the top of the list.
So what does?
Current and Voltage.
Always be sure as you look at drives that their output voltage meets the input voltage rating of your motor.
Also, be sure the drive’s output current rating meets or exceeds the FLA (full load amperes) rating of the motor. You can typically find the FLA on the motor’s nameplate data.
If you have more questions about sourcing the correct motor–or any other product–for your needs, contact our team today.
Servo systems are widely used in manufacturing, laser processing equipment, industrial robotics, and various robotic and motor applications. But if you’re just starting to dip your foot into the world of servos there are plenty of terms you probably have never heard of.
Servo position controller.
Here’s a short overview of some of the most common servo-related questions. Reading through these snapshots should help you understand some of the most common terms related to servos.
What is a servo system?
A servo system, or servo mechanism, includes a moving device, a sensor, and some sort of logic that can compare a desired set point to an actual point, then drive the moving device until the desired and actual match.
In real terms, this usually means the moving device is an electric motor, the sensor is an encoder, and the logic is supplied by a motion controller.
What is a motion controller?
Motion controllers create controlled motion profile sequences for other devices while monitoring and adjusting for speed and position errors. These are the brain of a motion control system and typically work as a closed circuit, comparing feedback signals to actual output so as to reduce errors to zero.
A number of different kinds of motion controllers exist. This includes autonomous controllers, PC-based controllers, and microcontrollers, or MCUs. These controllers can be open loop or closed loop systems.
What’s the difference between an open-loop and a closed-loop system?
Open loop systems are simple and cheap, but don’t rely on feedback loops for adjustment. Closed-loop systems tend to be more complex and more expensive, but can also offer more finely-tuned outputs. Here’s an example of the difference between the two.
It’s July and your air conditioner suddenly dies. You go out and buy two fans, one for your living room and one for your bedroom. The living room fan is a cheap box fan with an on/off switch, but the one for the bedroom actually has a thermostat that controls the fan.
All day long, both fans run. As night falls and the temperature begins to drop, the box fan in the living room keeps going, even though now the surrounding temperature has gotten so comfortable the moving air is too much all the time. But the bedroom fan is different. It’s cycling on and off, keeping that room at a nice temperature. If the room starts to heat back on it kicks back on for a few minutes, but otherwise, it takes a break.
That’s the difference between an open-loop (no feedback) and a closed-loop (with feedback) system.
What’s the difference between servo brushed and brushless systems?
Most motors used in servo systems tend to be brushless but from time to time you may come across a brushed permanent magnet motor. What’s the difference?
Brushed DC motors are built using wound wire coils, called an armature. These work as an an electromagnet inside the motor that work against the magnets located on the outside of the motor. A rotary switch called a commutator reverses the polarity of the armature twice per cycle. This is what creates the current running through the brushed motor.
By contrast, the brushless motor has a magnet as its external rotor. Inside it has a specialized sensor that tracks the rotor position and three phases of driving coils. These coils are activated one after another by the controller via reference signals.
Other terms to research
If you want a deeper understanding of servo position controllers, we suggest doing independent research on these terms:
If you’ve done any work around a PLC (programmable logic controller) or DCS (distributed control system), you’ve probably had an opportunity to see mention of derating curves. These are often included for the power supply. But why provide these little charts? What are they good for?
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Heat dissipation curves are usually part of the product manual. They can help the end-user determine the de-rated power value at the expected operating temperature. In manufacturing settings where power supplies may be enclosed, temperatures can quickly become elevated.
But increased heat can reduce output due to a loss of thermal dissipation. Frequently, this loss is due to the breakdown of conductive fillers that provide the electrical connection between a substrate and mounted components. Accordingly, if the temperature becomes too high, the conductive particles that provide electrical connections become entrapped in cured adhesive and can no longer function as they should.
PLC Derating charts offer insight into just how much heat will affect output. This offers the end-user the opportunity to consider upsizing their power supply to compensate, or to provide external cooling to reduce the amount of heat. This is often the best course of action since heat will damage and often limit the lifespan of components. With this in mind, heat control should always be part of your plan.
Need a power supply for your Reliance AutoMax system? We have many in stock, including several revisions of the Reliance 57c493 Power Supply.
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