TECHNOLOGY n 17 www.drivesncontrols.com January 2025 ABB HAS LAUNCHED A new generation of medium-voltage, air-cooled drives which can achieve efficiencies of up to 98%, and incorporate advanced condition monitoring and diagnostics facilities said to perform troubleshooting and failure detection up to 10 times faster than before. The ACS8080 drives are also one of the first ABB products to incorporate the recently announced Crealizer open software platform which is built into the drive’s operating system. It allows advanced on-board programming for rapid development and deployment of application-specific functions, thus reducing the drive’s reliance on external controllers. Another change is the use of the new MP3C motor control technology (replacing the earlier DTC technology) which is said to “push efficiency and motor-friendliness to the limit”, while preserving DTC’s dynamic performance and robustness. The new technology also reduces harmonic distortion by around 50% compared to classic control and modulation schemes, thus extending equipment lifetimes and saving energy. The new drives adapt easily to a wide range of applications and industries. Their flexible, modular design allows external transformers to be used, and sine filter options to be chosen, making them suitable either for new applications, or for retrofitting to existing drive systems or DOL (direct online) machines. Enhanced sensing capabilities and the next-generation control hardware allow up to 10 times more diagnostic data to be collected for better and faster monitoring. A new Edge Gateway supports connections either to local premises or to the cloud. The built-in sensing supports Asset Health and Performance Management (AHPM), reliability monitoring, and data-supported inspection, for faster troubleshooting and failure detection. Safety and protection systems built into the drives are designed to prevent foreseeable hazardous situations, and to manage unexpected ones. The new drive is protected against unauthenticated access, malicious firmware, data breaches and insecure connections. The drives are available in power ratings from 300kW–6.7MW with output voltages from 3.3–6.9kV, and output frequencies from 0– 250Hz. They have fewer components than their predecessors, increasing reliability, as well as simplifying maintenance and servicing. The drives have been put through accelerated lifetime trials at ABB Drives’ testing facility in Estonia, simulating 20 years of operation. “This product reflects our commitment to advancing reliability, performance and flexibility to help the industries outrun leaner and cleaner,” says Chris Poynter, president of ABB Motion’s Systems Drives Division. https://go.abb/motion Next-gen MV drives detect problems up to ten times faster ABB says its new generation of MV drives can halve harmonic distortion PILZ HAS ANNOUNCED an industrial PC, based on a lowcost Raspberry Pi computer module, which can be used as an industrial Internet gateway, a soft-PLC or an edge device. The modular IndustrialPI PC uses an open Linux-based operating system and supports up to ten input and output modules, each with up to 16 I/O. As an IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) gateway, the IndustrialPI integrates with existing systems and can collect and process data from plant and machinery and transfer it to the cloud to give users an overview of their equipment, wherever they are. As a soft-PLC, IndustrialPI can control plant and machinery. One typical application is erecting cartons in the packaging industry. The PC operates as an automation and drive controller for wide range of automation projects, including pure control applications, as well as synchronous axis movements. There are two versions of the IndustrialPI: the first has 4GB of RAM, 32GB of eMMC data memory and a 64-bit operating system. It is particularly suitable for soft-PLC applications. The other version (the IndustrialPI 4 Wifi) doubles the RAM to 8GB and can be used as a gateway, data collector and diagnostic device in conjunction with Pilz’s PNOZmulti 2 safety controller and PSS 4000 automation system. It can be used to exchange data between the IoT and cloud services Although based on the same Raspberry Pi as used by hobbyists, Pilz stresses that the 24V IndustrialPI has a tough IP20protected housing, robust mechanics, and industrial-grade electronics. It meets the requirements of industrial control technology in accordance with EN 611312. It comes with an operating system tailored to the IndustrialPI, and includes the Node-Red development tool. The IndustrialPI has two USB A interfaces, two RJ-45 Ethernet ports, one RS-485 port, a micro-USB socket, a microHDMI port and two PiBridge connectors. It can be incorporated into two different networks at the same time via the RJ-45 ports. www.pilz.com Raspberry Pi based IPC can act as a gateway or as a soft-PLC
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