VFD with pulse and direction inputs

I'm looking for recommendations on a VFD that will act more or less like a servo or stepper drive.

I have an induction motor with encoder, and I'd like to treat it like a servo or stepper drive, and have my PLC send a pulse train and direction to control the motor. All motion control will happen in the PLC.

The motor will be small; likely less than 5Hp. Thoughts?



Thanks!

-rpoet

With out question Yaskawa I think the latest is F800
i have use the A1000 many times for a servo replacement

GaryS said:

With out question Yaskawa I think the latest is F800
i have use the A1000 many times for a servo replacement

Click to expand...

It's funny; I've heard that Yaskawa drives have these capabilities, but you'd never know it by reading their manual. There's only a passing mention of a pulse-train input on the drive with a max freq. of 32kHz. Is that what I should plan on using, or is that only for speed reference?

Ideally, I'd like to treat the motor/drive like a stepper; a certain number of pulses will rotate the shaft a certain number of degrees, with rotational speed dependent on the frequency of the pulse train. Direction of rotation is determined by a separate input.

I appreciate any pointers. I've never used Yaskawa VFDs before.



Thanks,

-rpoet

Just curious
What plc brand?

JRW said:

Just curious
What plc brand?

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BRX by AutomationDirect. I've used them before with Teknic servo motors, and they work a treat.

In this application, I likely won't have an option to decide what motor is used. I'm told that it's an induction motor with an encoder; thus my desire to treat it as much like a servo as possible since it needs to be positionable.


-rpoet

I just completed a project where I replaces an old servo system that failed
In this case it was 4 axis system I used Yaskawa A1000 drives with encoder feedback
The controller I chose was a Parker ACR 9000 6 axis controller ( I always like to have more avaiable then I need )
I maintain .001 positioning which is far more then we needed.
I have another coming up when we can get back to work that one I will expect to gave 6 axis whith the main axis a 50 HP my choice would still be the same except Yaskawa is phasing out the A1000 they now recommend the GA800 but on the main I was thinking about using one of the new U1000 matrix drive the main axis need regen.
While the pulse in will work I think I would look at the analog control -10 to +10 for positioning
The pulse is mainly for follower control Digital Line Shaft Sync I have used it for that works great.
I have been using both Parker and Yaskawa for years although I have heard good things about the Delta controllers I may have to look at them sometime.

Originally posted by GaryS:

...I was thinking about using one of the new U1000 matrix drive the main axis need regen.

Click to expand...

If you go that way keep us updated on how it works. I thought that was a pretty cool idea for a stand-alone axis from the first time I heard about it.

Keith

will do
i don't expect ti to go down until at least the first of the year everybody has been hit hard

Several manufacturers don't list the function as Pulse & Direction (Stepper), but rather as Electronic Gearing. As long as the auxiliary encoder port can handle Pulse & Direction rather than Quadrature, they work just fine.

Looks like a Siemens S120 may be able to do this although I’ve never set this particular positioning application up.

I may try it with s71200 and a demo I have


https://support.industry.siemens.com/cs/me/en/view/109771805/125332978571

Assuming you are looking for a positioning drive. You are only sending the motion profile from the PLC, not doing any closed loop control from the PLC, correct? Limited number of drives that can do this. KEB S6/F6K, ABB ACSM1(motion). Others, but I have used these 2 before.

He means the drive needs to accept step and direction inputs (like a stepper drive) . A step equals X amount of movement. This isn’t very common in an ac drive
The plc does the accel/decel, mechanics setup etc in its configuration

Highland Controls said:

Assuming you are looking for a positioning drive. You are only sending the motion profile from the PLC, not doing any closed loop control from the PLC, correct? Limited number of drives that can do this. KEB S6/F6K, ABB ACSM1(motion). Others, but I have used these 2 before.

Click to expand...

I've used Yaskawa and Control Techniques as well...

Gene Bond said:

I've used Yaskawa and Control Techniques as well...

Click to expand...

I spoke with Yaskawa's tech support on Friday, and we worked out that the A1000 was the best solution. It doesn't do step-and-direction, but can do positioning with the optional firmware.

Target positions can be updated over MODBUS TCP. The drive is close-loop FVC with an encoder on the motor, and handles the motion moves internally. PLC just tells the drive its target and triggers the move.

I should have a quote this afternoon.

Thanks everyone!


-rpoet

That must be the indexing firmware
I was wondering if that would be an option
let us us know how it works out