Gold Whistle Servo Drive Complete Guide

Gold Whistle servo drive integration and troubleshooting

Introduction: Small size, high energy

Gold Whistle is an extremely high power density servo drive launched by Israeli company Elmo Motion Control. In a package of only 55 mm x 46 mm x 15 mm (approximately 38 cm ³), it can continuously output up to 1.6 kW of power (peak 3.2 kW) with an efficiency of over 99%. This driver adopts an onboard design (PCB soldering installation), which is very suitable for applications with strict requirements for volume and weight, such as robot joints, drones, precision machine tools, medical equipment, etc.

Gold Whistle supports multiple feedback sensors (incremental encoder, absolute serial encoder, Hall, rotary transformer, sine and cosine encoder), with communication options including USB, RS-232, CAN, and EtherCAT, and built-in safety torque cutoff (STO) functionality that complies with IEC 61800-5-2 SIL3 and ISO 13849-1 PL e. This article provides engineers with a systematic technical guide based on its installation guide, covering selection, power configuration, feedback connection, communication networking, heat dissipation design, and troubleshooting.

Product Model and Selection Points

2.1 Power level

Gold Whistle is divided into two voltage levels:

Voltage level, model series, continuous current (DC), peak current, maximum continuous power

100V series  1/100, 2.5/100, 5/100, 10/100, 15/100, 20/100 1 A, 2.5 A, 5 A, 10 A, 15 A, 20 A 2  × Ic 80 W ~ 1600 W

200 V series 3/200, 6/20, 9/200 3 A, 6 A, 9 A 2 × Ic 480 W, 960 W, 1450 W

Selection core: Select continuous current based on the rated current and peak demand of the motor. Note that "Amplitude sinusoidal/DC continuous current" in the table refers to the direct current value (used for trapezoidal waves or DC motors). If sine wave commutation is used, the effective value RMS=DC value/1.41. For example, the RMS continuous current of the 10/100 model is 10 A/1.41 ≈ 7.1 A.

Power supply voltage: 100V series main power supply range 12V-95V DC; The main power supply range of the 200 V series is from 12V to 195V DC (typical operating voltage is 170V). The control power supply (only required for the 200 V model) is 12V-95V DC, with a power consumption of ≤ 6 VA (including encoder power supply).

2.2 Part number identification

The part number label on the side of the drive contains complete model information, for example: GWH-20/100-EC represents 20 A continuous current, 100 V voltage level, EtherCAT communication version. When confirming the selection, it is necessary to check whether the voltage and current match the motor and power supply.

Power connection and configuration

3.1 100V series power supply solution

The 100V series can use a single power supply to simultaneously power the main power stage and control logic. There are two types of connection methods:

Internal VL+filtering (recommended): Connect the positive pole of the main power supply to VP+, and at the same time connect the VL+pin to VP+through the recommended filter (see Figure 9) to suppress power level noise interference in the control circuit.

External connection: Short circuit VP+and VL+directly (Figure 10). At this point, it is recommended to add a 100   nF~1   µ F ceramic capacitor near the driver.

If it is necessary to isolate the main power supply from the control power supply (for example, to improve anti-interference ability), diode coupling can be used (Figure 11): two independent isolated power supplies are used, connected to VP+and VL+through diodes, to ensure that the control power supply can still maintain logic when power is cut off.

3.2 200 V series dual power supply

The 200 V series must use two isolated power supplies:

Main power supply: 12V-195V connected to VP+/PR for motor drive.

Control power supply: 12V-95V connected to VL+/PR for logic and communication.

Important grounding rules (see Figure 3 and Figure 8):

PR (Power Return) must be connected to COMRET (Control Common Terminal) on the integrated board.

PE (protective grounding) must be externally connected to the chassis grounding (earth) and isolated from PR/COMNET (withstand voltage test requirements: 2 kV for 200 V models and 1.7 kV for 100 V models).

It is recommended to use twisted pair shielded wires for power cables, with the shielding layer grounded nearby on the power side.

3.3 Common Power Supply Malfunctions

Possible causes and solutions for the phenomenon

The driver cannot start, the indicator light is not on, and the control power supply is not connected or the voltage is too low. Measure the voltage between VL+and PR (should be 12V-95V)

Randomly restart the motor during operation and increase the VP+capacitor due to excessive fluctuations in the VP+power supply or high impedance in the PR circuit; Shorten PR routing and connect with a flat layer

Communication anomaly (EtherCAT/CAN): Control power supply noise interference and add LC filter at VL+; Check the single point connection between COMRET and PR

Feedback interface configuration

Gold Whistle offers three feedback ports (A, B, C) that support multiple sensor types. Port allocation depends on the model, please refer to the hardware manual for details.