Standard AC Motor and Drive vs Servo Motor and Servo Drive ?

[Mark_H]

This may be a good excuse to look at the new Allen Bradley Integrated Linear Thrusters.

 

[Rob S.]

How long have the Allen Bradley Integrated Linear Thrusters been available ? I looked on You Tube to try to find a video of it running and I could not find one. Would you have a link. I plan on going to the Automation Fair in Philly , but I may need to make my decision sooner. I will make some calls Monday. Thanks for all your help.

 

[DamianInRochester]

How long have the Allen Bradley Integrated Linear Thrusters been available ? I looked on You Tube to try to find a video of it running and I could not find one. Would you have a link. I plan on going to the Automation Fair in Philly , but I may need to make my decision sooner. I will make some calls Monday. Thanks for all your help.

Knowing AB I would have to believe that bought another company with the already proven technology and just put their sticker on it. I doubt they developed this product.

 

[The Plc Kid]

Knowing AB I would have to believe that bought another company with the already proven technology and just put their sticker on it. I doubt they developed this product.

Rockwell purchased Anorad a few years back so that product was likely developed by the anorad group which has a strong history in heavy duty motion controls.

Here are a few youtube links http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=anorad&page=1 and many more if you term the search differently that I did.

 

[Rob S.]

The structure needed to move 4 - 8 lb. bricks is going to weigh about 150 lbs. I am still looking to move this brick about 10" in 2 seconds. The concept would be for a brick to stop on 4 conveyors. It would then be 4 brick for 4 pneumatic grippers to pickup 1 brick each. It would then pickup this brick and move it 10 " , the gripper would release
the brick and then the gripper would come back to pickup another brick. 1 cycle would be 2 seconds.

I am looking at using a servo. I was looking at Kinetix (AB) , SureServo (AutomationDirect) , etc. I know I have alot
to study and calculate. Do you think I can get by with oversizing a 3 Phase Motor and Freq. Drive , or continue down
the Servo path ?

Thanks again.

 

[The Plc Kid]

I use a lot of the AB linear motors the MP series stages and they are very reliable and tough. I use them with the kinetix drives over EIP. The Kinetix 350 is great for small and simple applications.

 

[OkiePC]

I would continue down the path away from squirrel cage and VFD.

I like pneumatics, but they are the highest maintenance option.

I would definitely go with a linear motor for max speed and low maintenance.

I have not used those from A/B but they look stout. I actually have a good application for those pushing cartons off of an intralox belt where my air powered junk has beat itself to death doing upwards of 12k strokes per day.

We have one CLD (California Linear Drive) and I would classify it as: bad a*s stuff. Its wired to an Ultra3000i being triggered over devicenet in order to be "timed" to a 600 count encoder coming to a 5/04

The motor is awesome, super quick and torqky lots of force, although if it were my design, I would have used absolute linear feedback on both the linear motor and add LVDT to the final driven mold plate to which it needs to be geared.

EDIT: Now they are owned by MOOG

 

[DamianInRochester]

I would not even consider a VFD for something like this. The pennies you save will be paid back tenfold in grief.

I could see a VFD if the pick and place spots and lift will always be the same. Then you could design a cycloidal motion mechanism where the drive is unidirectional.

 

[The Plc Kid]

The pennies you save will be paid back tenfold in grief.

I love that. Very wise words.

 

[Rob S.]

I have not started any drawings yet , but this is what I am
thinking about.

I plan on moving a 170 lb. mass by rotating a 2" shaft
about 1.8 revolutions and back to have a lift of about 4" and out ,about 9",type of movement. One cycle would be
considered rotating 1.8 revolutions to lift a brick
up 4" and out 9" in the same movement , release the brick , and go in reverse to the home position. This cycle
needs to happen in 2.0 seconds , pickup another brick and do the same in another 2.0 seconds.

Position is not a big factor. Just speed and durability.

Thanks for all your advice.