Servo Drives

Servo drives provide electrical outputs to servo motors in closed-loop motion control systems that use positional feedback and corrective signals to optimize position, speed, and accuracy. They control one or more axes, provide analog or digital control signals, and often feature integral motion controllers. Servo drives are used with many different types of motors. AC and DC motors feature brushed or brushless designs and are suitable for a variety of industrial applications. Brushed motors provide commutation via physical contacts, usually spring-loaded graphite brushes. Brushless motors provide commutation electronically, without physical brush contact, and use trapezoidal or sinusoidal drives. Trapezoidal servo drives successively energize two motor windings at one time before proceeding to the next pair. Sinusoidal servo drives provide three sinusoidal signals to three motor windings at one time. Other motor types for servo drives include linear motors, voice coil motors, and vector motors.