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Twin-axis servodrives will cut cabinet space by up to 70%
Rockwell Automation has announced a two-axis servodrive that, it says, will help machine-builders to cut cabinet-space requirements by up to 70% and wiring requirements by up to 60%, as well as making configuration and commissioning easier.
The Allen-Bradley Kinetix 5700 servodrive is aimed at builders of large custom machines who have traditionally used separate servodrives to achieve high axis-counts and power requirements. They can now run two axes from a single platform with power ratings from 1.6–60kW.
“The Kinetix 5700 servodrive delivers new levels of simplicity, power and space savings to help machine-builders develop leaner machines and get them to market faster,” says global product manager, James Grosskreuz. “End-users will also benefit from receiving high-performance machines that are easier to maintain and more flexible to enable faster changeovers.”
The new drives use a real-time tuning technology called Load Observer that avoids the need to tune each axis individually. It can help machine-builders to deliver high-performance motion control out of the box, and can cut commissioning time by days, weeks or even months for the largest machines.
Once a machine is operating, the drive uses a “tracking notch filter” technology to detect and remove resonant frequencies, and to make tuning adjustments automatically over time to help optimise machine performance. This can reduce the need for regular tuning maintenance and help to prevent machine failures, says Rockwell.
The drives have DSL feedback ports that support Kinetix VP servomotors via a single-cable technology. This will allow machine-builders to combine motor-power, brake and feedback cabling in a single cable, reducing the amount of wiring needed by up to 60%.
The drive also combines high-performance vector and servomotor control to help simplify machines, and to save time and labour costs during integration. Rockwell Software’s Studio 5000 Logix Designer software provides a single, easy-to-use environment for configuring the drives and integrating them with Logix controllers for both motion and safety applications.
The Kinetix 5700 servodrives support hardwired safety as well as integrated safety over EtherNet/IP, in which safety data is transmitted using the same wires and IP addresses as motion and control data. Integrated safety can help to cut system wiring, save time and money during installation, and remove potential points of failure. It also makes safety zoning and configuration changes easier for end-users by eliminating the need to re-wire devices.
