Recently introduced to mar-kets, intelligent RD1xA rota-ry actuators add new valua-ble benefits and gain motorbrake.

New RD12A models are todayequipped with an integrated elec-tromagnetic power off brake (per-manent magnet) operated at24VDC capable of a maximumbraking torque between 4.8 Nmand 19.2 Nm, according to gears.The brake is designed to activate assoon as the motor comes to a stopand safely protects from uncontrol-led movements, especially in mobilestops and vertical mounting instal-lations and axes.

RD12A rotary actuators come in arobust and compact design(degree of protection IP65, 14 mmhollow shaft) and integrate a 31W BLDC brushless motor fittedwith planetary gears (T48, T24and T12 gear ratios available) and areal 20-bit high-accuracy (±0.9°)multiturn encoder installed in theoutput axis and therefore notaffected by backlash errors of thegears. Nominal torque is up to 5 Nm (star-ting torque up to 12 Nm).The controller, fully developed byLika Electronic, offers two cascadecontrol loop systems, the position

loop cycle performed at every 1 msand the current loop cycle perfor-med at every 200 µs. The internal trajectory generator(boasting a 64-bit double precision)allows the operator to set new tar-get position even on-the-fly. Controls on overtemperature, over-current, undervoltage and buscommunication failure (because ofa broken or disconnected cable or afaulty wiring) are further imple-mented.

RD12A positioning units can beeasily integrated into fieldbus net-works thanks to the wide choice ofindustrial bus protocols: Profibus-DP, CANopen DS301 and ModbusRTU. In addition, Profibus andCANopen models are equippedwith a RS-232 service interface.RD12A rotary actuators alsoencompass a large number of keyfeatures offered at no charge.

Among the others: separate powersupply for motor and controller;Preset and Jog buttons to manuallymove and calibrate the unit; incre-mental jog function; general pur-pose I/Os; LEDs meant to showvisually the operating or fault sta-tus of the interface and the device;DIP switches to set the node ID, thebaud rate and the termination resi-stance; software tool to configureand test manually the unit via USBport including boot-loader featureto upgrade the DRIVECOD unit fir-mware.New RD12As can be easily fittedinto equipment with constrainedand tight mounting space andeven for modernizing existingsystems as the mounting assemblyis exactly the same used for digitalposition indicators and handwheelscommonly installed in manualadjustable shafts. They can be used in a wide rangeof applications in any industrialsector and are suitable to drivepositioning and auxiliary axes suchas in mould changers, mobile stops,tools changers, filling machines,suction cups motion units, spindlepositioning devices, conveyors andpackaging & woodworking machi-neries, among others.At any rate a single command canprovide multiple precise adju-stments in just one cycle and a veryshort time.

30@3030@30New intelligent RD1xA rotary actuators gain motor brakeNew intelligent RD1xA rotary actuators gain motor brake9

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New LD300 series from LikaElectronic is not only a mere LEDdisplay.

It can be rightly defined asmultifunction and versatilebecause of the number of

benefits it includes. LD300 is a bright and easy-

to-read LED display featuring six 15 mm high

digits and can show nume-ric values in the range from

-199999 to 999999.

It is designed to accept digital qua-drature signals from incrementalencoders or sensors both rotary andlinear having PNP/NPN or Namurcharacteristics (HTL level +10 + 30Vand TTL level +5V). Thus it is mostly used as an eitherrotational or linear position display,a tachometer / frequency meter, astopwatch, a start/stop speeddisplay or an event counter.Functions and parameters (such asmultiple operation modes, frequen-cies, resolutions, filters, scaling fac-tor, counting direction etc.) can be

set through the three keys locatedon the front panel. LD300 series can operate atDC/AC multi-voltage power sup-ply (24VDC and 115/230VACstandard, 24/42VAC on request)and further provides +24V/+5Vpower to supply an external enco-der through the auxiliary output. In a customary configuration LD300display comes with three configu-rable PNP or NPN inputs in HTL orTTL/CMOS level designed for inputfrequencies up to 100 kHz (allcounter modes) and up to 25 kHz(all other operating modes). It is offered in four configurationsto meet the requirements of manydifferent applications. - LD300 is a display only version; - LD301 further features an adju-

stable analogue output operating in the range 0 ... +10V or –10V...

+10V according to setting and includes offset and gain fun-ctions;

- LD302 encompasses two opto-coupler / transistor digital out-puts with adjustable hysteresis for preset function;

- LD303 boasts a serial RS-232/RS-485 interface for communication with a PC or data output transmission (cyclic or manual).

In addition thanks to the advanced configurations LD300 series can beused to convert signals from digitalto analogue; check the encoder sta-tus through the monitoring of thedigital outputs; transmit values inserial string format.Among the key features, the easydisplay scaling to any engineeringunit and the selectable linearizationwith 16 interpolation points and"Teach" function, useful to converta non-linear input signal into alinear representation and vice versa.

LD300 multifunction display is sea-led to IP65 standards in the frontside for use in severe industrialenvironments.

30@3030@30Multifunction LD300 series for incremental encoders: much more than Multifunction LD300 series for incremental encoders: much more than

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Lika Electronic extends the rangeof fieldbus interfaces for itsintelligent DRIVECOD rotaryactuators.

Modbus RTU over RS-485protocol interface is today

available for the whole RD-series positioning units

along with Profibus-DP andCANopen DS301 protocolsto allow direct and easyintegration with a wide

variety of PLCs, microcon-trollers, terminals, operator

panels, fieldbuses andsupervising computers.

Lika DRIVECOD rotary actuators areSlave devices and implement theModbus application protocol (level7 of OSI model) and the “Modbusover Serial Line” protocol (levels 1 &2 of OSI model).Modbus RTU is a serial communica-tion open protocol developed in theseventies of the last century byModicon which is now widely usedin the industry and has become astandard for device-to-device com

munication in several industrialautomation systems. It allows for communication betwe-en up to 247 nodes in a true multi-drop network over a serial EIA-485physical layer, ensuring high speedsand long distances. The Modbus Serial Line protocol is aMaster – Slaves protocol. One only Master is connected tothe bus and one or several Slavenodes are also connected to thesame serial bus. A Modbus communication is alwaysinitiated by the Master. The Slave nodes will never transmitdata without receiving a requestfrom the Master node. MODBUS RTU messages (registers)are simple data strings with 16-bitCRC (Cyclic Redundant Checksumfor error checking). The simplicity of these messages isto ensure reliability.

The main reasons behind such largeimplementation and diffusion ofthe Modbus interface are:- Modbus bases on RS-485/

RS-232 serial communication which is well established and universally supported;

- it is basic yet complete, flexible and most of all reliable;

- it is really simple to implement and easy-to-use;

- it is significantly more inexpensi-ve to deploy than other industrial fieldbus protocols and requires less resources;

- it is open and can be used royalty-free.

DRIVECOD rotary actuators withModbus RTU come with a programexpressly developed and released byLika Electronic: it allows the opera-tor to set the working parametersof the device; control manuallysome movements and functions;and monitor the work cycles of theunit. The program is supplied forfree and can be installed in any PCfitted with a Windows operatingsystem (Windows XP or later). In this way you can easily andquickly programme, set up andstart the positioning unit evenbefore mounting at your conve-nience.

It is noteworthy that RD1xA seriesProfibus and CANopen models arefurther equipped with a RS-232service interface to ease installa-tion and debug.

30@3030@30Modbus interface available for the whole range of Modbus interface available for the whole range of

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