Beckhoff Automation Enters VFD Era With New Economy Drive

 Beckhoff Enters VFD Era With New Economy Drive

Beckhoff Automation has expanded its motion portfolio with the introduction of the AF1000 series economy Variable Frequency Drives (VFD). This gives end users a cost-effective option for controlling commonly used industrial motors within the Beckhoff automation ecosystem.

The launch marks a significant milestone for the automation company as it enters the VFD market, filling a gap in its portfolio and responding to demand from customers worldwide.

Harry Mulder, Motion Product Specialist at Beckhoff Automation Australia says that the move into VFDs will allow the company to serve an important segment of the industrial automation market. “By adding the AF1000 to our portfolio, we can now provide the drive along with our existing control, I/O and TwinCAT technologies. Importantly, EtherCAT connectivity comes as standard rather than being an optional extra, giving customers the opportunity to source more of their automation architecture from a single, trusted supplier.”

An Economy Drive for Everyday Applications

While positioned as an ‘economy’ drive, the AF1000 are a cost-effective solution designed to address a broad range of motor control requirements, as Harry explains: “As it stands, this drive can cover about 90 per cent of the motor types on the market, including asynchronous, synchronous and reluctance motor types.”

Induction motors are a key application for the range, reflecting their widespread use across industrial plants. “Induction motors are ubiquitous. Customers often keep them on the shelf because they’re one of the most commonly used items in an industrial plant,” Harry says.

That familiarity also helps simplify commissioning. “Commissioning is usually straightforward as customers are generally familiar with the process because there are so many induction motors out there.”

The AF1000 can also be used for small motor applications, extending its suitability to machines that require relatively modest power, while still benefiting from integrated control and communications.

Another key point of difference is the availability of dual-axis models, which allow two motors to be connected to a single drive and still be controlled independently. “With dual-axis drives, customers don’t need to purchase multiple VFD units, as is required with traditional single-axis drive set-ups. This translates to lower equipment purchase and maintenance costs, a smaller control panel footprint and simpler installation.”

The capability is particularly beneficial for applications such as material handling and packaging where machines often require numerous individually controlled motors.

More Built-In Functionality

The AF1000 offers one built-in output and seven inputs, including a temperature sensor input. This allows end users to connect relevant field signals directly to the drive and can help simplify the overall system architecture.

Combined with its dual-axis capability, these built-in features are particularly valuable in cost-sensitive applications where reducing component count can have a significant impact on the overall machine cost.

Integrated Safety

Another great benefit is that customers with VFDs can now take full advantage of PC-based control and EtherCAT with faster response, easier commissioning and a single platform for drives and machine logic. “This allows the drive to become part of the same communications and engineering environment as the rest of the Beckhoff control system,” Harry explains.

For existing Beckhoff users, this expands PC-based control into VFD applications, with drives configured in the familiar TwinCAT environment instead of separate third-party tools.

The AF1000 is available with a variety of safety options: without integrated safety, with Functional Safety over EtherCAT (FSoE) or with FSoE combined with hardwired safety. “The whole idea of supporting safety on board the drive is that it doesn’t need additional components to work,” Harry says.

Safety functionality includes Safe Torque Off (STO) and Safe Stop 1 (SS1) modes, with the latter enabling controlled deceleration before the drive transitions to the safe torque off state. “Our safety systems support SS1 in addition to STO, which is a plus because it gives us controlled safety stops, rather than uncontrolled coasting,” Harry says.

Together, the AF1000’s dual-axis capability, EtherCAT communications, TwinCAT configuration and integrated safety, position it for cost-sensitive applications across material handling, packaging, building automation and other industrial environments.

A Broader Motion Offering

For Beckhoff Australia, however, the opportunity extends beyond any particular application or industry, with machine builders remaining a key focus.

“The AF1000 gives end users another option for keeping the motion and control architecture within the Beckhoff ecosystem, while addressing the widespread requirement for economical variable frequency control of industrial motors.”

As demand grows for machines that are simpler to engineer, commission and maintain, the AF1000 extends Beckhoff’s offering into everyday variable speed motor control, while retaining the integration of its wider automation platform.

Ends

Notes to editors:

Beckhoff implements open automation systems using proven PC-based control technology. The main areas that the product range covers are industrial PCs, I/O and fieldbus components, drive technology, automation software, control cabinet-free automation, and hardware for machine vision. Product ranges that can be used as separate components or integrated into a complete and mutually compatible control system are available for all sectors. Our New Automation Technology stands for universal and industry-independent control and automation solutions that are used worldwide in a large variety of different applications, ranging from CNC-controlled machine tools to intelligent building control.

Website: Beckhoff Australia

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