[infamous_panda]

Anyone running them? What are the pros or cons for this type of machine?

[Jim Dawson]

Pro: They work well, no lost steps, generally more speed and power over a wider operating range.

Con: Cost more than steppers, a bit harder to set up properly.

[he1957]

To add to the "Pro's, they are also much quieter and less prone to resonances at lower speeds. Must say however, the various sounds of steppers can be quite pleasing at times :-)

To add to the "Con's", a runaway servo can slam against a hard-stop which could be mechanically "damaging" whereas a dead stepper driver/motor combination is just going to "not work".

On my machine, I chose steppers for compatibility with some existing equipment I had but in hindsight, I should have chosen servos.

[nlancaster]

Could also look into hybrid stepper/servos, like they clearpath units.

[andrewwong2000]

Am running DMM 750w servos which bolt right into the NEMA34 fittings.

Lots of torque and super accurate once calibrated thanks to the encoders.

The setup is much more involved given each servo is 1hp.. mains powered so there’s a lot more electrical controls. Also need to pay attention to good electrical design rules and earthing to avoid noise.

Really happy now everything is settled in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ger21]

Could also look into hybrid stepper/servos, like they clearpath units.

Clearpaths are not "hybrids". They are servos. What many call "hybrid" are actually closed loop steppers. Very different from servos.

[nlancaster]

gerry, oh, i must have misunderstood. then they seem to be a very affordable route for servos.

[infamous_panda]

To those that have them,

What do you use to control them? As I understand they would typically have a equivalent to a stepper driver. Do those connect similarly to some of the common electronics / software people use like, parallel ports, UC100, smoothsteppers, Mach, UCCNC?

I have chance to disassemble some used automation equipment, and wondering if it's worth my while to take the servos.

[maxspongebob]

Ditto on the Clearpath SD servo's.

Integrated drivers/encoders are the bomb.

[Jim Dawson]

To those that have them,

What do you use to control them? As I understand they would typically have a equivalent to a stepper driver. Do those connect similarly to some of the common electronics / software people use like, parallel ports, UC100, smoothsteppers, Mach, UCCNC?

The Clearpath motors are controlled exactly like a stepper, have the same step & direction input.

I have chance to disassemble some used automation equipment, and wondering if it's worth my while to take the servos.

Yes, especially if the drives are included. It's really nice to have a matched motor and drive.

[he1957]

I'll back the Clearpath offerings as well. If/when I was to upgrade my machine I'd go straight to these, they have a drop-in replacement for my steppers.

[infamous_panda]

Yeah Clearpath gets a lot of press in the community.

The parts I'm getting are from Mitsubishi.

https://us.mitsubishielectric.com/fa...sec-iqf-series
https://www.mitsubishielectric.com/f..._je/index.html

They look expensive, and have some really beefy wires going into them. I am just at a loss as to how to get UCCNC and a UC100 to talk to these parts.

[Al_The_Man]

The parts I'm getting are from Mitsubishi.

They look expensive, and have some really beefy wires going into them. I am just at a loss as to how to get UCCNC and a UC100 to talk to these parts.

I used to retrofit using Mitsubishi CNC systems previously, the support is great. But a little pricey for DIY.
BTW, there is none of the large or industrial CNC systems using steppers, all are servo's, in my experience.
Al.

[PCW_MESA]

Yeah Clearpath gets a lot of press in the community.

The parts I'm getting are from Mitsubishi.

https://us.mitsubishielectric.com/fa...sec-iqf-series
https://www.mitsubishielectric.com/f..._je/index.html

They look expensive, and have some really beefy wires going into them. I am just at a loss as to how to get UCCNC and a UC100 to talk to these parts.

The drives linked to are generic servos that can work with normal step/dir interfaces (or analog)
You may need to change their software setup to run in step/direction mode

[infamous_panda]

The drives linked to are generic servos that can work with normal step/dir interfaces (or analog)
You may need to change their software setup to run in step/direction mode

Nice! But does setting it up that way lose out on the servos advantage. As I understand it those motors don't have "steps".

[PCW_MESA]

No, they do not have steps in exactly the same way a step motor has steps, but they
do have steps in the sense the the encoder resolution is not infinite
and that the input steps/turn scaling number is limited. That said, good drives like
Yaskawa (and probably Misubishi) can support MHz step-rates which allow
very high step/turn ratios so the step/dir interface does not really compromise smoothness