With technical achievements come innovations that change entire markets. This is particularly true in production, where the digitalisation of handling and automation tasks is now an indispensable element in ensuring that modern plants will be able to deliver more and more efficiency in the future. Harmonic Drive SE has set itself the challenge of contributing to this much-needed development – and is quickly becoming a leading light in the technology of high precision mechatronic actuation systems.
The requirements that actuator component manufacturers have to meet are growing – and increased global competition, plus demand for more flexibility and custom solutions are just some of the reasons why. On top of that, all these requirements have to be met at low purchase prices and within short lead times. In other words, satisfying the demands of the market means that servo actuator technology has to create compact systems that combine precision and dynamics with outstanding performance. For Harmonic Drive SE, it is the growing digitalisation of production – along with automation and handling tasks – that is ultimately leading the company to progressively integrate smart technology into its mechatronic actuation systems.
BHA Servo Actuators form the perfect combination of highly dynamic, compact synchronous servo motors and zero backlash gears with output bearings. The servo actuators with hollow shaft boast a low weight, small volume, outstanding torque density, long lifetime and reliability. Their economical design and optimised production methods create a precise actuation system that’s great value for money and available at standard market lead times – even in applications involving large production volumes. Due to the flexibility offered by the motor winding and motor feedback system configuration options, the servo actuators are compatible with virtually every servo controller available on the market.
Harmonic Drive SE’s new cost-optimised synchronous servo motors form the basis of the actuation system and feature outstanding power density, something that has been maximised thanks to optimised sheet metal cutting, a sophisticated insulation system, a high copper groove filling factor and an orthocyclic winding technique. As the servo motors are produced using a winding machine in a semi-automatic process, they can be made available in large quantities and within just a short time as core components of the BHA Series. In addition, the entire motor is designed for
automatable machine manufacturing processes to ensure that production is as cost-effective and fast as possible. A 24/48 V DC version of the motor winding is available for mobile applications and a 560 V DC version for stationary applications.
Both singleturn and multi-turn absolute measurement systems can be selected for the motor feedback system. In order to offer the broadest possible compatibility, Harmonic Drive SE uses the well established EnDat®, HIPERFACE® and BiSS-C interfaces. The BiSS-C motor feedback system, developed inhouse, offers a significant cost advantage over other motor feedback systems and forms part of the basic BHA equipment. The magnetic circuit ensures that the new motor feedback system is resistant to contamination by lubricants, liquids of all kinds and non-metallic particles. Special electronic measures provide a lifetime of more than 10 years for the backup battery required to operate the multi-turn absolute measurement system. If the battery life is exceeded in some applications, the innovative design of the battery holder means that replacing the battery is very straightforward.
Furthermore, the new BiSS-C motor feedback system supports the use of an electronic actuator type plate – which means that users benefit when implementing different machine variants, as they do not need to adjust the settings on the gear module. The electronic type plate identifies motors in the network and is equipped with mechanical and electronic data such as the serial number, type and manufacturer details.
