Facing the Elements
While many people think of servo drives as being used in indoor, controlled environments, there are many motion control applications that take place in much less "idealized" conditions. Like most electronic equipment, servo drives need to be specially made if they're going to stand up to the elements mother nature has to offer.
Heat
Much like the circuit boards within your computer, servo drives generate heat during operation and risk malfunctioning or permanent damage if they overheat. Couple the internal heat generation with extreme ambient temperatures, and keeping the drive cool can be a challenge. This is often accomplished with fans, heat sinks, and other heat transfer methods. Sometimes, however, these methods aren't enough or can't be implemented, and the drives have to be built to take the heat.
Contamination
Electronics can also malfunction from foreign liquids or solids getting on the PCB and damaging components. Ingress protection techniques are often employed in drive casings to keep debris and water from getting close to the PCB. Sometimes, however, contamination is unavoidable. Even humidity can cause short circuits on a PCB. Techniques such as conformal coating can be used to create a protective seal over the PCB components.
Pressure
Servo drives are used deep underwater and high in the sky. Many electronic components are susceptible to crushing or outgassing in high or low pressures, respectively. When servo drives are going to be controlling motors in extreme pressures, they need to be made with components that are strong enough to handle them.
Shock and Vibration
Tough conditions can also mean taking a beating. Drives in applications susceptible to lots of shock and vibration, such as military robots, need to be sturdily built so that their components don't shake loose or break.
ADVANCED Motion Controls' Capabilities
While AMC is more than willing to make custom and modified servo drives to handle extreme conditions, we proudly offer off-the-shelf extended environment servo drives within the FlexPro™, DigiFlex® Performance™, and AxCent™ drive families.
We have products in our standard line that can achieve...
- Operation from -40°C to +95°C
- Operation from 25,000 meters above sea level to 400 meters below
- IP65 rating for ingress protection
- Shock protection up to 25 gms for 5 minutes
We can also make custom products that exceed these limits!
