Hitachi raises the bar with new and improved AD Series AC servo drive

Fourth Quarter 2006 Electrical switching & drive systems & components

Hitachi has revised and improved its servo drive series, in order to realise the highest levels of performance. This is according to Mike Cronin, managing director of Elquip Solutions, the South African distributor for Hitachi's products.

"Hitachi has recently launched an improved range of its already excellent servo drive range. The new AD Series AC servo drive meets the requirements of demanding applications, with full feature performance facilitated by Hitachi's advanced motor technology. These improvements are evident in the equipment's reduction of vibration, high response and high precision operation," explains Cronin.

According to Gustav Verster, Elquip Solutions technical sales manager: "There has been a drastic reduction in motor cogging torque: in comparison with the previous model, this has been cut by 65% making the AD series servo drive suitable for such applications as high-precision process machining, or a smart conveyer system, where vibration should be avoided.

"In addition, the ADA2 and ADA3 amplifier have improved precision control. High performance precision can now be achieved, reducing position error drastically," says Verster.

"The AD series' compact design, which is based on electromagnetic field analysis, helps by downsizing the customer's machine; and thereby contributing to the flexible design of the system overall. What is more, motor noise has been reduced by 6 dB on average when compared with the previous model."

According to Verster, another improvement to the servo drives is their increased user friendliness.

"The servo drives provide the possibility to program single-axis positioning operation, I/O terminal control and so on. They allow for the facility to configure and monitor the servo drive through a PC.

"By using configuration software AHF, which runs on the Windows operating system, parameters can be set through a personal computer, and position, speed, torque, etc of the AC servo drive can be monitored on the PC display," he says.

Other advantages for users of the new Hitachi range include:

* Auto-tuning function control gains that can be automatically tuned to the optimum values according to each application.

* 7-segment 5-digit LED display and easy-to-use built-in operator which allows parameters to be set and monitoring to be carried out.

Elquip Solutions' Mike Cronin concludes: "Hitachi's new range of servo drives has taken into account several key requirements of the industry. In their pursuit of continuous improvement, Hitachi is providing the market with a product that is not only compliant with all international and industry standards, but is raising the bar on their own excellence."

For more information contact Mike Cronin, managing director, Elquip Solutions, +27 (0) 11 826 7117, [email protected]

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