High-performance drive controllers.

Aerotech has introduced two high-performance single-axis controllers: the digital XC4 and XC4e PWMs. They are suitable for driving brushed or brushless DC motors as well as moving coil actuators and stepper motors. A special feature besides the position-synchronized outputs (PSO) is the HyperWire® fibre optic interface.

Aerotech’s digital XC4 and XC4e PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) controllers are powerful, single-axis motor drive controllers with an operating voltage up to 340VDC and a peak current of 30A. All drive variants are compatible with the A3200 automation platform which uses the HyperWire® drive bus. The digital current and position control loop ensures best positioning and synchronisation accuracy, a control bandwidth of up to 20kHz, processing of digital and analogue inputs and outputs, data acquisition, process control and real-time encoder interpolation.

Standard features include Safe Torque Off (STO), a data array with over 4 (XC4) or 16 million (XC4e) 32-bit elements, digital and analogue I/Os, single-axis (XC4) and multi-axis (XC4e) position-synchronised outputs (PSO), special inputs for referencing and travel limitation and improved current monitoring. Square wave, sine wave and absolute encoder signals can be processed. The maximum input frequency for square-wave encoder signals is 40 million pulses per second for both variants. With the additional MX1 function, the XC4 drive controller can interpolate sinusoidal encoder signals with up to 14 bits (16,384-fold). For the XC4e, the additional MX2 and MX3 functions are available as an option, which enable interpolation of 16 bits (65,536x), and with the MX3 option, the processing of two encoder signals, achieving improved position and speed control. In addition, options are available for the XC4e that extend the standard PSO functionality. For example, three encoders can be tracked in real time via the 3-channel PSO, or a complete axis system can provide a PSO signal depending on the actual point in the room.

Both XC4 variants can be equipped with an optional I/O expansion card, which significantly increases the number of inputs and outputs. The I/O card also offers a dedicated PSO output and PSO synchronisation input, which is often used to synchronise with a mode-locked external frequency.

@aerotechmotion #PAuto 

Development package for Profinet Controllers!

Siemens has expanded its offer for the development of PC-based automation solutions for series machine manufacturing with a Profinet driver for controller applications. With the driver, which is delivered as source code, it is easy for the user to implement individual Profinet communication solutions on a standard PC, for networking machines in a production line, for example.

No special hardware is required for this communication solution since the driver utilizes the conventional Ethernet interface to be found on standard PCs. The Profinet driver is also suitable for standard operating systems and is configured via an open XML interface. Engineering tools such as the TIA Portal (Totally Integrated Automation) can provide support for the user here. The new driver supports Profinet with real time (RT) and achieves cycle times of as little as 1 ms when using a real-time operating system.

LED power supplies have 5 year warranty

Stadium Power manufactures competitively priced LED drivers for a wide range of indoor and outdoor use in LED based lighting and signage applications.

Seven standard ranges are available which feature advanced specifications including; full universal AC input range, active PFC (Class C), over voltage and over current protection, IP67 rating for indoor and outdoor applications, free air convection cooled, optional output voltage and current control and -25°C +70°C operating temperature range. Custom designs are available to meet specific power requirements or environmental conditions.

Models include the encapsulated low cost, high efficiency, single output DC:DC MDL LED driver. Offering a wide input range, step up or step down operation, PWM and analogue dimming control and up to 24W output at 300-1000mA the MDL is intended to drive LED strings from 2V to 28V.

Two open-frame models, the 48W SA48CV and 60W SA60CC, feature active power factor correction (PFC) to EN61000-3-2 PFC Class C. The SA60CC provides constant current and dimming control available via PWM, 0-10Vdc or 0-5Vdc.

Enclosed models include the low cost, low standby power SA10CC which is a 10-18W led driver cased to Class ll requirements and features low conducted and radiated EMC. The HPF10 10W model may be programmable via external voltage, potentiometer or PWM.

For outdoor or use in harsh environments the HSF LED driver IP67 rated for indoor and outdoor applications, is available with output power from 60-300W and an optional low cost range rated from 10-28W is available. With an operating temperature range of -25°C to +70°C the HSF LED power supply is free air convection cooled and offers optional output voltage and current control.

Stadium Power now offers customers the ability to buy its LED Drivers and a wide range of other standard products direct from the new ecommerce section of its website. The “buy online” range includes AC-DC power supplies, DIN Rail PSUs, EN54 power supplies, battery chargers and EMC Filters. Online orders will be available for fast delivery from stocks held in the UK. Discounts of up to 50% are possible on high volume orders placed for online stock and delivery is free on orders over £50.

LED drivers and power supplies

Anglia Lighting has greatly expanded its range of LED drivers and power supplies following its appointment as British and Irish distributor for Inventronics. The new agreement allows Anglia to offer its customers higher power drivers up to 300W as well as sealed units for outdoor and industrial applications.

EUC-200Q035SV 200W Driver

According to Gene King, Director of International Business Development at Inventronics, “Our rapid growth in the US market leads us to believe that we could be equally successful in Europe with the right channel partner. In Anglia Lighting, we have found that partner – a company that really understands LED technology, is able to work closely with customers at the design level to ensure that they specify the right solution for their design, and then follow through with exceptional logistical support as the design moves into volume production.”

Mark Pinkney, Divisional Marketing Manager, Anglia Lighting, added, “Our new partnership with Inventronics is highly complementary to the existing Anglia Lighting range. It is one of the world’s top LED driver manufacturers and our agreement allows us to support applications and markets where we previously didn’t offer a solution. The new line brings us more IP rated solutions for outdoor and industrial lighting applications, as well as higher power drivers up to 300W, and a range of cost-effective constant voltage units.”

Enhanced server

MatrikonOPC releases enhanced server for Allen Bradley to expand devices supported, optimise performance

MatrikonOPC™ has released its updated OPC server for Allen Bradley, which expands the range of supported Allen Bradley devices, improves performance and simplifies configuration. Additional devices supported include ControlLogix, MicroLogix, and PLC5s - providing users with comprehensive, open access connectivity for their Allen Bradley PLCs.

Key features include: Comprehensive connectivity support for PLC5’s, SLC500’s, Micrologix (1100 A, 1400, 1200 etc), and ControlLogix; Automatic discovery of Allen Bradley PLCs making integration seamless; High-performance OPC Server suited for sequential, process, drive, and motion control.

The Allen Bradley OPC Server includes built-in security that protects data from un-authorized user access by allowing administrators to define exactly what data is visible to which users based on each user’s Windows login credentials. This means the Allen-Bradley OPC Server plays an active role in maintaining data integrity.

“The expanded functionality and improved user experience offered with the OPC Server for Allen Bradley make it easier to set up and maintain, which is more efficient for users dealing with large, multi-device installations,” said Darek Kominek, marketing manager at MatrikonOPC.

Key features include:
Comprehensive connectivity support for PLC5’s, SLC500’s, Micrologix (1100 A, 1400, 1200 etc), and ControlLogix;
Automatic discovery of Allen Bradley PLCs making integration seamless;
High-performance OPC Server suited for sequential, process, drive, and motion control.

Reaching 10,000 drivers!

NI Instrument Driver Network Reaches 10,000 Drivers for Automating Stand-Alone Instrumentation

National Instruments has announced that the NI Instrument Driver Network (IDNet) has reached a new milestone of 10,000 instrument drivers for automating stand-alone instrumentation. From IDNet, you can access free, NI-certified instrument driver downloads for LabVIEW system design software, NI LabWindows^™/CVI and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET. IDNet instrument drivers simplify instrument control across a variety of buses including GPIB, USB, PXI, PCI, Ethernet, LXI and RS232.

“We typically check the NI Instrument Network for instrument driver availability prior to selecting equipment for purchase because we are well aware of the amount of development time lost when creating drivers ourselves,” said Ernest Clifford, Senior Systems Engineer at Alpha Research and Technology. “If the equipment manufacturer has a LabVIEW driver available, we’ll always select that device over one that does not have a LabVIEW instrument driver.”

“For over 20 years, NI has been the industry’s preferred provider for free open-source LabVIEW Plug and Play instrument drivers,” said Ray Almgren, Vice President of Core Platforms Product Marketing at National Instruments. “We are thrilled that IDNet now provides over 10,000 instrument drivers for automating stand-alone instrumentation.”

NI also released a free tool for creating LabVIEW Plug and Play instrument drivers called LabVIEW Instrument Driver Development Studio, so engineers can easily develop their own drivers and upload them to IDNet. LabVIEW Instrument Driver Development Studio provides a powerful and flexible platform that speeds up development through functional SCPI command templates for common instrument types and automatically generates LabVIEW source code for the instrument. Engineers can easily develop consistent instrument drivers by loading and modifying the source code from an existing driver and create sophisticated driver architectures with the drag-and-drop interactive user interface. NI can then certify the instrument driver to verify that it meets established standards.

Over 9,000 instrument drivers

National Instruments now offers more than 9,000 drivers from more than 350 vendors through the Instrument Driver Network (IDNet) that simplify and automate connection to stand-alone instruments. IDNet, the industry’s largest source of instrument drivers, includes more than 1,000 new drivers added since November 2009. The drivers are written for the LabVIEW graphical development platform, the NI LabWindows™/CVI ANSI C integrated development environment and Measurement Studio for Microsoft Visual Studio.

Engineers, scientists and instrument manufacturers around the world have relied on National Instruments software and instrument drivers since the first version of LabVIEW was shipped in 1986. With the latest version, LabVIEW 2010, engineers can use the new Instrument Driver Finder (IDFinder) to quickly search IDNet and download different LabVIEW Plug and Play instrument drivers for their stand-alone instruments. IDFinder scans the system for connected instruments; downloads and installs the appropriate drivers; and presents ready-to-run examples to the engineer. IDFinder significantly reduces time to first measurement by helping engineers get up and running without leaving the LabVIEW environment.

From IDNet, engineers can download LabVIEW Plug and Play, LabWindows/CVI Plug and Play and interchangeable virtual instrument (IVI) drivers certified by NI to automate measurements from thousands of instruments. With NI software, instrument drivers can simplify instrument automation across a variety of buses including GPIB, USB, PXI, PCI, Ethernet, LXI and RS232. NI builds all of its instrument drivers using VISA, an industry-standard I/O programming interface that abstracts the underlying bus communication for a consistent programming experience regardless of the instrument bus.

Tunneling and automation B2B solution

Kepware Technologies, the leader in Communications for Automation has released KEPServerEX version 5.2. This release delivers significant new features including an OPC UA Client and Server, an Alarm and Event Condition option - expanding on the previously delivered OPC AE interface, and updated Mettler Toledo and IDEC Drivers.

OPC UA is the most robust of OPC Foundation specifications. KEPServerEX now delivers an OPC UA Server, in addition to existing OPC DA and OPC AE interfaces. KEPServerEX also delivers an optional OPC UA Client Driver. The combination of OPC UA Client and Server interfaces, in addition to all other KEPServerEX interfaces enable it to be a “Standards Based” Tunneling solution. Tunneling solutions are a replacement for Microsoft DCOM communications in distributed OPC DA applications. More importantly for the automation industry, the security inherent to OPC UA, in terms of data encryption and authentication makes it an excellent choice for real-time data sharing in Automation related Real-time Business to Business (B2B) applications. B2B has typically been handled on a non-real-time transactional basis with Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) or with custom developments when real-time connectivity was required. Now, Kepware offers a standards based and cost effective off the shelf solution.

This release also delivers a significant new Alarm and Event Condition option, the ability to monitor variables and configure conditions with which to trigger Alarm or Event messaging. The Alarm and Event Condition option works in conjunction with the KEPServerEX OPC AE interface.

Further enhancements include additional CID (Custom Interface Driver – OPC Toolkit) sample code in C#, an updated Allen Bradley ControlLogix Driver – now supports 1024 Programs and multi-byte Strings, Mettler Toledo – scale controls, IDEC Driver – expanded ranges for MicroSmart and Open models, and Modbus Ethernet – Global settings changes at runtime.

“KEPServerEX enhancements are released on a quarterly schedule,” explained Tony Paine, President of Kepware Technologies. “Each release is packed with major new technology and value for our customers. We are not just a driver company any more. Our goal is Interoperability – through Standards and with popular native interfaces.”

“Kepware, through its OEM partnerships, channels and direct efforts, is a major driver of OPC adoption in the world,” says Thomas Burke, President of the OPC Foundation. “Their new support for OPC UA, and the positioning for Real-time B2B for Automation is very creative and exactly what we need at a time when all communications are moving toward standards. For example, the world has a focus on the SmartGrid. That is Real-time B2B for Automation. Data needs to be exchanged between customers and suppliers in real-time and securely, and OPC UA technology, through players like Kepware, will solve real world problems with off the shelf, cost effective solutions.”

Website downloads will be available on February 11th 2010.

Magazine

Motor, drive and power transmission publication focuses on answers

A new edition of Baldor Electric's magazine for motor, drive and power transmission engineers and users - Solutions - is available for download on their website. It contains numerous technical articles illustrating how electric motor, drive, power transmission and motion control technologies are being used to advantage.

Among the major articles in this issue is a review of the development work behind the launch of an innovative direct drive solution for commercial building water cooling tower fans. A case study of the new fan drive in use then provides a practical look at the technology's contribution to higher reliability and energy efficiency.

Other application-focused features include a look at a power-saving upgrade of drives that control a town's water tower pumps, a case study of an energy efficient motor upgrade at a foundry, and details of how adapter-mounted bearings and gear reducers are improving conveyor reliability at a quarry.

Solutions magazine may be downloaded from: http://www.baldor.com

LED Drivers

Synchronous step-down LED driver delivers over 20A of continuous LED current

Linear Technology has just announced the LT3743, a synchronous step-down DC/DC converter designed to deliver constant current to drive high current LEDs. The device’s 5.5V to 36V input voltage range makes it ideal for a wide variety of applications, including industrial, DLP projection and architectural lighting.

Full-Featured LED Controller Delivers over 80 Watts of LED Power

The LT3743 provides up to 20A of continuous LED current from a nominal 12V input, delivering in excess of 80 Watts. In pulsed LED applications, it can deliver up to 40A of LED current or 160 Watts from a 12V input. Efficiencies as high as 95% eliminate any need for external heat sinking and significantly simplify the thermal design. A frequency adjust pin enables the user to program the frequency between 100kHz and 1MHz so designers can optimize efficiency while minimizing external component size. Combined with a 4mm x 5mm QFN or thermally enhanced TSSOP-28 package, the LT3743 offers a very compact high-power LED driver solution.

The LT3743 offers both PWM and CTRL_SELECT dimming, offering 3,000:1 dimming capability at three LED current levels, making it ideal for color mixing applications such as those required in DLP projectors. Similarly, the LT3743’s unique topology enables it to transition between two regulated LED current levels in less than 2µsec, enabling more accurate color mixing in RGB applications. LED current accuracy of ±6% is maintained in order to ensure the most accurate luminosity of light from the LED. Additional features include output voltage regulation, open-LED protection, overcurrent protection and a thermal derating circuit.

The LT3743EUFD is available in a 28-pin 4mm x 5mm QFN package, whereas the LT3743EFE is available in a thermally enhanced TSSOP-28. Pricing starts at $4.80 and $4.95 each, respectively in 1,000-piece quantities. Extended temperature versions, or “I” grades, namely the LT3743IUFD and LT3743IFE are also available. Pricing starts at $5.65 and $5.82 each respectively in 1,000-piece quantities.