Brushless DC motors as parts of Smart Factories

摘要

New technological solutions in electric actuators, which integrate the electric motors and the control units, thus transforming them to a complex mechatronic device require special attention. Having in mind that this integration requires communication between the actuators and their control units, and also communication with external control units and sensors, as well as other actuators, adds even more to the complexity of the mechatronic devices formed in this way. This integration of actuators, control units and communication technologies is nowadays often referred to as Industry 4.0, which is a collective term embracing a number of contemporary automation, data exchange and manufacturing technologies and is a facilitation of the vision and execution of a “Smart Factory”. The presented research deals with the problem of programing a group of electric actuators with integrated control units, which work simultaneously using an external control unit, and communicate through EtherCAT communication protocol, and present a possible constituent of a Smart Factory. The problem is discussed by presenting a case study of controlling two brushless direct current motors.