Aerotech NDrive HP 10/20/30 Maintenance and Replacement

Aerotech NDrive HP 10/20/30 Maintenance and Replacement

In industrial motion control sites, replacing discontinued servo modules and troubleshooting safety systems often test engineers more than debugging new equipment. The Aerotech NDrive HP 10/20/30 is a networked digital drive in the Automation 3200 motion system, which is connected via the IEEE-1394 FireWire bus and has deterministic communication, automatic recognition, and software configuration capabilities. Understanding the specifications, wiring, feedback, PSO, and fault logic of NDrive HP 10/20/30 can significantly reduce downtime for devices that require replacing old drives, troubleshooting servo faults, expanding multi axis I/O, or adding laser triggering functionality. This article summarizes the key technical information of this series of drives from the perspective of engineering maintenance and replacement selection.

Model positioning and core specifications

The NDrive HP family includes three common models: HP10, HP20, and HP30. HP10 peak output 10 A, continuous 5 A; HP20 peak 20 A, continuous 10 A; HP30 peak 30 A, continuous 15 A. The continuous power is about 1360 W, 2720 W, 4080 W respectively, and the peak power is about 2720 W, 5440 W, 8160 W. The maximum continuous input power of the main power supply is 240 VAC, single-phase or three-phase, 50/60 Hz. The maximum continuous input power of the main power supply is 1500/3000/4500 W. Optional auxiliary power supply is 85-240 VAC, used to maintain logic power supply or low bus voltage operation.

The output bus voltage depends on the AC input and ranges from approximately 40-350 VDC. The PWM switching frequency is 20 kHz, and the bandwidth of the power amplifier can be selected through parameters, with a maximum of about 5 kHz. The minimum load inductance is 1 mH at 320 VDC and 0.8 mH at 160 VDC. The operating environment temperature is usually -5-40 ° C, storage is -20-70 ° C, humidity is 80% to 31 ° C, and then linearly decreases to 50% at 40 ° C. It is non condensing and has an altitude of up to 2000 m.

The protection functions include controlling power undervoltage, continuous overcurrent, power stage bias undervoltage, power stage output short circuit (phase to phase and relative to ground), DC bus overvoltage, and IGBT over temperature detection. These protections are important for replacement selection: if the original equipment frequently reports bus overvoltage, the regenerative energy and shut-down configuration should be evaluated; If overcurrent is reported, the motor phase, load, and gain should be checked.

Feedback, I/O, and communication capabilities

NDrive HP supports brushless, brushed, and stepper motors. The standard feedback is a line driven square wave or analog sine orthogonal encoder. The main encoder channel J207 receives Sin/Sin-N, Cos/Cos-N, Marker/Marker-N, 5 VDC RS-422 differential signals, with a maximum encoder signal of 8 MHz. After x4 orthogonal decoding, it can reach 32 million counts/s. Optional MXH analog encoder multiplication supports a maximum input frequency of 200 kHz, multiplication factor 1-512, with a maximum of x2048 when paired with a controller x4.

In terms of I/O, the standard configuration includes 4 optical isolated outputs, 6 optical isolated inputs (including 2 high-speed inputs), 2 differential analog inputs (one standard and one provided with IOPSO), and 2 analog outputs. If IOPSO is selected, 8 optical isolated inputs, 8 optical isolated outputs, 2 18 bit analog outputs, and 2 16 bit differential analog inputs can be added SSI Net、 Absolute encoder interface and brake relay. -IOPSOH increases the output to 1 A per channel. For devices that require PLC type I/O expansion, HP also offers an optional - ENET 10/100BASE-T Ethernet port to connect third-party I/O via ModBus TCP.

The communication core consists of FireWire J201, J202, and J203, with a speed of 400 Mbps and three ports connected in parallel. The multi axis system recommends a star daisy chain with a maximum of 32 axes, and a single chain with a maximum of 16 drivers. Each NDrive must be assigned a unique communication channel number through the S2 switch, usually numbered sequentially starting from 1. RS-232/RS-422 J206 is mainly used for firmware upgrades and auxiliary communication. When replacing, it is necessary to confirm the FireWire topology, channel number, and controller axis mapping of the original system, otherwise the new drive may not be recognized.

PSO, MXH and multi axis laser triggering

Position synchronization output (PSO) is a key function of NDrive HP in laser processing, visual inspection, and aerial photography. The standard single axis PSO can track the main encoder, auxiliary encoder, SSI Net, or software trigger, with a single axis tracking rate of up to 20 MHz and a trigger delay of about 200 ns. - DUALPSO and - TRIPLEPSO support two - or three-axis vector position triggering with a delay of about 275 ns, and the multi axis tracking rate is limited to 5 MHz. The PSO hardware uses a 255 level FIFO queue internally, with programmable pulse configuration, window mode, data capture, and data update modes. Output options include high-speed optical isolation J301, J205 output 11 (up to 1 kHz) or RS-422 Marker output (up to 10 MHz).

MXH is closely related to PSO. MXH can multiply analog sine encoder and support real-time orthogonal output. When using - DUALPSO or - TRIPLEPSO, if the encoder data rate is too high, the PSO tracking rate should be limited to 5 MHz through CfgFbkEncMxhQuadDiv or PSOTRACK SCALE while maintaining full resolution of the servo loop. The MXH programming/erasing cycle is about 3.5 minutes, during which the LED will flash and the axis cannot be enabled. After replacing or changing the multiplication parameter, you must wait for the cycle to complete.

SSI Net J302/J303 provides two bidirectional RS-422 channels for daisy chain encoder signals, sending the second/third axis encoders to drivers with - DUALPSO/- TRIPLEPSO. The maximum data rate of SSI Net is 20 MHz, requiring the use of a dedicated SSI Net cable and configuration of parameters such as PsoSsiConfig and PsoSsi2Config. If the original device uses multi axis laser triggering, these cables and parameter configurations must be retained during replacement.

Key points of motor and feedback wiring

When wiring brushless motors, motor A/B/C must correspond correctly with Hall A/B/C. The forward motion command should cause the motor to rotate clockwise when viewed from the mounting flange. If the direction is opposite, any two-phase motor wires can be exchanged. Hall signal connected to J207: Hall A pin 10, Hall B pin 5, Hall C pin 11. You can observe the Hall status on the Nstat diagnostic page and determine the phase based on it.

In terms of encoder phase, the forward motion command should increase the encoder count. If the count decreases, Sin and Sin-N can be exchanged, or CfgFbkTelMultiplier and CfgFbkPosMultiplier can be inverted. When configuring the dual loop, only the feedback parameter of the wrong reverse connection is taken. When the brushed motor is in torque mode, the positive command should cause the motor to rotate clockwise, corrected by swapping the A/C motor wires. The forward command of the stepper motor is clockwise. If it is the opposite, switch the 0A and 0B terminals.

The limit switch includes CW, CCW, and Home, connected to J207 pins 12, 24, and 22. You can also use J205 input 8-10 to configure limit settings through DriveIOConfig bit22. ESTOP requires an external fail safe emergency stop circuit for TB201 input, with an input voltage of 5-24 V. If it exceeds this range, a series resistor current limiting is required. If ESTOP is enabled in FaultMask, this input must be driven to avoid emergency stop faults. The emergency stop circuit should be kept away from noise sources, and RC networks or varistors should be added to suppress relays or inductive loads.

Common faults and troubleshooting

Motor loss of control is usually related to the reverse connection of the encoder Sin/Cos, incorrect feedback direction, or incorrect commutation phase. The brushless motor does not rotate, and the common reason is that the relative order of motor A/B/C and Hall A/B/C is incorrect. The amplifier malfunctioned during motor deceleration, and HP10/20 may experience bus overvoltage due to excessive regenerative energy, requiring the addition of a shunt regulator. Frequent amplifier failures may be caused by RMS overcurrent, overheating, or internal power supply faults, and current should be reduced, ventilation improved, or repaired.

LED is a fast diagnostic entry point: ACTV indicates reset, CLMT indicates current limitation, ENB indicates axis enabled, FLT indicates fault, INPOS indicates in place, KRNL indicates controller operation, LMT+/- indicates positive/negative limit, PERR indicates position error exceeding limit, RMS indicates RMS current exceeding limit. Test point TP4 on the control board is for signal sharing. Among the fuses F1-F5 on the power board, F1 and F2 are socket type, while F3-F5 are soldered onto the board. Battery B1 is a 3V button battery, model BR1225.

Preventive maintenance should check the chassis, cooling vents, cables, and connectors monthly. Turn off the power during cleaning, use a dry soft cloth, and if necessary, slightly wet water or isopropanol. Do not allow liquids to enter the connector. Internal high voltage may still exceed 60 V after a power outage for 10 seconds, and maintenance must be carried out by qualified personnel.

Voltage current mode and independent operation

Firmware 2.06 and above supports voltage current mode. This mode allows NDrive to function as an independent current controller, receiving ± 10 V torque commands from external position/speed controllers, without the need for real-time FireWire connection, but parameter configuration still requires A3200 software. Pay attention to current loop parameters, feedback configuration, commutation information, and current limits during configuration. After parameter verification, execute FLASHWRITE 1 0 0 through NDebug to save to flash memory, then power off, set DIP switches 6 and 7 to OFF, and power on again to enter voltage current mode.

In this mode, analog input 0 is used as the current/torque command, with+10 V corresponding to negative peak current and -10 V corresponding to positive peak current. Input 8 is used as the enable and output 8 is used as the fault output, both of which are of fail safe polarity. The fault may come from driver overcurrent, motor RMS overcurrent, motor thermistor overheating, amplifier temperature fault, or bus power failure. For the application of replacing old centralized control systems, this mode can extend the service life of NDrive on non A3200 platforms.

Shutdown replacement and selection process

When replacing discontinued NDrive or other brand servo modules, it is recommended to follow the following sequence:

Record original module parameters: model, peak/continuous current, bus voltage, AC input, feedback type, communication interface, I/O quantity, PSO axis number MXH/MXU、 Brake output, ESTOP logic, size, and heat dissipation.

Match motor: Confirm brushless/brushed/stepper, pole pairs Hall、 Encoder resolution, rotation or Inductosyn. If the original system uses a rotary converter, HP needs to choose - RDP; If using an analog sine encoder, choose - MXH.

Confirm power supply and regeneration: HP supports 240 VAC single-phase/three-phase, optional - AUXPWR, - S shutt, -3P, - HS heat sink, and - FAN fan. Low bus voltage or maintaining logic power supply requires AUXPWR.

Confirm network: FireWire topology, S2 channel number, controller axis mapping. When Ethernet I/O is required, select - ENET.

Confirm I/O and PSO: When standard I/O is insufficient, select - IOPSO or - IOPSOH; Dual axis/three-axis laser trigger selection - DUALPSO/- TRIPLEPSO; PSO output optoelectronic isolator selects PSOOPTO1-4 based on speed/voltage.

Mechanical and cooling: The HP weighs approximately 5.0-5.4 pounds and requires 1 inch of free air space. The ambient temperature should not exceed 40 ° C, and the chassis temperature may exceed 75 ° C. Be careful of burns.

Power on test: Do not connect the motor first, check the LED, FireWire, ESTOP, and logic power supply; Connect the motor for low-speed testing of phase, feedback direction, limit, and PSO; Finally, gradually load and check the current, temperature, and tracking error.

If the original device uses CP or MP series, attention should be paid to the differences in HP: HP supports larger currents, rotary converters Ethernet、 Multi axis PSO and - IOPSOH, but with higher volume and cost. CP is cost sensitive, MXU and PSO are mutually exclusive; MP is an ultra compact DC input; CL/HL is a linear power level. When replacing, it is not enough to only look at the installation size and current. Feedback, communication, and functional options must be checked.

FAQ

How to choose NDrive HP10, HP20, HP30?

Select based on peak and continuous current: HP10 is 10/5 A, HP20 is 20/10 A, and HP30 is 30/15 A. It is also necessary to verify the bus voltage, power, and heat dissipation.

Can we directly replace other brands of servo drives?

It cannot be judged solely based on current and size. It is necessary to verify the motor type, feedback, commutation, FireWire network, I/O, PSO, ESTOP, and regeneration processing.

Does HP support rotation?

Support, the - RDP rotary input option needs to be selected, providing single/dual channel, 10/7.5/5 kHz carrier frequency.

Can MXH and PSO be used simultaneously?

HP's MXH supports PSO and real-time orthogonal output, but attention should be paid to the 5 MHz tracking limit of multi axis PSO and MXH clock settings.

How to wire ESTOP?

TB201 input 5-24 V, driven by an external fail safe emergency stop circuit, with current limiting resistors in series if necessary, and noise suppression added.

How to connect a multi axis system?

Through FireWire star daisy chain, up to 32 axes, with a single chain of 16 drivers, each driver is assigned a unique channel number using S2.