Discover the advantages of digital interfaces for more precise, efficient, and flexible drive solutions.
What are the main advantages of servomotors with digital interfaces like CANopen or EtherCAT compared to analog systems?
Digital interfaces in servomotors provide a improved resistance to interference in signal transmission, a more precise control of position and speed, as well as advanced diagnostic capabilities. This leads to a higher system availability and can significantly speed up troubleshooting by up to 50%., oft um bis zu 50%.
When should I choose EtherCAT for my servomotor application and when should I choose CANopen?
EtherCAT is ideal for applications that require the highest dynamics and synchronization , such as in robotics or complex multi-axis systems, thanks to cycle times under 100 µs. CANopen is a robust and cost-effective solution for standard applications, mobile machines, or when standardized device profiles (e.g., DSP402) are important for interoperability.
Does ATEK offer complete drive systems with servomotors that utilize CANopen or EtherCAT?
Yes, ATEK Drive Solutions is a system provider and delivers complete drive solutions. These include our high-performance servomotors (e.g., esiMot series) with CANopen or EtherCAT interface, matching gear boxes (gear wheels, planetary gear boxes, etc.) and brakes, all optimally coordinated and from a single source.
How does ATEK support the integration of servomotors with digital interfaces into existing systems?
ATEK offers comprehensive technical consulting by experienced engineers. We assist you in the selection of appropriate components, the design of the drive system and provide necessary files such as EDS (for CANopen) or ESI (for EtherCAT) to ensure a seamless integration .
What benefits do servomotors with integrated motion controllers bring for my application?
Servomotors with integrated motion controllers, like some of our esiMot models, enable a decentralized control architecture. This reduces the space requirement in the control cabinet by up to 30%, minimizes the wiring effort and simplifies commissioning, as the control intelligence is directly in the drive.
Are ATEK’s servomotors with digital interfaces suitable for harsh industrial environments?
Yes, our servomotors, such as the esiMot series, are designed for industrial use and offer protection classes such as IP64 or IP65. For particularly demanding environments, we also develop customized special solutions, for example, with special seals or in stainless steel execution (Hygienic Design).
Servomotors with digital interfaces like CANopen or EtherCAT improve precision, reduce wiring effort and enable a faster fault diagnosis, which can speed up troubleshooting by up to 50%..
EtherCAT offers extremely fast cycle times (under 100 µs) for high-dynamic applications, while CANopen ensures interoperability across manufacturers (e.g., DSP402) and cost efficiency. herstellerübergreifende Interoperabilität und Kosteneffizienz sicherstellt.
ATEK Drive Solutions delivers as a system provider complete, customized drive solutions with servomotors that use digital interfaces; integrated motion controllers can reduce the space requirement in the control cabinet by up to 30%.Learn everything about servomotors with digital interfaces like CANopen and EtherCAT: from the technological basics to the diverse application possibilities to the key selection criteria.
Are you ready for the future of industrial drive technology? Servomotors with digital interfaces like CANopen and EtherCAT offer unprecedented possibilities for optimizing your processes. Contact us at ATEK Drive Solutions and let us develop your next-generation drive solution together!
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Understand: The basics of digital servomotor interfaces
Servomotors with CANopen & EtherCAT: Potentials for your drive technology
To make drive systems more precise, efficient, and flexible is a central task. A servomotor with a digital interface (CANopen, EtherCAT) provides advanced solutions for transforming your production. This article highlights the advantages of these modern drive components.
What are servomotors with digital interfaces?
Servomotors with digital interfaces, such as a servomotor with CANopen or a servomotor with EtherCAT, enable seamless and fast communication between machine components. The core advantage is the combination of precise motion control and intelligent data transfer, which improves system integration. For example, an EtherCAT servomotor reports operating states to the control in microseconds.
Why digital interfaces?
Digital interfaces are crucial for any servomotor with a digital connection, as digital communication minimizes interference that can cause inaccuracies in analog signals. The diagnostic capability of digital systems often significantly speeds up troubleshooting, for example by up to 50%. One example is the fast problem identification through specific error codes via CANopen with the respective servomotor.Selecting: Suitable digital interfaces for your servomotors
EtherCAT: The front runner
EtherCAT processes data in the ‘on-the-fly’ method and achieves cycle times under 100 microseconds, ideal for a high-dynamic servomotor with EtherCAT interface. A significant advantage of EtherCAT is the reduced wiring and simplified commissioning of complex multi-axis systems, which, for example, shortens installation time for robotic arms. Modern drive systems are increasingly integrating such technologies.
- EtherCAT: Offers extremely fast cycle times (under 100 µs) through ‘on-the-fly’ processing, optimal for demanding servomotor applications.
- Advantages of EtherCAT: Reduced wiring and simplified commissioning, especially in multi-axis systems with many servomotors with EtherCAT.
- CANopen: Established, robust, and cost-efficient with broad manufacturer support for various servomotors.
- Strength of CANopen: Standardized device profiles (e.g., DSP402) for manufacturer-independent interoperability from a servomotor with a CANopen interface.
- Alternative interfaces: PROFINET, PROFIBUS DP, RS485 for flexible system integration of servomotors with digital connections.
- Compatibility: Use of different protocols (e.g., PROFINET for plant, EtherCAT/CANopen for drives) depending on the needs of the respective servomotor with a digital interface.
- Goal: Selecting the appropriate interface to optimize the drive solution, whether it’s a servomotor with CANopen or a servomotor with EtherCAT.
CANopen: An established solution
CANopen is an established, robust, and cost-effective protocol in industrial automation, often used for a servomotor with a CANopen interface, and offers broad manufacturer support. Its strength is standardized device profiling (e.g., DSP402 for drives), which ensures interoperability between components from different manufacturers. Many mobile working machines use CANopen for reliable drive control, like the esiMot servomotors that are servomotor with CANopen available. More about servomotors can be found here.
Other interfaces
Some system architectures or infrastructures require alternatives to EtherCAT and CANopen for a servomotor with a digital interface. Interfaces such as PROFINET, PROFIBUS DP or RS485 offer flexibility in integration. Thus, a machine builder can use PROFINET for control, while drive segments communicate via EtherCAT or CANopen, allowing for adaptation to application requirements and systems for the respective servomotor with a digital interface (CANopen, EtherCAT) .Optimize: Use technical aspects specifically for servomotors
Integrated motion controllers
Ein servomotor with a digital interface and integrated control (e.g., some esiMot models) shift intelligence directly into the drive. This reduces the space requirement in the control cabinet by up to 30% and minimizes wiring and sources of error. Decentralized packaging modules, where drives operate independently and only require bus/power supply – often realized with a servomotor with CANopen or EtherCAT – are an application example. Gear boxes with servomotors benefit from this.
Encoder options
The encoder provides feedback on position and speed as the motor’s sensor, a critical aspect for every servomotor with a digital interface. The choice of encoder (resolver for robustness, absolute value encoders for position safety, high-resolution incremental encoders) depends on the required precision.Machine tools often use absolute value encoders with EtherCAT for micron precision, highlighting the capability of an EtherCAT servomotor. This precision is crucial for the performance of a servomotor with a digital interface (CANopen, EtherCAT).
Power range and voltage options
Ein servomotor with a digital interface (CANopen, EtherCAT) offers a wide power range to cover various applications. Crucial is the evaluation of rated power, peak moments, and thermal load capacity in the context of the load cycle.The esiMot M series offers motors from 120 to 480 watts at 24 to 48 V DC, while other systems, often as servomotor with EtherCAT or CANopen, cover kilowatt power at 400V AC to meet various requirements from small handling systems to large presses.Apply: Successfully use servomotors across industries
Industrial applications
In addition to robotics and machine tools, where a servomotor with a digital interface has long been standard, these intelligent drives also find application in niches. Their precision and dynamics enable innovative solutions, such as in automated quality control with high-speed cameras that require precisely synchronized movements, often controlled by a servomotor with EtherCAT.An example is the inspection of printed circuit boards, where faults at the micron level must be detected at high cycle rates.
- Standard applications: In robotics and machine tools, digital servomotor interfaces such as CANopen and EtherCAT are established.
- Innovative niche applications: Precision and dynamics that require a servomotor with a digital interface offers solutions such as automated quality control with high-speed cameras.
- Example quality control: Exact synchronization for inspections in the micrometer range at high cycle rates (e.g., circuit boards), often realized with a servomotor with EtherCAT.
- Customized industry solutions: The flexibility of digital interfaces allows for specific adaptations for each servo motor with digital connection.
- Food industry: Hygienic Design servo motors with EtherCAT connection for precise processes and easy cleaning.
- Medical technology: CANopen-based drives, often as a compact servomotor with a CANopen interface, for reliable and accurate dosing (e.g., dialysis machines).
- Cross-industry success: A servomotor with a digital interface (CANopen, EtherCAT) meets diverse and demanding requirements.
Industry-specific solutions
The flexibility that a servomotor with a digital interface offers allows for a tailored adaptation to specific industry requirements. In the food industry, for example, servo motors in Hygienic Design with EtherCAT connection not only enable precise filling processes but also allow for easy cleaning and compliance with strict regulations; here, the servo motor with EtherCAT is often the first choice.. Another example is medical technology, where CANopen-based drives (often a special servomotor with a CANopen interface) ensure reliable and accurate liquid dosing in dialysis machines. Digital interfaces in detail read more here.Benefit: Find the suitable servo motor solution with ATEK
ATEK’s offering
ATEK Drive Solutions is a system provider for the industrial drive train. Our strength lies in combining decades of experience in gearbox and brake construction with state-of-the-art servo motor technology, including the servo motor with digital interface (CANopen, EtherCAT). For example, we can provide you with a complete drive train, consisting of one of our esiMot XL servo motors – often configured as servomotor with CANopen or servomotor with EtherCAT – with a suitable planetary gear and a safety brake, delivered from a single source and optimally coordinated. Our servo motors discover.
Custom solutions
Our modular system allows for a variety of configurations for your servomotor with a digital interface. This high variety of variants, combined with our ability to develop custom special solutions in small series, enables us to precisely address your requirements.. One example is a specially sealed servo bevel gear with integrated EtherCAT servo motor for an application in a harsh environment, which we were able to realize within a few weeks.
Technical consulting and support
Our team of experienced engineers offers you comprehensive technical consulting around the servomotor with a digital interface. We support you not only in selecting the right components but also in the design and optimization of your entire drive train to ensure maximum performance and efficiency.. For example, we analyze your application data and load profiles together with you to define the ideal servomotor with a digital interface (CANopen, EtherCAT) and the suitable gearbox, often supported by our online product configurator.Looking ahead: Recognizing future developments in servo technology
Ethernet-based communication
The importance of Ethernet-based protocols such as EtherCAT and PROFINET for the servomotor with a digital interface will continue to increase. Their high bandwidth and real-time capability are crucial for increasingly complex and data-intensive automation tasks, such as those required in Industry 4.0 applications.. One trend is the use of Single Pair Ethernet, which simplifies cabling further and reduces costs, especially for decentralized servo motors, which are often configured as servomotor with EtherCAT interface .
Integration of AI and IoT
The integration of AI and IoT into a servomotor with a digital interface and its controls will lead to intelligent drive systems. These systems can then not only collect condition data but also independently recognize optimization potentials or initiate predictive maintenance, significantly increasing plant availability.. An intelligent servo motor with CANopen or EtherCAT could, for example, report that its bearing should be replaced in 200 operating hours based on real vibration data and AI analysis. Predictive maintenance sensors are relevant for this.
The choice of the suitable servomotor with a digital interface improves system performance and efficiency. Protocols such as EtherCAT and CANopen, crucial for every servomotor with a digital interface (CANopen, EtherCAT), provide benefits for different requirements and facilitate integration. Essential advances include simplified system integration and enhanced diagnostic possibilities, which a modern servomotor with a digital interface offers. For future-proof drive technology and individual consulting for your next servo motor with CANopen or EtherCAT we are available.
