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Tiny plug-in servodrive is ‘the world’s smallest’
Published:  18 March, 2019

The Spanish motion control specialist Ingenia claims to have produced the world’s smallest plug-in servodrive module. Its Earth drive has a footprint of 29 x 19mm and is aimed at applications such as robotics end-effectors, cutting tools, drills and medical devices.

The 29.3 x 19.8 x 12.8mm drive, which can control rotary or linear, brushed or brushless motors, operates from a 8-40V DC supply and can deliver 3A rms continuous (6A peak). Its plug-in design allows users to choose their own connectors, or to integrate the drive into their electronics. The power stage efficiency at rated power and current is above 95%, and the maximum standby power consumption is 1W.

The drive offers CANopen, USB and RS-232 ports, as well as an analogue input (0–5V), two general-purpose inputs and a digital output. It is programmed via the USB port using Ingenia’s MotionLab software.

Ingenia's Earth servodrive is designed to control brushed or brushless motors in applications such as robotics and medical devices

The Earth drive can operate in current, velocity or position modes. It supports various types of sensor including digital Hall effect devices, quadrature incremental encoders, PWM encoders, analogue potentiometers and DC tachometers. The default power stage PWM frequency is 20kHz, and it can be configured to be 40kHz.