DC Servo Drives for Precision Motion Applications

Servo drives, also called amplifiers, take the command signals for position, speed, or torque requirements, and alters the output voltage applied to the servo motor utilizing closed loop control.

A servo system is comprised of multiple components, including a master controller, a motor, and feedback devices. Among them, the servo drive is the most critical component.  The communication between controllers and additional devices is enabled by a simple digital and analogue I/O or digital fieldbus communication, such as EtherCAT and CANopen, as well as other industry standard protocols. Motor technology is continuously evolving to offer optimal results for every application. Servo drives evolve along with them to maintain the ability to provide the best control features for each type of motor.

Different Servomechanism Control Configurations

Servomechanisms are automated control systems that are employed in a wide range of applications.  These control systems can work in an open-loop or in closed-loop fashion. With a closed-loop architecture, you can achieve enhanced precision and reliability better than in an open-loop architecture because multiple feedback sensors can be used to account for errors and external disturbances affecting the system.

Servo drives are typically employed to control the torque, speed and/or position of brushless servo motors. They are an incredibly important element in determining the overall performance of the system and are available in a wide range of formats that are well-suited for static and mobile applications spanning many industries such as:

• Laboratory automation
• Industrial automation
• Robotics
• Satellite communication
• Aerospace
• Offshore
• Ground mobile

DC servo drives are created to offer full integration with applications and ideally, the drives should be positioned close to the actuator or motor.

When servo drives are compared to straight power amplifiers, they offer many advantages for automatic machining systems such as enhanced positioning, motion control and speed.

How Motion Control Applications Use Servo Drives

Some motion control applications employ analog servo drives which are a traditional, widely used, technology. However, digital servo drives can communicate with an entire network. Digital DC servo drives provide enhanced capacity for performance and configuration, and some may even be able to store motion indexes and sequences in their memory.

Servo Drives from Celera Motion

Celera Motion manufactures high-performance, high-power density, miniature servo drives along with powerful control software. Our expertise and focus in next-generation power design has led to the creation of some of the smallest and most energy efficient servo drives for precision motion control without sacrificing performance and efficiency.

If you would like to find out more about our servo drives, contact us today to speak to an expert. Click here to read about how our servo drives are used in industrial robotics.