April 2021

YASKAWA IS INTRODUCING a range of high-speed, solid-rotor motors paired with variable- speed drives, which it says will offer “unrivalled” cost and size advantages in power ratings from 300kW–1.5MW and at speeds from 6,000–15,000 rpm. The robust motors eliminate the need for a gearbox, while allowing applications to achieve high speeds. They avoid mechanical problems associated with gearboxes, while their low component counts cut the need for spares and maintenance. The solid rotors provide high mechanical strength and stability, while saving space and weight. Yaskawa says that the motors need up to 50% less space than conventional designs. Each motor is paired with a matching VSD, providing speed control over its entire range, ensuring efficiency and saving energy. Yaskawa argues that the age of the high-speed gearbox is starting to fade because technologies such as high- speed motors offer effective alternatives. Previously, the technology has been available only to large-volume customers and for high-end applications such as turbo pumps and compressors. Over the past two decades, Yaskawa and its Finnish operation, The Switch, have delivered “thousands” of high-speed motors to specialist manufacturers. Now they are being made available to a wider customer base. Mikko Lönnberg, head of marketing and business development at Yaskawa Environmental Energy / The Switch, says that the initial purchase costs of the high- speed motor packages will be lower than those of traditional motors and gearboxes.“In most cases, eliminating gearbox losses will also make the system cheaper to operate,”he adds. He sees the motors as offering “a unique opportunity”for applications such as fans and turbo blowers, vacuum systems, turbo generators, compressors and turbo pumps. They will allow machine-builders to create high- efficiency, direct-drive machines. As well as offering standard packages, Yaskawa will work with customers to produce versions to meet particular specifications. https://theswitch.com/turbo/ motor-and-drive-packages n TECHNOLOGY High-speed solid-rotor motors eliminate the need for gearboxes p TrinamicMotion , part of Maxim Integrated Products , has announced a pair of slot-type embeddedmotion control modules with a“unique”real-time, sensor-free control technology.Themodules reduce a motor control system’s communications traffic by processing critical real-time functions on-board, thus reducing demand on the systemprocessor.They optimise the power drawn bymotors, and are claimed to halve wasted power and to allow stepper and BLDCmotors to be used that are three times bigger.The 5ATMCM-1230 and 6.5ATMCM- 1231 single-axis modules re designed to power two-phase bipolar stepper motors. www.trinamic.com p igus has developed a coatingmaterial that increases the service lives of metallic parts in food processing by reducing friction andwear.The IC-05 tribo-polymer protects sensitive and small bearing points as well as sliding surfaces, and is approved for use in manufacturing by the FDA. In tests, the coating quadrupled service lives compared to the standard iglidur IC-01material. www.igus.co.uk p NXP Semiconductors has released two embedded devices for real-time control of industrial automation applications using Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN).The LS1028A application processor and i.MX RT1170microcontroller are said to deliver high accuracy.They can be used to implement CC-Link IETSN, the open industrial Ethernet technology that combines gigabit bandwidths andTSN capabilities. www.nxp.com Yaskawa’s high-speed motor/drive package eliminates the need for high-speed gearboxes