Allied Motion’s brushless servo drives eliminate brushes and use electronic commutation to achieve high performance, efficiency, and longevity. They are perfect for a variety of applications including aerospace, medical, and robotics.
A brushless motor controller tightly controls the electrical currents that pass through the rotor and stator. This allows the system to precisely follow a desired position, velocity, or torque command from a network interface.
Power
Servo motors have become essential components in numerous high-tech applications, pushing forward technological advances and improvements across industries. This is largely due to their ability to perform tasks with tremendous accuracy, control, and efficiency while offering significant advantages in terms of power output.
Unlike brushed motors, brushless DC (BLDC) motors use permanent magnets to rotate the rotor, replacing the mechanical commutator. Current flows to the stationary coils inside the stator, generating magnetic fields that keep the rotor in motion. When the motor is commanded to turn, the controller sends the appropriate signals to change the current flowing to each set of coils.
This process is referred to as vector torque control, which eliminates errors directly by continuously measuring the voltage in each motor phase and then calculating and applying the correct phase currents. This is much more accurate than traditional open-loop servo systems that correct errors only after they have resulted in position, velocity and speed errors.
Eclipse servo drives include a powerful, advanced PID compensator that makes it easy to tune your drive in a simple progression rather than the painful and time-consuming iterations required with other brands of servo drives. This allows you to get your system up and running faster with better performance. Additionally, most Eclipse drives support two encoder inputs and will run a combination of brush or brushless rotary and linear motors as well as voice coils and galvos.
Efficiency
Brushless motors are around 85% to 90% more efficient than their brushed counterparts. The elimination of brushes and their commutation system reduces electrical loss and power consumption, leading to increased energy savings and superior control over position, speed, and torque.
Without mechanical brushes, brushless servo motors have longer lifespans and require less maintenance. Additionally, the closed-loop feedback systems that are standard on brushless servo drives ensure stable performance over long periods of time and under varying load conditions.
A key benefit of a brushless servo drive brushless motor is its ability to generate flat torque at any speed and under various loads. This allows for better positioning and faster acceleration and deceleration, which is important in applications such as robots that must precisely perform tasks.
Servo brushless motors are often smaller and lighter than their brushed counterparts. They can also be housed in a more compact frame, making them ideal for applications where space is limited. brushless servo drive manufacturer Additionally, brushless motors typically consume less current, resulting in reduced heat generation and improved application efficiency.
The stationary element of a brushless DC motor is called the stator, and it is constructed of a stack of laminations that are fitted with copper wires in a specific pattern. The coils are then wrapped with insulation, which protects the wires from shorting against each other or the stator laminations. Without a mechanical commutator, brushless motors use electronic commutation and feedback devices to control the rotational state of the rotor.
Precision
In high-precision applications such as robotics, CNC machines, and aerospace, brushless servo drives deliver superior performance capabilities. They offer better accuracy and responsiveness thanks to advanced electronic commutation and real-time feedback systems that continuously monitor motor operation. This enables them to adjust their performance as conditions change, which improves overall efficiency and accuracy in demanding operating environments.
In the woodworking industry, servo motors help manufacturers produce precise shapes in wooden pieces to meet exact specifications. This allows for greater consistency and quality in furniture manufacturing, ensuring that all products are up to par. Similarly, servo drives in textiles manage complex weaving, knitting, and spinning operations to ensure accurate and efficient production for clothing and other functional fabrics.
Servo motors in solar energy harvesting equipment enable them to operate within precise parameters, maximizing the return on investment for solar power systems. The same goes for deep-sea exploration vehicles that rely on servo drives to maneuver and navigate ocean currents and other environmental conditions. Finally, servo motors in printing machinery ensure that print head movements and paper flow are controlled with precision for optimal output and speed.
Because of their robust design and reliability, brushless servo motors are suitable for harsh operating environments. Their lifespan is also extended by the absence of brushes that require maintenance and replacement, further contributing to lower operational costs and downtime. In comparison, brushed motors can develop issues from the continuous friction between their brushes and commutation electronics.
Noise
Servo motors generate a lot of noise. Whether it’s a low hum or a coarse buzzing sound, noise in a servo system is more than an annoyance; it can indicate underlying mechanical issues that will eventually lead to greater problems if left unaddressed.
One of the most common causes of servo motor noise is misalignment. This usually happens when the shafts of a servo motor and driven equipment are not perfectly aligned. Regular inspections and routine maintenance can mitigate this problem by ensuring the shafts are properly aligned to reduce friction and reduce noise.
Another cause of servo noise is amplifier noise. This is often caused by short-term high current transients, especially on digital servos. These fast noises can cause the amplifier’s input fuses to blow. In this case, it would be worth talking to your servo drive or amplifier vendor to see what can be done to reduce the noise.
Jitter noise is also a common source of servo noise. It occurs when a servo motor moves, and the circuitry on the servo drive makes small corrections to the position of the motor. This can lead to a jittering effect in the output shaft, which may result in excessive vibration. Excessive jitter noise will not usually damage the servo, but it can affect accuracy and performance.