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Compact drives be controlled from your mobile

14 July, 2010

At the recent Drives & Controls show in the UK, Schneider Electric unveiled a range of compact variable speed drives that can be programmed and controlled wirelessly via Bluetooth. There was also a new range of easy-to-use soft-starts.

The slimline Altivar 32 VSDs (above) can control synchronous and asynchronous motors from 0.18–15kW and come in a bookstyle format up to 4kW. Up to 1.5kW, the drives are just 45mm wide and are claimed to have the smallest footprint on the market. They can be mounted side-by-side to reduce enclosure space by up to 40% or to allow more drives to be fitted into the same space.

“The response to field trials of the ATV32 has been overwhelming with many respondents claiming it represents a real breakthrough,” says Paul Pryor, Schneider’s UK drives product manager. “We know that it will be a real industry driver and represents something very different.”

Built into the drives are: 150 application-specific functions; simple programmable controller functions; CANopen and Modbus support; and embedded safety functions, including safe torque-off, safe limited speed and safe stop. The drives support wireless Bluetooth links, allowing them to be configured and controlled remotely from a mobile phone using Schneider’s SoMove software suite.

This software provides monitoring, diagnostic and configuration functions and can program the drives’ embedded safety and logic functions. It can also be used with Schneider’s new Lexium 32 servo drive. For set up and maintenance, the software offers a choice between a USB/RJ-45 cable link or a Bluetooth wireless link.

The drives can either be configured with the power on using a simple loader with a copy-and-paste tool, or with the power off using a click-and-configure multi-loader system.

The SoMove software, which uses FDT/DTM technology, removes the need for a PC. All of the configuration data can be stored on an SD card. HMI options include remote terminal or a simple-to-use drive navigator with a text display.

The compact new ATS 22 three-phase softstarters, also launched at the Drives show, have embedded shorting contactors, reducing the number of components and cabling. They use a new HMI design which allows users to set 10 parameters and then simply to press a start button. (A second level of parameters is available for fine-tuning.)

The softstarters incorporate motor protection, diagnostics, fieldbus communications, and embedded Modbus and CANopen. They have an identical navigation to earlier ATS 48 models but have a simpler display, with fewer keys and a diagnostic function, a trip history and selectable values to monitor.




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