DC motor drives.

ElectroCraft has expanded its DC motor drive lineup for the CompletePower™ Plus Universal Drive and PRO-Series.

“ElectroCraft provides customers with some of the most powerful, flexible and easy to use DC motor drives available in the marketplace today”, said Scott Rohlfs, Global Director of Product Marketing. “Combined with our extensive range of motors, gear motors and linear actuators, ElectroCraft offers complete motion solutions for virtually any fractional horsepower application.”

The CompletePower™ Plus Universal Drive combined with ElectroCraft CompleteArchitect™ configuration software takes performance, efficiency and flexibility to the next level, utilizing state-of-the-art digital drive technology combined with an intuitive and highly configurable user interface. Perfect for a wide range of applications, the Universal Drive offers multiple control methods including analog velocity, analog torque, or step & direction positioning, and is fully compatible with a wide range of motor architectures, including Brushless DC motors, PMDC Brush Motors, Open-Loop and Closed-Loop Stepper Motors. There are now four standard capacities in the model lineup, supporting 12 to 80 VDC motor windings and providing up to 24A continuous and 60A peak output current, while customized versions are also offered to meet large volume OEM requirements.

For applications that require more advanced control capabilities, ElectroCraft’s PRO Series is the answer. The PRO Series drives incorporate a fully programmable motion controller with built-in networking and are available in a variety of hardware configurations including stand-alone, PCB mount or as part of an integrated motor drive solution. Whether you are controlling a single drive or multiple drives in a networked system, configuration and programming is easy using ElectroCraft’s powerful MotionPRO Suite software.

#PAuto @ElectroCraftInc @mepaxIntPR

Legislation on both sides of Atlantic effects machinery OEMs

Motor efficiency upgrades - is it Win-Win or Win-Lose?

A seminal piece of legislation mandating minimum electric motor efficiency levels is scheduled to come into force across the EU in June 2011. It has enormous implications for machinery OEMs, with potentially serious consequences to sales and market share if attention is not paid immediately, says Baldor. The situation is made even more problematic by the USA's EISA minimum efficiency regulations, which came into force in December 2010.

From feedback at exhibitions and from calls and visits Baldor believes that as much as a third of the EU's OEMs are still either wholly or partially unaware that new general-purpose AC motors installed from June must meet a minimum efficiency of IE2. IE2 is equivalent to the previous CEMEP 'EFF1' standard.

Most OEMs currently use lower-efficiency EFF3- or EFF2- grade AC motors. Transitioning equipment designs with higher efficiency motors can involve physical and mechanical interface changes, changes to rotational speeds, and changes to thermal issues and starting behaviour. These issues can have a big impact for equipment OEMs, and they might need weeks or even three months or more to make the upgrade.

Robin Cowley

"We're sending an SOS message to European OEMs that if they do not start considering the impact of motor efficiency regulations immediately, then there could be negative implications for their sales and market share," says Robin Cowley, Industrial Marketing Manager for Baldor in the EU. "And when OEMs think about the upgrade to IE2 efficiency levels, we are also suggesting that they consider their strategy for the IE3 efficiency level that's coming down the track because if they don't, their competitors might - and steal a march."

Most end users of automation are becoming seriously worried about their energy costs. Many are also currently putting strong environmental care plans into place. Given this market situation, Robin Cowley thinks that OEMs who start to offer the best efficiency levels available - IE3 - could see their market share grow at the expense of those who merely offer the minimum required.

This situation is complicated by the USA's recent Energy Independence Security Act (EISA) which came into force in December 2010. EISA mandates a minimum efficiency level of 'NEMA Premium' for motors imported into the USA.

NEMA Premium is equivalent to IE3, which is not due to come into force in the EU until 2015. Robin Cowley expects that some USA OEMs could be adopting NEMA Premium as their standard offering for international sales as well. This means that much imported equipment could offer end users a significantly faster payback in terms of reduced energy consumption than equipment sourced from the EU.


"For some simple items of equipment such as pumps or fans, the motor is a significant proportion of the bill of materials and US competitors might offer a lower-spec IE2 alternative in the EU," adds Baldor's Robin Cowley. "However, where a motor is only a small proportion of some larger equipment - on a conveyor system for example - US competitors have the opportunity to offer premium efficiency as standard. This potentially puts them in a position to gain market share here in Europe."

Motor stock in US & Europe catalogued!

Baldor has published a new edition of its renowned 501 catalogue, detailing all the electric motor products that are held in stock by the company in the USA - all of which are also available on quick turnaround in Europe. The list - and the catalogue - are exceptionally comprehensive. Running to more than 600 pages, the latest edition covers literally thousands of Baldor Reliance motors and virtually every application area for rotary motion.

The single- and three-phase motors that are stocked by Baldor span a very wide power range of 0.18 to 1,200 kW and cover an exceptionally broad spectrum of application types - including general purpose, premium efficiency, severe duty and explosion proof, washdown, DC, vector and brake - together with a large number of application-specific types such as pump, HVAC and farm duty.

Given Baldor's American heritage, it is hardly surprising that as well as motors with IEC frames, the catalogue details a vast number of motors with NEMA type frames. Many of the company's three-phase NEMA motors are already available - in both Europe and the USA - in versions that comply with the USA's Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), which became mandatory on December 19, 2010. This legislation enforces higher energy standards for virtually every three-phase motor with a power rating from 0.75 to 375 kW; Baldor is consequently making EISA-compliant motors available to all automation builders serving the North American market.

The world´s smallest brushless motor with integrated motion controller

The well-known BX4 family of brushless DC servo motors from Faulhaber has an innovative new member. With a 22 mm module, the 2232/2250...BX4 CSD/CCD is the world´s smallest brushless motor with integrated motion controller in uniform-diameter construction. It combines all the advantages of BX4 technology in a tiny package: long service life, high non-cogging torque and freedom from adhesives. This makes them ideal for use in demanding application areas such as robotics, automation, medical technology, specialty machinery and the aerospace industry.

The drives are based on proven their motion control systems. With their compact, uniform-diameter construction and suitable gearing combinations, they provide the ideal drive solution for a wide variety of applications. The drives have serial RS232 or CAN interfaces and can be configured using FAULHABER Motion Manager 4.4 software. Additional features of the new drives further expand their scope of use: a wide temperature range of -25 to +85 °C, thermally allowable continuous current up to 0.69 A, and flexibly configurable speed in the range of 5 to 8000 rpm. The units are also available with customer-specific software on request.

All products with integrated electronics have automatic peak and continuous current limitation to protect the motor and the electronics. Operation of the motor and the electronics from separate supply voltages is possible as an option.

The new drives are available in two motor lengths (32 and 50 mm) with a rated voltage of 24 V DC. Outstanding features of these innovative new products are an extremely flat torque versus speed curve and an excellent torque to volume ratio, with torque output of 18 to 35 mNm.

New DC motors

Rotalink has launched a range of high-torque brushed DC motors with neodymium rare earth magnets. The new RE series delivers at least twice the maximum shaft power of similar sized permanent magnet DC motors and are a cost effective option where increased dynamic performance and/or small size are important application factors. The low cogging design uses very thin and lightweight neodymium magnets with high density windings and a 6-slot core for smooth motion and an excellent torque to inertia ratio.

The long life RE series motors are available in diameters of 15, 24 and 30mm with nominal voltages of 12 and 24 VDC. Through the range, maximum motor power is from 2.0 W to 29 W and maximum stall torque from 9 to 299 mNm.

These new motors are sourced from global distribution partners as a part of their strategy to maintain competitive pricing for commodity components and combine them with its own innovative designs for gearbox, motor feedback and motion control technologies to enable low-cost miniature rotary power transmission solutions up to 28 Nm and linear motion solutions to 50 N.

Their range includes planetary and spur gearbox designs that feature a selection of standard or enhanced polymer gears on sintered or ball bearings in a wide choice of output torque ratings. The range also includes unique ovoid style gearboxes that combine spur gears with ultra-polymer planetary stages for extremely high torque output in very compact designs. This flexibility allows customers to exactly match their performance requirements from motor type through to performance characteristics without compromising cost.

They also manufacture incremental and absolute encoder feedback devices along with speed controls and innovative motion controls including Red Drive - a powerful DC motor drive with drag-and-drop flow chart programming for motion control including encoder feedback for motors up to 200 Watts.
The RE series motors are included in Rotalink's new and revised full range catalogue which includes two other new DC motor ranges ( heavy case and brushless) in addition to several new gearbox lines and new absolute encoders, and a brushless version of Rotalink's Red Drive motion controller.

Mini motors, power transmission & controls

New catalogue covers three additional DC motor technologies, a new brushless drive and increased resource material for miniature power transmission mechanics and controls

A new and revised full range catalogue from Rotalink includes several new products and additional technical information aimed at making an informed selection for highly cost competitive miniature power transmission systems and controls. The new resource covers performance specifications for three recently added DC motor technologies (rare earth, heavy case and brushless) as well as several new gearbox lines along with a completely new section on DC motor control - including new absolute encoders and a brushless version of Rotalink's flagship motion controller, Red Drive.

The new catalogue reflects just how busy the company has been over the past two years - developing and improving a complete range that allows its customers the benefit of volume sourced and low-cost DC, AC and stepper motor technologies from global partners which are integrated with in-house designed and manufactured miniature gearboxes, motor feedback components and motion control technologies.

Rotalink's strength and expertise lies in adapting advanced materials technologies into its own innovative designs for miniature gearbox and associated components to realise leading-edge and cost effective solutions for miniature power transmission systems up to 28 Nm torque and to 150 W shaft power. With its own manufactured range of planetary and ovoid style gearboxes that include a flexible choice standard or enhanced polymer gears with sintered or ball bearings, it is possible to exactly match a customer's specification without cost compromise. Furthermore, the choice of advanced materials and their unique ovoid gearboxes with spur/planetary output stages can yield extremely high torque in space restricted envelopes and are a perfect solution where miniaturisation in design or maximising power to size is of prime importance.

By adapting these same gearbox designs with their space saving incremental or absolute encoder feedback devices, and by adding speed or positional motion control, Rotalink provide a complete single-source service for miniature linear or rotary power transmission systems at costs which are much less than its competitors.

The new catalogue includes complete specification information for three recently introduced DC motor technologies; high power brushed DC motors with neodymium rare earth magnets, heavy case low inertia brushed DC motors, and low cost brushless DC motors complete with hall effect sensors for commutation.

Also, recently launched and available for the first time in the new catalogue is a brushless version of the Red Drive programmable motion controller for up to 10A output from a 12 – 24 VDC source with up to 27 configurable analogue and digital I/O points for comprehensive machine control interfacing.

For each of the DC, AC and Stepper motors section in the new catalogue, a detailed selection guide is included with technical assistance information available such as countermeasures for EMI and a discussion on customisation options for DC motor gearbox applications. Engineers and designers involved in miniature power transmission systems will find Rotalink's new catalogue an invaluable resource.

It may be downloaded in pdf format from their website.

DC motor pre driver IC

The new A4936 from Allegro MicroSystems Europe is a three-phase brushless DC motor pre-driver IC targeted at applications within the office automation sector including laser printer and copier drum drives.

The new device incorporates outputs for the direct high-current gate drive of an all N-channel power MOSFET three-phase bridge with a maximum supply voltage of 38 V. Also included in the A4936 device are three Hall-element inputs, a sequencer for commutation control, fixed off-time pulse width modulation (PWM) current control, and locked-rotor detection.

Output current is scaled by the capability of the external MOSFETs, and locked-rotor detection delay is set by an external capacitor on the CLD terminal. The PWM, DIR, BRAKE and STOP inputs can be used to control motor speed, position, and torque. The motor speed can be determined using the motor's FG (frequency generator) coil signal, which is amplified and shaped with the internal differential amplifier and comparator to produce a digital FG signal output.

The external MOSFETs can be pulse-width-modulated by using an external signal on the PWM input or the internal PWM current regulator. In either case, the synchronous rectification capability of the A4936 reduces power dissipation by turning on the appropriate MOSFETs during current decay.

The Hall elements can be inexpensive types, and are used in conjunction with internal noise filtering to prevent false commutation signals. The A4936 provides a regulated 7.5 V supply to power the three Hall elements. Internal circuit protection includes thermal shutdown with hysteresis, undervoltage lockout and dead-time protection. Special power-up sequencing is not required. The operating temperature range is -20°C to +105°C.

The A4936 is supplied in a 5 x 5 mm, 32-terminal QFN package with exposed thermal pad. This small footprint package is lead (Pb) free with 100% matt tin leadframe plating.

Motors, drives, power transmission and controls catalogue

Baldor has released a major new catalogue overviewing the extensive range of industrial motors, drives, power transmission and motion control products it stocks in Europe. The 120-page guide is a valuable resource for automation builders and maintainers alike. It details hundreds of the most commonly required DC and AC motors, drives, gearmotors, Baldor-Dodge gearboxes - supported by a European assembly centre - and Baldor-Dodge bearings. The catalogue also details the company's comprehensive range of servomotors, drives and controllers for precision motion control applications.

The motor selection is very broad, and includes Baldor's renowned energy-efficient motors, available in both IEC frame and NEMA frame variants for companies who build for international markets or maintain equipment manufactured overseas. Also included are details of special-purpose motors for severe-, hazardous and washdown-duty operating environments, as well as inverter-duty and commercial-duty motors.

The catalogue concludes with useful reference material including quick reference sections on IEC and NEMA frame sizes, and imperial/metric conversions.

Delta Line at Advanced Manufacturing

Delta Line offers a wide variety of products, intended as either single motion products within an application or as a complete system. (MBA Exhibition)

Products include DC and BLDC motors, disc magnet, hybrid or tin can stepper motors, spur gear, planetary and customised gearboxes, encoders and intelligent drives for DC, BLDC or stepper motors.

Included in the line up are Portescap’s new Athlonix brush DC motors; compact, high-efficiency endurance motors that deliver unrivaled speed-to-torque performance in a compact lighter weight package with output power up to 9 W. They are available in 12, 16 and 22 mm frame sizes.

A typical 22 mm coreless motor operating at high load of 15mNm for 5,000 hours can see performance degrade due to the thermal heat it has generated, while at the same time having less power and less energy efficiency due to higher motor regulation factor. Athlonix motors have motor regulation factors that are lower by 5-20% than most comparative motors available, resulting in consistent power density over the motor life-time. As a result, they are ideally suited for use in automation applications such as medical analysers and electronic assembly that require constant pick-and-place operations during machining, assembly and scanning.

Also on show, the Portescap nuvoDisc flat brushless DC miniature motors with an incomparably small footprint (32 mm diameter and 11.7 mm long), nuvoDisc offers superior continuous speed, quick design integration and mechanical installation, and high reliability due to no mechanical wear because it’s a brushless motor and the ball bearings provide excellent life. And as a result of this slotless no cogging design, nuvoDisc benefits from minimal vibration.


Then there’s the new DPM high torque brushless 42 mm motor with integrated Hall sensors. The high energy permanent magnets used in the BLDC motors produce very high efficiency and acceleration with peak torque that can reach 1.44 Nm. The configuration of the stator (10 poles) increases the torque constant value up to 0.054 Nm/A. The DPM brushless range includes motors from 22 mm diameter up to 86 mm with a rated torque range from 8 mNm to 2.1 Nm and in lengths of 40 mm, 60 mm, 80 mm and 100 mm.

More exhibits at Advanced Manufacturing UK 27-28 April 2010