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Things You Should Know About Servo Drives

Servo drive is a mechanism that belongs to the category of motion electronic products, the special electronic amplifiers used to power electric servo motors.

Servo drives are the mechanisms which belong to the category of motion electronic products. They are the special electronic amplifiers used to power electric servo motors. Monitoring feedback signals from the motors followed by making subsequent adjustments are their primary functions.

Control theory, an interdisciplinary branch of Engineering and Mathematics, guides the functioning of servo drives which constitute a dynamical system. Having received command signal from a control system, servo drives amplify the signal. After amplification, they transmit electric current to a servo motor. The electric current transmitted is proportional to the command signal received. The command signal represents a desired velocity, torque or position. A velocity sensor attached to the servo motor reports the motor’s actual velocity back to the servo drives.

After comparing the actual motor velocity with the command motor velocity, servo drives alter the voltagefrequency to the motor so as to correct for any error in the velocity. In a properly configured system, the servo motor rotates at a velocity that very closely approximates the velocity signal being received by the servo drive from the control system. A properly configured system, of which servo drive is an integral part, can be achieved by several parameters. Stiffness (also known as proportional gain), damping or derivative gain and feedback gain can achieve this desired performance. The process of adjusting these is called tuning.

Many servo motors require a drive specific to that brand or model, however many drives are compatible with a wide variety of motors. Servo drives which constitute a part of the servo system along with electric motors and encoders enjoy many advantages over conventional DC or AC motor driven system. Servo drives also act as brakes by shunting off generated electricity from the motor itself.

Servo drives can be broadly divided into two categories: digital servo drives where the signal is discreet and analog where the signal is continuous. The ones belonging to the digital category are more in demand on account of their high power density, intelligent functioning and space friendly designs. The digitally operated servo drives integrate motion control core technology; enabling superior performance and advanced programming capabilities. The digital drives include a motion controller that feature current, velocity, position loops, a wide range of commutation types and position feedbacks. Consequently, the digitally operated servo drives ensure higher dynamics and increased precision.

Servo drives may be further categorized depending on their sizes, shapes, electric circuitry, and also that of their variations in input power, feedback type, command signal and performance. Each of these factors plays a major role in determining the price of the drive. Some of the cost effective digital drives are CD Series5, OFDL, PICODAD, PPP-PWM Power Block and UMAC motion controller.

The role of servo drives in various industries is undeniable. They play a major role in CNC machining factory, automation, robotics, textile, printing, and packaging where motion control is pretty complex. In fact, any industry or mechanism based on motion control relies on servo drives.

Article Tags: Servo Drives, Command Signal, Servo Motor, Motion Control

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