INDUSTRIAL SERVO DRIVES – STATE OF THE ART

Ralph Kennel*, Gerhard Kobs#, Rupert Weber§

*
Electrical Machines and Drives
Wuppertal University, D – 42097 Wuppertal, Germany
Phone: +49 202 439 3950
Fax: +49 202 439 2924

#
Robert BOSCH GmbH
Postfach 1162, D – 64701 Erbach, Germany
Phone: +49 6062 78 379
Fax: +49 6062 78 770

§
Robert BOSCH GmbH
Postfach 1162, D – 64701 Erbach, Germany
Phone: +49 6062 78 527
Fax: +49 6062 78 770

Abstract: This contribution shows the state of the art of serial products and the reasons for
using a completely digital drive control. New servo drive products show that the commuta-
tion of analogue to digital drive control is now completed even in industrial products with
high production quantities. The way for modern control algorithms in industrial servo drives
is now open.

Keywords: adjustable speed drives, brushless drives, industrial applications, intelligent

drives, machine tool drives, speed control, servo drives, EMC/EMI, safe operation

1. INTRODUCTION nous and even synchronous reluctance motors.

In the area of servo drives for machine tools the
cycles of innovation are very short. Servo drive
manufacturers introduce results of university re-
search into their products as early as possible. Fur-
thermore they make their own efforts to realize new
developments in servo drive products.
Recently several servo drive manufacturers pre-
sented new servo drives which can be called a new
generation of servo drives. The main features of
these drives are:
An „electronic name plate“ (patent pending)
inside the motor is the most progressive solu-
tion to transfer all data necessary to operate the
drive. An optimization by technical staff is
possible but not necessary any more.
- A high resolution encoder system for simulta-
neous sensing of position and speed provides a
resolution of several million positions per
revolution. A significant reduction of encoder
costs introduced even multi-turn absolute en-
coders to a wide field of applications.

- A digital control of position, speed and current.
Since 1987, when first industrial servo drives
with completely digital control had been pre-
sented [1], the performance of these drives has
improved more and more and today is better
than the behaviour of analogue controlled
drives [9]. Therefore servo drives with ana-
logue control are going to be replaced com-
pletely by digitally controlled drives.
- The same inverter hardware and software is
used for synchronous as well as for asynchro-
- Digital interfaces (e.g. SERCOS interface [2],
CAN, ...) provide full access to all data inside
the servo drive.
Besides the advantage of having the possibility to
use modern and sophisticated control algorithms,
servo drives with microcomputer control also have
some disadvantages. Control algorithm, cycle time,
microcomputer, sensors and interface have to be
perfectly combined to achieve better performance
as it is known by servo drives with analogue con-
trol. It is necessary to use special current, speed and

inverter modules inverter modules
folding/plug compact and
mechanism standalone
...120kW ...15kW
Processor Board
Processor Board
•CAN
•SERCOS interface
•Profibus
•analogue
Fig: 1 Modular Servo Drive System
position sensors as well as digital interfaces to
transfer the reference values. Internal synchroniza-
tion of all control parts is essential as well. This
paper presents experiences and results of a modern
digital drive system pointing out the influences of
low and high accuracy position sensors and the
interdependencies mentioned above.
2. DRIVE CONTROL
The reasons for using a completely digital drive
control in industrial applications ([4], [5], [6]) in
spite of being slightly more expensive than drives
with analogue control can be found in a lot of ad-
vantages.
When using servo drives with digital control re-
markable improvements of the drive behaviour are
obtained during operation. Due to the fact of digital
signal processing and - what is even more important
- digital sensing of speed and position there are no
offsets and no drifts any more within the control
loops. A command value of 0 really leads to a
standstill of the drive.
The development of „digital“ servo drives meant
integrating microcomputers into inverter designs.
This is possible today without negative interfer-
ences between power stage and microcomputer.
The new drive generation provides a modular me-
chanical structure by using identical power stage
and control hardware for synchronous and asyn-
chronous motors as well as for power supplies.
Processor boards are only different due to the dif-
ferent digital interfaces. Fig. 1 shows the possibility
to combine inverters with power stages for different
output powers and processor boards with different
processor performance for any servo drive system.
This concept saves cost
and effort on the cus-
tomer’s side.
To control synchronous
and asynchronous motors
the servo drives use the
same control structure in
field orientation. Fur-
thermore it is not neces-
sary any more to differ
between feed drives and
spindle drives. Depending
on the type of motor
connected to the inverter,
the microcomputer acti-
vates some software-
subroutines. A hardware
or software change is not
necessary. Even the
power supply unit may be
considered as a big syn-
chronous machine and
can be controlled by the same control algorithm
(see paragraph 5 “EMC/EMI”).
The communication and diagnostic features of
drives with digital control are overwhelming in
comparison to drives with analogue control. Digital
interfaces (SERCOS interface [2], CAN, ...) allow
access to all data inside the drive and enable to
initialize any operation without using additional
wires or cables. Furthermore the feedback can eas-
ily be given as more or less detailed text messages
to the supervisor's screen instead of LED signals
inside the cabinet.
Cost reductions have been achieved by shortening
the time necessary for set-up operations of servo
drives. Besides the significantly reduced number of
wiring and cables and consequently minimized
installation effort the optimization procedure of
„digital“ servo drives was simplified by the use of
data tables containing control parameters or - what
is even more progressive - an "electronic name
plate". A memory is integrated in the servo motor
(or its encoder). When switching on the power, the
drive's microcontroller polls all information to
adjust the drive control to that specific motor from
the "electronic name plate" without any additional
action from the operating staff.
Last not least PC-based diagnostic and service
equipment was developed allowing the operators to
communicate directly with the drive. Menu guided
access to the drive parameters reduces the time of
diagnostic and restart in the case of failures or un-
expected situations. In difficult cases the diagnostic
equipment might be connected to the manufac-
turer’s service hotline by telephone line providing
more exact information and more successful action.
 3. SYNCHRONIZATION
As mentioned above, there are some disadvantages
when using servo drives with microcomputer con-
trol. Control algorithm, cycle time, microcomputer,
sensors and interface have to be perfectly combined
to achieve better performance than it is known by
servo drives with analogue control. The application
of digital current control has to consider the effects
of control cycle time, inverter switching frequency
and recovery time of the inverter switches. It is
necessary to implement internal synchronization of
all control parts. Fig. 2 shows the current/torque
10A
stator current
0 resolution of optical sensors provided a dramatic
-10A
0 200 400
µs
10A
stator current
0
-10A
0 200 400
µs
Fig. 2 Current Ripple without (upper diagram)
and with (lower diagram) Synchronisati-
on of Control Loops
ripple of a synchronous servo drive with identical
control hardware and control algorithm with and
without control synchronization [7]. Today’s servo
drives provide internal cycle synchronization to
improve the drives behaviour and to avoid any
drawback like additional torque or current ripple.
When using several servo drives as a whole system
for multidimensional motion control, it is necessary
to synchronize not only the components within each
drive but also the drives taking part in the co-
ordinated motion with each other. This is possible
by using a special synchronization interface or –
what is more sophisticated – by using a digital
interface with integrated synchronization procedure
(e.g. SERCOS interface [2]).
The servo drive’s microcomputer must be able to
handle at least 32-bit-operations to achieve results
better than servo drives with analogue control. Only
few processors are able to do this within acceptable
cycle times. The drive presented in this contribution
performs:
- position control in 250 µs cycle time
- speed control in 40 µs cycle time
- current control in 40 µs cycle time
There is enough performance left to calculate mod-
els of the electrical machine to support the drive’s
behaviour in safe operation conditions (see para-
graph 6 “Safe Operation”).
4. HIGH RESOLUTION
The recent improvement concerning accuracy and
increase of positioning accuracy. High resolution
position encoders enable to detect even very small
deviations. In combination with high resolution
microcontrollers or -processors (> 32 bit) very
smooth speed operation as well as accurate posi-
tioning can be achieved.
0.2
0.1
0
-0.1
-0.2
0 120 240 360
Fig. 3 Comparison of Position Accuracies when
using Magnetic or Optical Sensors in Ser-
vo Drives
The detection of several sequential positions from
the encoder is now possible even in low speed op-
eration. Fig. 3 shows the comparison between a
modern optical encoder and a well-known resolver
concerning accuracy of position angle. The devia-
tion of the position error is a measure for the servo
drive’s ability of smooth operation at very low
speeds. To operate a servo drive with the speed of a
clock’s hour hand – which is not unusual – an en-
coder resolution of several million positions per
revolution is necessary to guarantee really smooth
operation. These devices are available on market
today. Therefore the smooth operation behaviour of
servo drives with digital control has improved sig-
nificantly in spite of some drawbacks in compari-
son with analogue tachogenerators.
Fig. 4 compares the smooth operation of the servo
drive; one is equipped with a brushless tachogen-
erator and analogue control, the other one with a
high resolution encoder and digital control. The
commutation of the brushless tachogenerator pro-
duces significant speed deviations which cannot be
compensated by the drive control, because the
tachogenerator is a component of the feedback
loop.
0,5
difference angle
plying the electrical machine to the inverter of
power supply [3]. The electrical mains can be
viewn as a very big and very special synchronous
machine controlled by the power supply. If the
servo drive needs power, the power supply intends
to decelerate the electrical network – hopefully
without success. If the servo drive regenerates
power, the power supply tries – not successfully, of
course – to accelerate the synchronous machine
behind the electrical network. Therefore the same
control strategy can be used for both the electrical
machine and the power supply of a servo drive

system.
0
The current control on both sides takes care of low
power pulsations. This means low torque ripple and
-0,5 low harmonic losses on the motor side and low
harmonics on the line side. The application of field-
oriented control algorithms even in power supplies
10 30 50 70 gives a significant improvement of EMC behaviour.
position angle All ideas aiming to a reduction of ripple currents in
inverter supplied electrical machines can also be
a.) brushless DC tacho used for line currents. The result is a significant
reduction of line harmonics. The 5th harmonic can
be easily reduced by a factor 8 to 10 [3]. Therefore
it is possible to meet the regulations of the Euro-
pean EMC directive (EN 61800-3) even with high
0,5
power servo drives.
difference angle

A further improvement of using “field-oriented”

0
-0,5
10 30
position angle
b.) high resolution optical encoder
Fig. 4 Position Error in Low Speed Operation
(30 rpm)
An optical encoder improves the smooth operation
by more than 10 in comparison to brushless tacho-
generators, which are commonly used with ana-
logue drive control.
5. DC LINK VOLTAGE CONTROL and
EMC/EMI
The new servo drive generation shows an improved
EMC behaviour concerning the power supply, an
improved drive efficiency by controlling the DC
link voltage and an improved torque-speed-
characteristic – especially of asynchronous motors
in the field weakening range.
The basic idea leading to these improvements was
to transfer control principles from the inverter sup-
control in power supplies is the control of the DC
link voltage. The voltage control on the line side
providing a constant DC link voltage is superim-
posed on the current control like the speed control
on the motor side. Even when the line voltage has
tolerances of 20% and more, the DC link voltage is
50 70 controlled with much higher accuracy (e.g. 1%).
This provides an improved torque-speed-charac-
teristic of servo drives – especially of asynchronous
motors in the field weakening range.
Furthermore the efficiency of servo drives is in-
creased in a whole by reduced tolerances of the
motor voltages. The tolerances of the DC link volt-
ages can be limited so far that the rated values of
the servo motors do not need to consider voltage
variations any more. The design of the electrical
machines can be adjusted much closer to the rated
values, (e.g. ± 1% instead of ± 10%) saving weight
and cost.
6. SAFE OPERATION
The most interesting highlight of the new servo
drive generation is the possibility to realize safe
operation (i.e. safe standstill or safe motion) in
robots or machine tools with opened housing. The
people may work under direct access to a machin-
ery without danger even when the electrical power
is still active. The digital drive system provides safe

mains
power mains connecting
switch equipment
off
mains status
power supply inverter
process status
e.g. "open door"
µC HW
drive status
power drive inverter
switch
off
µC HW
speed / position
E
sensor
M servo motor
Fig. 5 Double Channel Signal Processing
operation by internal redundant channels with dif-
ferent hardware.
Based on a new generation of position/speed sen-
sors in combination with a processor independent
encoder hardware, safe operation of servo drives is
possible. The servo motor itself is used as a
speed/position sensor by the microprocessor with-
out considering any information from the encoder.
(For control purposes – accuracy etc. – of course,
the encoder’s information is used by the processor
as well.) When using a processor independent en-
coder hardware to define the drive’s position and/or
speed, this second (redundant) channel is used for
supervising safe operation of the servo drive (Fig.
5). Both channels – the encoder hardware as well as
the microcomputer – compare the real speeds/posi-
tions with each other. In the case of a difference,
both channels switch off the drive – this type of
emergency action is also performed in two inde-
pendent channels: the encoder hardware as well as
the microcomputer block the drive’s inverter and –
via a second (redundant) channel – switch off the
main switch of the drive system.
This procedure provides sufficient safety even
when staff is operating directly at the machine tool.
In spite of using only one encoder per drive, the
whole system is completely redundant concerning
speed/position supervision, power switch off, door
control and emergency switch off interface. There-
fore the system was certified by a Swiss safety
agency as a safety related component (according to
the machinery directive of EU). This means that
using this system a manufacturer of machine tools
or similar safety critical machinery has much less
problems than in the past.
To avoid any danger during standard operation
(which is not a safe operation condition), it is ad-
vantageous to integrate the locking mechanism of
the machinery into the drive’s equipment. The drive
only releases the door to be opened when safe op-
eration condition is required and achieved, or the
power of the drive system is switched off com-
pletely. Without closing the door the safe operation
condition cannot be left by the drive. All informa-
tion necessary is provided in more than one channel
to meet the safety standards.
Similar influence is provided by connecting the
machine tool’s emergency switch off as a double
channel signal to the servo drive. If there is a sepa-
rate power supply with microcomputer control in a
multi-axis servo drive system, it is not too difficult
to deal with emergency and safety supervision and
switch off in a double way – in the power supply’s
control equipment and in each drive’s control
equipment. The information exchange between the
different microcomputers takes place by active and
dynamic signals indicating each interruption imme-
diately to each controller.
This allows to operate the drive even with open
doors of the machine tool, because the drive guar-
antees a safe speed limit or standstill even under
torque by its double channel supervision and emer-
gency switch-off structure (patent pending).
7. SUMMARY
Today’s servo drives fulfil nearly all requirements
in the market – therefore the servo drives develop-
ment has decreased its speed and is not a very big
issue in industry’s research at the moment. Some
years later, when further progress in servo drive
performance will be required, the resolution of the
encoders will appear as the technical narrow-gap in
servo drives.
After reaching a rather high standard in servo drive
performance, issues like EMC and torque ripple get
more to the foreground. To reduce the drive’s
torque ripples, it is not sufficient any more to de-
sign a proper magnetic circuit of the electrical ma-
chine – control synchronization to the inverter’s
switching and the encoder characteristic as well as
the variations of DC link voltage get more and
more important.
The drive internal processing performance is used
for additional features. The example of safe opera-
tion (described in this paper) shows how to use the
distributed processing performance more efficient
than a central processor.
Servo drives of the newest generation are now a
good basis to make further development in control
techniques. Processing power is big enough to im-
plement self optimization and self adjustment
schemes for drive controls – the main requirement
when replacing the well-known cascade control by
more modern control schemes (e.g. [10]). Even for
university laboratories it is advantageous to perform
their research work in drive control based on one of
the industrial servo drives, as these provide all
features necessary for that.
8. REFERENCES
[1] G. Kobs, R. Kennel, P. Zimmermann, „Fully
Digital Controlled Induction Motors for Ma-
chine Tool Applications“, 2nd European Con-
ference on Power Electronics and Applications
(EPE), Grenoble, Vol. 2, 1987, Pre-prints, pp.
1171 – 1174.
[2] R. Kennel, R. Weber, „Datenkommunikation
über das Bussystem „SERCOS interface“,
Automatisierungstechnische Praxis (atp), Vol.
7, 1991, pp. 363 – 368, and Vol. 8, pp. 425 –
429.
[3] Michael Link, Erkki Niemi, Vesa Manninen,
“Vier-Quadranten-Umrichter mit geregeltem
Netzwechselrichter”, Antriebstechnik 38, Nr.
3, 1999, pp. 34 – 40.
[4] N.N., “Höhere Produktivität beim Schleifen”,
maschine + werkzeuge 6, 1998.
[5] Michael Reichenbach, “Verpackungstechnik
mit digital geregelten Servoantrieben”, An-
triebstechnik 37, Nr. 7, 1998.
[6] Peter Ernst, “Open CNC Control with Digital
Drive Interface”, AMD&C, Issue 4, 1998, pp.
164 – 169.
[7] NC-Fertigung, Nr. 2, 1993, p. 55.
[8] G. Kobs, “Redundante Sicherheitsüber-
wachung im Antrieb integriert”, A&D Kom-
pendium, 1999, pp. 153 – 154.
[9] R. Kennel, G. Kobs, R. Weber, „Digital Con-
trol of Industrial Servo Drives for Machine
Tools“, 8th European Conference on Power
Electronics and Applications (EPE), Lausanne,
1999, Proceedings, CD-ROM EPE '99, paper
no. 882.
[10] R. Kennel, A. Linder, “Predictive Control of
Inverter Supplied Electrical Drives”, 31st An-
nual IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Con-
ference PESC’00, Galway/Ireland, June 2000.
9. AUTHORS
Ralph Kennel was born in
Kaiserslautern, Germany, in
1955. He received the di-
ploma in Electrical Engi-
neering and the Dr.-Ing.
degree from the University of
Kaiserlautern in 1979 and
1984, respectively.
From 1983 – 1985 he was
Development Engineer for
servo drives with Robert BOSCH GmbH and later
Department Manager with the same company. In
1997 he changed to the Automotive Division of the
same company at Bühlertal, Germany, as Depart-
ment Manager for Advanced Development.
Since 1994 he is Visiting Professor at the Univer-
sity of Newcastle-upon-Tyne/UK and since 1999
Professor and Head of the Electrical Machines and
Drives Laboratory at Wuppertal University.
Gerhard Kobs received his
diploma degree from the
Technical University of
Braunschweig, Germany.
From 1985 he developed
microcomputer controlled
drives with Robert BOSCH
GmbH at Erbach, Germany.
Later he became group man-
ager for main spindle drives
in machine tools. In 1994 he
took over responsibility as a product manager for
servo drives. In this position he introduced the new
servo drive generation SERVODYN-D with digital
control to the market.
Rupert Weber received his
diploma degree in electro-
technics in 1977. From 1977
to 1980 he worked in devel-
oping industrial power sup-
plies and battery chargers. In
1980 he joined Robert
BOSCH GmbH at Erbach for
developing electrical drives.
He was project manager for
the development of the digi-
tal drives family SERVODYN-D. Since 1998 he is
head of the servo drives development at Robert
BOSCH GmbH, Erbach, Germany.