Safe and Independent Drive System
By expanding the applications of the IndraDrive Mi free cabinet technology, Bosch Rexroth makes it possible to integrate the power supply unit directly into the machine, creating a completely independent drive solution. In addition, new safety-certified functions are available thanks to the SafeMotion package, together with innovative cooling systems.
Bosch Rexroth has managed to transfer the entire drive technology from the control cabinet to the machine itself. In addition to the motor with integrated drive and the remote controls of IndraDrive Mi, the company has also developed decentralised supply modules that allow machine manufacturers to install all the electric components directly on their machines. Furthermore, it has equipped these modules with new cooling options for use in the various production sectors, thereby widening the range of applications of IndraDrive Mi.
Safety first and foremost
The innovations of the IndraDrive Mi cabinet-free technology offer new, certified safety functions for automatic machines thanks to the SafeMotion package. This enables the information to travel on a fieldbus via the CIP Safety on Sercos protocol. In addition, thanks to the Multi-Ethernet interface, IndraDrive Mi can manage all the most common protocols on a single hardware, guaranteeing perfect compatibility with the machine. With its innovations in the modular machine design field, Bosch Rexroth provides suitable and safe solutions for machine manufacturers, focusing on complete safety functions for cabinet-free drives. In fact, apart from Safe Torque Off, which is already present, the SafeMotion option covers a series of other certified functions for safe movements: safety functions without a transducer, like SS1, SS1-ES or STO, are certified as Cat. 4 PL in accordance with EN ISO 13849-1 and SIL 3 as per EN 62061. IndraDrive Mi has a variety of safety functions with transducer feedback (SS2, SOS, SLS, SMS, SMD, SLI or SDI). These functions comply with Cat. 3 PL d for EN ISO 13849-1, and SIL2 for EN 62061. For the safety of the protocol, IndraDrive Mi uses the CIP Safety on Sercos standard. In this way, a single cable carries the DC BUS, the fieldbus, and the safety information. This cuts hardware and installation costs drastically. The Multi-Ethernet interface of the Rexroth drives supports not only the Sercos BUS but all the most common Ethernet-based protocols (like ProfiNet, EtherNet/IP and EtherCAT) on the same hardware. It is also possible to create a connection with the Profibus protocol, by means of a simple gateway. With the aim of ensuring optimum machine personalisation, IndraDrive Mi allows you to create – also for the Safe Torque Off function – different safety areas within the drive chain; these can be activated separately by the user. In the event of manual interventions, the specific safety area just has to be activated in order to intervene on the plant. This facilitates commissioning and reduces machine restart times. Cabinet-free drive technology reduces wiring complexity, cabinet volume, and the cooling for the cabinet itself, by up to 90% compared with conventional drives.
Completely independent drive solution
With the IndraDrive Mi cabinet-free drive system, a completely independent drive solution can be created so the supply unit can be directly integrated in the machine. Bosch Rexroth has equipped the supply modules with additional cooling options that use convection or forced air, in addition to the thermal interface for cold-plate mounting or insulated mounting. The two types of cooling process require no fluid, so they can be used in various contexts – for example to sustain transportation or handling technology, for food technology and for packaging. To a certain extent, they can also be used in the printing and woodworking industries; in these specific cases, no additional restart is required when using these new cooling options.
All the components that were previously positioned in the cabinet are now IP65 in the IndraDrive Mi system and can be installed directly on the machine. The mains filter, mains choke and mains contactor are integrated in the KNK03 mains module, to provide a direct mains supply. The KMV03 regenerative supply module with control electronics, resistor and braking transistor has completely replaced the supply and the control electronics of the cabinet.