Motors often perform braking operations where kinetic energy is transferred from a load to the motor. This regenerative energy can be captured when decelerating connected loads, using hoists to lower loads, retracting loads from compressed springs, and so on. The regenerated energy is returned to the motor’s inverter circuitry and transferred to a DC voltage bus in the motor drive circuitry.

In AC-powered applications, the regenerated energy is typically returned to a capacitor bank. But capacitors have energy storage limitations, so machine designers either have to reduce the amount of kinetic energy produced, or get rid of the excess regen energy elsewhere. Traditionally, the most common way of handling this excess energy has been to direct it into a resistive load and convert the energy to heat. However, this adds complexity and costs.

Teknic’s VRS function dissipates regenerative energy using the motor’s windings to manage the energy. In many applications, it will allow a servomotor to be used without any external regenerative components, according to the company, cutting system costs, wiring and complexity. The technology has been awarded US Patent 10,500,972 B2.

Teknic is offering the function on its ClearPath integrated servomotors. The function is enabled as easily as clicking a checkbox.