Servo amp has safety built in
At the recent Hannover Fair, Pilz unveiled a safe servo amplifier which, it claims, makes it easy and economical to implement safety installations. The basic version of the PMCprotego D amplifier incorporates a safe-stop function in accordance with Category 3 of EN 954-1, but extra safety functions, such as safely reduced speed, safe operational stop or safe standstill, can be added using a plug-in card.
The drive (shown above), with reaction speeds of around 1ms, is controlled via safe inputs and outputs, and the safety functions are independent of the motor and encoder used. Various fieldbuses are supported via an expansion card slot.
The plug-in safety card adds redundant measurement and shutdown routines, as well as sophisticated brake management for single-axis applications. A networked version using the Ethernet-based SafetyNet p bus system, is planned for multi-axis applications
