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Elmo Quartet Servo Driver
Pocket-sized 20kW quad servo driver aims at robotics
During the SPS messe in Nürnberg, a new multi-axle drive was presented by Elmo Motion Control.
Four 5kW servo drives on a single board work with a single central processing core. Small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, Quartet combines the simplicity and high power of centralised control with the compact size and flexibility of de-centralized servo architecture.
The size also allows the Quartet to be incorporated into the system as an integral component rather than mounted remotely in an external cabinet.” It clarified that in its view a centralised approach tends to offer high performance multi-axis control with minimum latency, while distributed dedicated servos have better servo loops.
The module can operate stand-alone, as well as a standard EtherCAT node within a network. Operation is over 12 – 80V, 12-100V or 12-200V, according to Elmo, at 25 – 30A continuous (50 – 60A peak). The Quartet is a multi-axis drive where 4 servo motors of up to 5kW can be connected, however it is also possible to connect 3 brushed DC motors or 6 stepper motors to this drive.
Due to its small design, this drive is ideal for mobile applications or projects with a distributed-centralized control. The best of all worlds: high performing multi-axis control, with high-precision, safety integrated servo, operated by simple programming.
