April 2021

TECHNOLOGY n 25 www.drivesncontrols.com April 2021 NIDEC CONTROL TECHNIQUES has added a dedicated HVAC drive to its Specialist family of industry-specific drives. The high-efficiency (up to 98%) H300 drive is optimised for fan and compressor control. The drive is available in nine frame sizes (3–11E), in power ratings from 0.75–315kW, and for AC voltages of 208-230V, 460V and 575V. HVAC-specific tools include a fire mode that allows the drive to continue extracting smoke safely, and other functions to be maintained, in the event of a fire. The drive is designed to function efficiently in temperatures from –20 to +55°C, making it suitable for refrigeration and cooling applications. The drive supports the BACnet and Modbus RTU protocols for integration with building automation systems. This capability can be expanded using optional integration modules that allow the drive to communicate with almost any protocol, including Powerlink, EtherNet I/P, Profinet and others. An optional co- processor can run custom application software. The drive is said to be among the smallest in its class, at every power rating, saving space and giving mounting flexibility. It offers stationary autotune for sensorless permanent magnet motors. Built- in dual PID loops can operate independently or be combined to provide more complex functions. A rotor flux control mode and “intelligent” 10-speed cooling fan operation are said to ensure quiet operation. The drive’s maximum output frequency is 550Hz and its switching frequency range is 2– 16kHz, with 3kHz as the default. It has a normal duty peak rating of 110% for 60s. Software tools are available for estimating energy efficiency and harmonics. “The HVAC and refrigeration market for drives is growing at an incredible rate, as customers seek ways to reduce energy consumption and costs,” says Control Techniques’ president, Tony Pickering. “With our new H300 drive range, we’ve combined our expertise in variable-speed drive technology with our deep understanding of the challenges faced by customers in the HVAC sector. “The new range will deliver exponential energy savings, therefore reducing costs, while also providing the intelligent motor control features inherent to our drives,” he adds. “We’ve also expanded our unique free five-year warranty scheme to include H300, making it the ultimate ‘set and forget’ drive for customers in the HVAC world.” https://acim.nidec.com/drives/control-techniques/products/ac-drives/hvac-drive-h300 Dedicated HVAC drive is ‘amongst the smallest in its class’ ControlTechniques’ dedicated HVAC drive is available in ratings from 0.75-315kW p Fraunhofer ITWM and Toptica Photonics have developed an inline system for measuring coating thicknesses in non-destructivematerial- testing applications.The system can perform 1,600measurements per second – claimed to be a record – and can be used on rapidly-moving samples on production lines.The inspection system, which operates in the terahertz band, canmeasure the thickness of both single-layer andmultilayer samples. It can be used for coating thicknesses down to around 10μm. www.itwm.fraunhofer.de www.toptica.com p ifmelectronic has developed a digital system for assisting operators at manual workstations in production environments. Based on a 2D/3D camera that recognises hand movements, the systemeliminates the need for cumbersome wrist accessories used by other systems.The“ifmmate”systemuses deep learning technology to identify the operator’s hands and to detect, for example, when they reach into a box. It does not need items such as VR goggles or wrist trackers, making operators more comfortable than with `Aother systems. www.ifm.com p CeleraMotion has announced a series of absolute chip encoders that use short- wavelength LEDs for precise position decoding. The Aura encoders use an incremental scale track to produce sinewave signals, enabling high- resolution interpolation at speeds above 80,000 rpm. An algorithm compensates for eccentricity caused by off-centre scalemounting and bearing runout – the largest source of angular errors.This eliminates the need for a second encoder often used to compensate for such errors. www.celeramotion.com/aura-series p Plataine , a US supplier of IIoT and AI-based systems for manufacturing, has been granted a US patent covering a softwaremethod for tracking production across factory operations using digital twin and thread technologies. It uses cloud-based AI to create a virtual replica (digital twin) of a factory floor in real time to track every element of production and create a searchable production record (the digital thread). Themethod tracks the location, status and operations of all key production assets and monitors them throughout the factory. It establishes real-time connections, recording the status and location of every asset to create a searchable database that can report on all production lines at any time. www.plataine.com