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Plug-in network cards open up servodrives to third parties

06 January, 2015

At the recent SPS IPC Drives show, Mitsubishi Electric unveiled a version of its MR-J4 servodrive that accepts HMS’ Anybus plug-in cards, allowing it to be used with third-party control systems and network technologies – the first time this has been possible with a Mitsubishi servodrive. Initially, an EtherCat card is available, and this will be followed by Profinet, Ethernet/IP and others. Support for EnDat and Hiperface encoders is also being added.

Mitsubishi believes that the MR-J4-TM drive will be attractive to machine-builders wanting design flexibility and needing to save space. The plug-in cards allow machines to be adapted rapidly for use with various Ethernet systems and thus be used around the world with different control system and networking technologies.

“Servo technology is one of our core competences,” says Oliver Giertz, Mitsubishi’s servo/motion/robot product manager in Europe. “If you compare our servo products with those of European manufacturers, in terms of size and power, for example, you will find the power density of our components is 30–40% higher. What this means is that while Mitsubishi Electric products offer the same or higher level of performance, they are only half the size of the other manufacturers’ products.”

By plugging in Anybus cards, Mitsubishi’s servodrive can communicate with third-party systems

Other potential attractions of the servodrives are a one-touch tuning function and first- and second-level vibration suppression.




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