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If lower-cost, closed-loop steppers
could achieve the performance
targets, the company could use them
in place of more-expensive servos,
gaining a distinct advantage in the
market.
The company embarked on a
pilot project to replace the servos
in one machine with Servotronix
stepIM stepper motors. Only the
motors would be changed -- motion
controllers and communication
protocols (CANopen) would stay the
same.
A significant simplification would
be realized as well, since stepIM
motors are integrated with the
electronics, fewer cables are
necessary. Less cabling means faster
and less complicated setup time and
maintenance.
After only a few months, and with
exceptional technical support from
Servotronix, the company was able
to present its stepper-based machine
in a trade show.
The project manager was pleased to
be able to meet all implementation
targets. “We were able to pull out the
servos from the target machine and
replace them with stepIMs. Although
we had some software to write and
some preliminary testing to do, we
got the whole thing working in a
couple of months.”
The next step was to determine if the
stepper-motor version of the machine
could meet precision, acceleration,
energy consumption and other key
performance indicators.
After a month-long trial process, the
company concluded that the closed-
loop stepper motors allowed the
machine to meet all the specification
and
machine
performance
requirements
while
reducing
complexity and cutting costs by over
5% per machine. The company has
now started to implement stepIM in
300 new machines.
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Closed-loop stepper motors change
the performance-cost ratio in motion
control for many applications. High
accuracy and energy efficiency enable
stepIM stepper motors to operate in
applications where more expensive
servo motors have dominated.
stepIM field-oriented, closed-loop
steppers are ideal for multiple-axis
applications, positioning tasks with
load changes and applications that
require quiet operation, short settling
times and precise positioning.
Today, Servotronix stepIMs can be
found operating in wood processing,
medical, printing, reproduceable
energy and textile production.
New-Tech Magazine Europe l 27