At PackExpo earlier this month, Applied Motion Products introduced its newest closed-loop stepper system, which comes with EtherCAT functionality. Its StepServo closed-loop motor and drive system for industrial Ethernet will be available soon.

According to Eric Rice, Applied Motion Marketing Manager, the StepServo with EtherCAT “offers up to 50% more torque than traditional step motors with a 1/3 less power consumption. It takes everything that’s not great about step motors and gets rid of that.”

The closed-loop system is ideal for packaging applications, including labeling, setting up axes, inserting, clamping, and sorting. Rice said that Applied Motion is also growing in laboratory automation, test equipment, and semiconductor manufacturing, and this product would be a natural fit for those markets.

The move to a closed-loop system with EtherCAT comes after many requests from a customers. Rice said that as far as knows, StepServo is the only EtherCAT product on closed-loop stepper systems. “EtherCAT is popular on servo systems and open-loop stepper systems, but not on closed-loop stepper systems,” he said.

StepServo is available in a wide range of frame sizes—NEMA 11, 17, 23, 24 and 43, with a dc input of 24/48 V. Rice added that the closed-loop is built around high-resolution, 20,000 count encoder.

More details will be forthcoming at the official launch date.

Applied Motion Products
www.applied-motion.com