Faulhaber Motor with EtherCAT communication

The two companies Dr. Fritz Faulhaber GmbH & Co. KG from Schönaich Germany and Technosoft SA from Neuchâtel Switzerland have combined their skills and knowledge to produce one of the world’s smallest Intelligent Motor’s for speed and position control with EtherCAT communication, which complies with CoE (CAN application protocol over EtherCAT). 

The motor is based on the highly successful 32....BX4 Brushless DC 4 pole technology Servomotors using the system FAULHABER® ironless stator, a dynamically balanced rotor, resulting in a no cogging output, which is ideal for low inertia loads.

The controller is of modular design and compact construction for high reliability and incorporates the iPOS4808 controller which utilises the Technosoft MotionChip™ technology and offers 7 I/Os. The configuration, tuning and local programming of the iPOS drive can easily be done using Technosoft’s powerful graphical platform EasyMotion Studio. The position sensor is absolute single-turn providing 4096 counts per revolution for accurate speed and position control, down to 5 arc minutes. 

Alongside the EtherCAT version there are two CAN versions. The standard CANopen in accordance to the CiA 301, 305 and 402 profiles and The TMLCAN protocol. TML (Technosoft Motion Language) opens the possibility to use the powerful motion controller, allowing it to operate as an independent intelligent device. As an example, to customise any homing routine to match the application needs. Stand-alone single or multi-axis applications with communication between drives without the need of a CAN master is possible while various types of CAN masters are as well supported with an extended set of Technosoft Motion Control Libraries. 

This Intelligent Motor has a maximum speed of 6,000 rpm and a stall torque of 97mNM, which is achieved from a motor with a diameter of 32mm and the maximum length of the integrated unit is a mere 92.8mm. The controller is housed in an oblong, which is 46.5mm x 67mm, with a depth of 26mm. There are six families of Faulhaber Gearheads that are available for fitting to the motor, depending on the requirements of the application. 

An Intelligent Motor can be used in many applications, but it has been developed for medical analysis and dosing machines, pick and place and welding robots, instrumentation and optical equipment, unmanned military vehicles, packaging bottling and labelling machines.