Smart motor sensors enhance condition monitoring for servos

SICK has introduced an intelligent add-on to its EDS/EDM35 motor feedback system. The sHub sensor hub with integrated acceleration sensor is designed to allow comprehensive condition monitoring of electrical drives right down to each individual servo axis of a machine. The sHub thereby paves the way for entry of the EDS/EDM35 into the world of digitalised drive technology and its evermore intelligent servo drive systems, says the company.

In addition to the position and speed of the drive, the sHub also transmits to the controller measurement information about vibrations on the drive as well as the temperature of the motor winding of the servomotor.

Knowing the status of machines and servomotors helps to detect malfunctions and breakdown risks earlier, to resolve them more quickly or to avoid them entirely. Using the sHub, faults on the drive — for example, bearing damage or imbalances — can be detected in real time and eliminated before a machine downtime occurs. This is especially important for highly dynamic and safety-related systems that are designed for 100% machine availability. This reliability is now supported by the combination of the safety-certified EDS/EDM35 (PL d, SIL2) and the sHub.

The sensor hub and its functionality can be easily integrated into the motor controller and motion control systems because the HIPERFACE DSL infrastructure is already available. The synchronous detection of position and vibration data by the sHub increases the forecast accuracy of when a component will fail. At the same time, SICK claims the sensor hub offers the required intelligence and connectivity for a futureproof implementation of Industry 4.0. This enables machine manufacturers to develop and offer their own service plans, such as predictive maintenance, based on the condition data provided by the sHub.