Servo Drive Compatibility for Hygienic Washdown Environments
Kollmorgen expands its Essentials servo drive to integrate with AKMA and AKMH hygienic washdown motors.
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Kollmorgen has expanded the compatibility of its Essentials Servo Drive to seamlessly integrate with the AKMA and AKMH series of hygienic servo motors. Distributed in the United Kingdom by INMOCO, the hardware provides machine builders with a high-performance motion control package tailored for aggressive washdown and food-grade manufacturing environments.
Motor Integration and Absolute Feedback
The updated servo drives are fully compatible with AKMA anodized aluminum motors, built for medium washdown environments, and AKMH stainless-steel motors, which achieve IP69K protection for frequent high-pressure cleaning. Both motor series are now equipped with the Smart Feedback Device, Multi-Turn (SFD-M). This encoder delivers 24-bit, high-resolution absolute feedback without utilizing internal battery backups. It relies on energy-harvesting technology to store absolute position data across power cycles, enabling automatic drive configuration and rapid commissioning upon machine startup.
Network Architecture and Power Ratings
The Essentials servo drives operate at up to 12 Arms continuous current and 30 Arms peak current, supporting motor shaft outputs up to 5 kW. To ensure flexible integration, the drives natively support real-time industrial Ethernet protocols, including EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, and PROFINET. Operational safety is maintained through an integrated dual-channel Safe Torque Off (STO) function, which achieves a SIL2/Cat 3 PL d safety rating to prevent unexpected system restarts.
Configuration and Software Integration
System parameterization is executed via a USB-C service port utilizing the Kollmorgen WorkBench software. An Express Setup feature provides plug-and-play configuration for rapid deployment, while the full WorkBench suite remains accessible for advanced motion programming and loop tuning by experienced automation engineers.
Additional Context: This section details technical specifications and competitive benchmarking not included in the original product announcement
In industrial servo systems, multi-turn absolute encoders traditionally rely on mechanical gearing or internal batteries to track shaft rotations while a machine is powered down. Batteries require routine maintenance and introduce a critical point of failure. The SFD-M (Smart Feedback Device, Multi-Turn) resolves this by utilizing energy-harvesting technology—typically based on the Wiegand effect—where the magnetic field of the rotating motor shaft generates a minute electrical pulse. This pulse provides sufficient power to write the rotational position data to non-volatile memory even when the main power supply is disconnected. By eliminating battery backup modules and transmitting both power and data over a single cable, machine builders can significantly reduce wiring complexity and minimize the footprint of the control cabinet. This single-cable architecture competes directly with Hiperface DSL (SICK) and EnDat 3 (Heidenhain) protocols, which also dominate the European servo feedback market.
Edited by Lekshman Ramdas, Induportals editor – adapted by AI.
www.kollmorgen.com
