Micromech Limited's space

Miniature linear positioner series for lab automation and light payload industrial applications

micromech — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:48:01 +0000

For OEMS in the business of building small instruments who want to bring their product to market faster, the Parker LCR is a linear positioner family that provides the smallest form factor with easy to use flexibility unmatched by most competitive products. The ideal solution for OEM instrument manufacturers and laboratory instrument applications, the LCR Series is a complete solution offering users unmatched flexibility in a small footprint linear actuator. The LCR Series offers a complete screw- or belt-driven actuator, including motor and drive.

The fine lead screw offers higher resolution and higher thrust with lower motor torque. The high lead screw also provides users with a higher speed solution and screw drive positioning capabilities. As an alternative to the screw driven options there is the LCR belt drive which is perfect for high speed motion or long travel (up to 1m) applications. Pairing these drive technologies with the different bearing designs (square rail or glider bushing), now available from Micromech, the LCR offers a complete miniature linear positioner with a sealed body design.

The major features of the LCR are: 22, 30, and 45mm frame sizes, stepper or servo motor options, an integrated drive option, rugged square rail design or economical slider bushing design. There is also an encoder feedback option, direct inline or parallel motor mounting options, cables connectors fitted for ease of installation and they are RoHS compliant (Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive).

The positioners are ideal for OEM instrument manufacturers looking for significant ROI from an off-the-shelf yet tailor-made solution. This is a complete package which includes amplifier/drive (integrated drive option), motor, actuator, bearings, seals and limit sensors. For example the Ion Series stepper drive is an OEM-friendly miniature motion drive capable of up to 2 amps in a 25 x 25 x 85mm square package. The run current is adjustable via a potentiometer, it has auto standby adjustable current to reduce heat generation and power consumption and the stepper resolution is available to 3200 steps per rev. It is DIN rail mountable or mounts directly to the LCR Series linear positioners and importantly RoHS compliant.

Building on a proven life science track record with the MX80 and LP28 series, Parker developed an easy to use, high quality, ‘off the shelf’ linear actuator for payloads up to 100N at travel lengths up to 1m. This new LCR Series provides an un-rivalled set of product options ranging from drive technologies to bearing designs including:

2 leadscrew-drive options
2 belt-drive options
22mm or 30mm profile widths
The longest travel lengths in the industry at this size: up to 1m
Stepper or servo motor options
Custom motor flange designs to quickly mount any motor
Flush mount NPN, PNP, normally open or normally closed limit sensors
Magnetically coupled stainless steel sealing strip
New ion drive for quick and easy connections to PLC or other motion controllers

Micromech is Parker’s motion partner and can offer a solution to meet all of your motion control needs, for more information about these exciting new products contact Stirling on 01376 333333 or stirling@micromech.co.uk

‘Accurate, Dynamic, with User Friendly Flexibility’

The TMC429 is a miniaturised low cost, high performance, stepper motor controller for up to three motors.

micromech — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:23:31 +0000

The TMC429 integrates all real time critical tasks in reliable, dedicated hardware incorporating an integrated motion ramp profile generator as well as an adaptable microstep sequencer with microstep RAM table. Advanced stop- and reference switch handling allows for precise and fast referencing as well as on-the-fly position checking. Automatic motor current control gives high motor dynamics while saving energy and the interrupt output can generate precise position pulses.

The TMC429 connects to the recent coolStep™ drivers (TMC260, TMC262 and TMC389) via Step- & Direction signals (S/D) or to the classic TRINAMIC drivers TMC236, TMC239, TMC246 and TMC249 via SPI™. The communication with the host microcontroller is performed with an extra SPI™ interface. The host just needs to do high-level control tasks, e.g. giving the command: Drive motor 2 to position 1000. The TMC429 automatically calculates the motion ramp based on velocity and acceleration parameters.

The main features then are: this is a miniaturised low cost 3 axes motor controller, it is high-performance micro stepper, has SPI™ host interface with easy-to-use protocol, step/direction or SPI™ driver interface and on-the-fly alteration of position set point, velocity and acceleration. In addition different types of SPI™ stepper motor driver chips may by mixed within a single daisy chain and communication on demand minimizes traffic to the SPI™ stepper motor drivers chain. It allows read-out of driver status information (current motion parameters eg. position, velocity, acceleration) and programmable 6 bit micro step table with up to 64 entries for a quarter sine wave period (SPI mode).

Micromech is the UK and Eire distributor for these amazing products and if you would like to find out more contact Stirling Morley on 01376 333333 or email stirling@micromech.co.uk

‘Affordable Automation’

Servo applications can now get a high-performance boost

micromech — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:21:21 +0000

Now available from Micromech are the Parker’sCompax3 servo drives with EtherCAT which is an open, real-time, high-speed motion-bus network that operates over fast Ethernet at 100Mbit. This development is a fast-growing industrial network offering speeds faster than DeviceNet, ModbusTCP and Profibus.

Parker’s Compax3 servo drives now utilise EtherCAT as a controlled node and implement the standard CAN over EtherCAT DS402 object library. This standardised implementation improves the ability to work directly with third-party EtherCAT managing nodes on the market.

EtherCAT has been added to the whole Compax family. First the standard Compax3, which is a high performance servo controller with a power range from 1 to 110 kW and a whole selection of functions. Then there is the Compax3S that has a rated power of 1 up to 25 kW and can be installed in 300 mm control cabinets. Next is the Compax3M with a power range of 2 to 20 kW where there can be a cost reduction for multiaxis applications thus reducing cabling costs. Then finally the Compax3H that has a power range of 35 to 110 kW

This enhancement improves a wide range of applications from tube bending, to pharmaceutical automation, life science and packaging. Each have benefited from EtherCAT.

Micromech is Parker’s motion partner and can offer a bespoke solution to meet all of your motion control needs, for more information contact Alan Spinks on 01376 333333 or or alan@micromech.co.uk

‘Micromech Systems and Parker are forces in motion’

Introducing the Kollmorgen AKD PDMM™ Multi-Axis Integrated Servo Drive and Automation Controller

micromech — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:28:39 +0000

The AKD PDMM ™ available from Micromech, combines one AKD servo axis and a master controller that supports up to eight or more additional AKD axes in a single, compact package. It provides integrated control for multiple high-performance axes, complete I/O and HMI interfaces, and includes the full automation capabilities of Kollmorgen Automation Suite™ giving a single, scalable development environment for both AKD PDMM and PAC-based machines.

Extending customer design options the AKD PDMM controls as many as eight axes or more without the need for a PLC or PAC thus reducing cabinet space and wiring requirements. It is the perfect machine and motion controller for any project using a single, fully integrated programming environment, in so building a better machine at a lower cost.

Features

Kollmorgen Automation Suite™ provides fully Integrated programming, testing, setup and commissioning
Embedded web server utility simplifies service
Control 8 axes or more while reducing machine footprint
EtherCAT multi-axis master motion controller integrated with a standard AKD™ drive axis
Full IEC61131-3 soft PLC for machine control, with support for all 5 programming languages
Choice of PLCopen for motion or Pipe Network™ for programming motion control
32 kB non-volatile memory stores machine data to eliminate scrap upon restart after power failure
SD Card slot simplifies backup and commissioning, with no PC required
Onboard I/O includes 13 digital inputs, 4 digital outputs, 1 analogue input, 1 analogue output (expandable with AKT series of remote I/O)
Works with Kollmorgen Visualisation Builder for programming AKI human-machine interface panels
Enables plug-and-play compatibility with the servomotor provides access to all the advantages of Kollmorgen’s breadth of motor platforms including AKM™, CDDR™ and other direct-drive technologies
Supports real-time performance feedback from Smart Feedback Devices (SFD), EnDat2.2, 01, BiSS, Analogue Sine/Cos encoder, incremental encoder, HIPERFACE®, and resolver
Full-frequency auto-tuning ensures perfect motion across the performance spectrum
Maximum axis count depends on motion/automation complexity and performance (8 axes nominal based on medium complexity at 4 kHz network update rate
The fastest velocity and position loop updates

Reduce Cabinet Space, Wiring Costs and Development Time

The AKD PDMM™ combines a high-performance AKD™ servo drive with a multi-axis machine and motion control in a single, compact package that can be programmed, tuned and commissioned using the Kollmorgen Automation Suite™. It has one built-in AKD servo drive that serves as a master machine and motion controller for up to 7 or more additional AKD drives. This means a machine can be built to incorporate multiple high-performance axes, complete I/O connectivity and an HMI interface, all without the need for a separate PLC or PAC. Therefore engineers can program a new machine using the same scalable, integrated development environment used for larger PAC-based machines up to 128 axes.

As a result the AKD PDMM simplifies the machine, shortens development cycles and gives an agile platform for creating truly differentiated solutions that win new business. The additional major benefit of this product is the reduction in panel space, wiring costs and build time. This means there is accelerated design time and simplified integration and due to the proven architecture of the Kollmorgen Automation Suite there is minimum risk and maximum performance.

The Kollmorgen Automation Suite™ simplifies and accelerates development through a unified system of software, hardware, and collaborative engineering. This scalable solution provides a fully integrated development environment for any application, whether programming a single axis of motion, a multi-axis AKD PDMM™ system or a PAC based system up to 128 axes. In the field the Kollmorgen Automation Suite has had outstanding results such as: improving product throughput by up to 25% with industry-leading motion bandwidth; reducing scrap by up to 50% with world-class servo accuracy; seamless power-failure recovery and highly dynamic changeovers; increasing precision for better quality; reduced waste and less downtime using EtherCAT, the field bus with motion bus performance. Furthermore it has enabled more adaptable, sustainable and innovative machines that produce measurably improved marketability and profitability.

Micromech is a leading UK motion expert in positioning and speed control supplying a wide range of motion control products plus associated equipment to industry, research, defence and manufacturing. Micromech can supply goods either as components or complete packages and so is a significant force in the field of sophisticated multi-axis control and is a recognised specialist in servo and stepping motor applications. For more information about these exciting products contact Alan Spinks on 01376 333333 or alan@micromech.co.uk

‘Micromech your Kollmorgen Silver Motion Partner’

Introducing the Kollmorgen AKD PDMM™ Multi-Axis Integrated Servo Drive and Automation Controller

micromech — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:27:43 +0000

Features

Kollmorgen Automation Suite™ provides fully Integrated programming, testing, setup and commissioning
Embedded web server utility simplifies service
Control 8 axes or more while reducing machine footprint
EtherCAT multi-axis master motion controller integrated with a standard AKD™ drive axis
Full IEC61131-3 soft PLC for machine control, with support for all 5 programming languages
Choice of PLCopen for motion or Pipe Network™ for programming motion control
32 kB non-volatile memory stores machine data to eliminate scrap upon restart after power failure
SD Card slot simplifies backup and commissioning, with no PC required
Onboard I/O includes 13 digital inputs, 4 digital outputs, 1 analogue input, 1 analogue output (expandable with AKT series of remote I/O)
Works with Kollmorgen Visualisation Builder for programming AKI human-machine interface panels
Enables plug-and-play compatibility with the servomotor provides access to all the advantages of Kollmorgen’s breadth of motor platforms including AKM™, CDDR™ and other direct-drive technologies
Supports real-time performance feedback from Smart Feedback Devices (SFD), EnDat2.2, 01, BiSS, Analogue Sine/Cos encoder, incremental encoder, HIPERFACE®, and resolver
Full-frequency auto-tuning ensures perfect motion across the performance spectrum
Maximum axis count depends on motion/automation complexity and performance (8 axes nominal based on medium complexity at 4 kHz network update rate
The fastest velocity and position loop updates

Reduce Cabinet Space, Wiring Costs and Development Time

‘Micromech your Kollmorgen Silver Motion Partner’

The Sigma-5 Powerlink from Yaskawa provides a communication profile that meets timing demands for high-performance automation and motion applications

micromech — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:02:34 +0000

The Sigma-5 Powerlink from Yaskawa provides a communication profile that meets timing demands for high-performance automation and motion applications

The Powerlink is an add-on board, compatible with Sigma-5 series command option attachable type amplifiers type SGDV which offers a wide range of functions. Powerlink is an open real-time Ethernet network supported by the Ethernet Powerlink Standardisation Group see: http://www.ethernet-powerlink.org The Powerlink network module offers a wide range of functions based on the EPSG DS 301 and the CiA 402 drive profile standards.

Ethernet POWERLINK (EPL) is a communication profile for Real-Time Ethernet (RTE) that extends Ethernet according to the IEEE 802.3 standard with mechanisms to transfer data with predictable timing and precise synchronisation. The communication profile meets timing demands typical for high-performance automation and motion applications. It does not change basic principles of the Fast Ethernet Standard IEEE 802.3 but extends it towards Real-Time Ethernet.

The Module supports many functions including profile position mode, homing mode, interpolated position mode, profile velocity mode and profile torque mode. The communication rate is up to 100Mbps; there are two standard RJ45 connectors and 4 LEDs for status indication.

It conforms to most required standards: EPSG DS 301 specifications, CiA 402 Drive profile specifications, safety standard UL508, material compliance UL94V-0 and RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC. In addition it meets the WEEE Directive 2002/96/EC, Low Voltage Directive 73/23/EEC and EMC Directive 89/336/EEC.

Micromech-Yaskawa supplies to world-leading servo drive technology and linear products. Micromech is the UK distributor and integrator for Yaskawa Electric, if you require more information about these exciting products then contact Stirling Morley on 01376 333333 or stirling@micromech.co.uk

‘Affordable Automation’

micromech — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:53:44 +0000

The TMC389 coolStep™ is the first energy efficient high current, high precision, microstepping driver IC for 3-phase bipolar stepper motors

Using low resonance 3-phase stepper motors, smoothness at low speed can be increased significantly compared to a 2-phase stepper motor solution. The unique high resolution, sensorless load detection stallGuard2™ is also used for the world’s first integrated load dependent current control feature called coolStep™.The ability to read out the load and detect an overload makes the TMC389 an optimum choice for drives where a high reliability is desired at a low cost. With 3-phase motors the adapted spread Cycle 3p PWM automatic mixed decay chopper scheme ensures highest smoothness and best zero crossing performance.
The TMC389 can be driven with step and direction signals as well as by serial SPI™ interface and using the microPlyer x16 allows you to operate the motor with highest μStep smoothness reducing the input frequency divided by 16. A full set of protection and diagnostic features makes this device very rugged. It directly drives external MOSFETs for currents of up to 6A and this way it reaches highest energy efficiency and allows driving of a high motor current without cooling measures even at high environment temperatures.
The main features of the module are stallGuard2™ for sensorless load detection, coolStep™ for load dependent current control, save up to 80% energy and gain supreme smoothness. It also achieves the best current zero crossing performance, the best sine wave form and lowest power dissipation.

In addition there is full protection and diagnostics, standby and shutdown mode stall / load detection output and low power consumption via low RDS-ON power stage.

There is also an evaluation board which comes with the PC software which gives access to every function of the driver. It comes alongside a step and direction interface, a RS232 and a USB port. The TMC389-Eval is a complete ‘plug and play’ solution, additionally only a motor, a PC and a power supply are required!

Micromech is the UK and Eire distributor for these amazing products and if you would like to find out more click here or contact Stirling Morley on 01376 333333 or email stirling@micromech.co.uk

‘Affordable Automation’

Xpress PAC is a truly Integrated Machine Control Solution

micromech — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:51:40 +0000

Xpress PAC from Micromech is the first truly integrated family of machine control solutions available from one vendor. From HMI to mechanics and everything in between, Parker’s Xpress PAC family of programmable automation control products offer unique advantages unavailable from any other source.

Advantages • World-class visualisation and motion platform products • Fast, cost-effective ‘motionbus’ • Open Ethernet protocols • Industry-leading mechanical solutions • Industry’s largest, strongest sales application support & service network

An Investment The Xpress PAC family is specifically designed to offer unprecedented inter-operability, which achieves:

• Speedy project implementation • A much reduced time to market • Increased Return on Investment

The Xpress PAC family centres around the ACR-96xx Programmable Automation Controller. A truly converged platform, the ACR-96xx includes logic, motion and HMI in a single scalable product. Interact Xpress HMI is the machine-level member of the Xpress PAC family.

Interact Xpress provides your system with a connection to the other side of the plant, or even plant on the other side of the world.

The Xpress PAC family supports standards-based development environments, open communications protocols and integrated remote support and data collection capabilities. These features guarantee a migration path to the needs of manufacturers as developments evolve and provide the industry’s easiest tools for moving information off the plant floor to wherever it’s needed.

Development	• Guarantees interoperability from a single product family including HMI, controls, drives, motors, gearheads and mechanics
	• Dramatically reduces development and integration time via automatically shared development tools and data
	• Reduces or eliminates training with intuitive design tools that can be learned “on the fly” • Moves “Information Anywhere” with the integrated web-publishing tools
	• Moves “Information Anywhere” with the integrated web-publishing tools
Open Connectivity	• The ACR-96xx automatically generates a suite of common tags for each axis of motion
	• HMI tags are automatically imported from controllers and many third-party devices
	• Support for open, industry-standard field bus protocols such as EtherNet/IP™ and CANopen
Machine Layout and Wiring	• Reduces wiring time and costs with ETHERNET Powerlink high-speed motion bus
Machine Layout and Wiring	• Quick and easy Ethernet cabling
Remote Support	• Remote editing and support over any IP connection

Xpress PAC Family Benefits

The Xpress PAC is a multi-faceted integrated automation solution offering:

• Visualisation • IEC Control • Network/Fieldbus • Motion Control • Drive • Motor • Mechanics

The Xpress PAC family supports standards-based development environments, open communications protocols and integrated remote support and data collection capabilities. These features guarantee a migration path as your needs evolve and provide the industry’s easiest tools for moving information off the plant floor to wherever it’s needed.

Micromech is the UK distributor and systems integrator for Parker Hannifin electromechanical products. For more information or a copy of the catalogue, contact Alan Spinks on 01376 333333 or email alan@micromech.co.uk

‘Affordable Automation’

Delta Tau tales of motion control….Episode 17: The Power PMAC is a CAT with extra lives

micromech — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 08:58:50 +0000

Delta Tau tales of motion control
Episode 17: The Power PMAC is a CAT with extra lives

The Power PMAC from Delta Tau is a CAT that can live alongside a great number of motor drives from many other suppliers. This means a variety of apparently disparate motor drives can be linked on a common network, and it also controls any other I/O at the same time. In fact, Power PMAC forms the EtherCAT Master removing the need for separate motion control and network controllers.EtherCAT is increasingly a widely used open, high performance, Ethernet based fieldbus system that supports a huge range of devices with a broad range of protocols. The EtherCAT protocols supported by Power PMAC include:

Coe, Foe and Eoe
Coe DS402 specification for drives
Cyclic drives in Position, Velocity and Torque modes

The innovative Power PMAC is a seventh generation motion controller combining unprecedented speed and accuracy with ultra high bandwidth for sub-nanoscale motion precision.

It is therefore possible to control up to 256 axes from a single card with a unique 64-bit hardware floating point processor that delivers breathtaking processing speeds. It is important to note that speeds can be achieved in orders of magnitude better than other competitors motion controllers. In one custom servo programme test, processing time was slashed from 588µs to just 1.6µs. In addition there is also the capability to control up to 32 co-ordinated axes.

High-speed integrated communications aids precision machine implementation and control, here again a custom test showed an improvement from 4.0s to 220ms.

New memory configurations enable extremely fast access rates and the Power PMAC includes not only error checking but importantly error correction which is a vital new feature for complex motion algorithms.
Other standard features include powerful PLC functionality; a web server interface as standard; USB and SD card interfaces; and USB2 built in Ethernet with 1GB transmission. Software for Power PMAC has been researched thoroughly and carefully written so that the development environment integrates with MS Visual Studio.

Micromech Systems is an authorised systems integrator for Delta Tau high level, multi-axis control products, if you wish to find out more about these exciting products then contact Stirling on 01376 333333 or stirling@micromech.co.uk

Christmas/New Year Opening Times

micromech — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 08:55:50 +0000

Christmas/New Year Opening Times