Following the ESCON’s launch in fall 2011, maxon motor’s new series of servo controllers welcomes its second family member; the ESCON 50/5. The little brother, it captivates by its outstanding and user-friendly performance. The compact, powerful four-quadrant PWM servo controller offers efficient control of permanent-magnet activated brushed DC motors, and brushless EC motors, up to approximately 250 Watts. As part of the ESCON family, it embodies unrivaled power density in the field of servo controller technology. Better convenience, functionality, protection, or power are hard to find.
The ESCON 50/5 has excellent control properties and a very fast digital current controller with an enormous bandwidth for optimal motor current/torque control. The drift-free yet extremely dynamic capatbilities enable a speed range of 0 to 150,000rpm. This technological masterpiece provides a wide range of functions with fully configurable digital and analog inputs and outputs, and can be run in various operating modes: speed controller (closed loop), speed controller (open loop), or current controller. It is perfectly matched to maxon’s range of motors and thus allows dynamic drive solutions that meet the highest demands.
The compact servo controller is controlled by an analog set value specified via analog voltage, external or internal potentiometer, fixed value, or by means of PWM signal with variable duty cycle. Other interesting features include the ability to enable or disable the power stage depending on the direction of rotation, or to use speed ramps for acceleration and deceleration. The speed can be regulated by digital incremental encoder (2-channel, with/without line driver), DC tacho, or with Hall sensors.
Top performance should not be a matter of practice makes perfect. The servo controller has been designed specifically with easy startup and user-friendliness in mind, needing no in-depth knowledge of drive technology. When the servo controller is connected to a PC via a USB port, it can easily and efficiently be configured with the graphical user interface «ESCON Studio». A large variety of functions, user-friendly software wizards, and a well-designed automatic procedure to fine-tune the controller come in handy during startup and configuration of the inputs and outputs, for monitoring, data recording, and diagnostics. As far as the hardware is concerned, the ESCON 50/5 comes fully equipped, requiring no additional external filters or motor chokes.
The ESCON 50/5 features protective circuits against overcurrent, excess temperature, undervoltage and overvoltage, against voltage transients, and short-circuits in the motor cable. Furthermore it is equipped with protected digital inputs and outputs and adjustable current limitation to protect motor and load. The motor current and the actual speed of the motor shaft can be monitored by means of the analog output voltage.
The wide range for input voltage and operating temperature allows a flexible use in almost all drive applications, in automation technology, in machine manufacturing and equipment engineering, and in mechatronics. With its exceptional efficiency of 95%, the inexpensive ESCON 50/5 is a first-class choice for mobile, highly efficient yet consumption-optimised applications.