ARC Advisory Group (www.arcweb.com) says small drives are getting so much capability that they will be able to replace smaller control systems used in industrial OEM machines. ARC predicts that low-power AC drives will grow at a rate of 4.7%, reaching $5.1 billion by 2007.
ARC also says the servo drives market will grow by nearly 7.8% to about $2.2 billion in 2003, and then increase by 10% in 2004. ARC says this growth will be driven largely by Japan. The North American market will remain relatively flat in 2003, and start to pick up in 2004.
Applications for servo drives include CNC, robotics, and general motion control, says ARC.
One reason for the success of high-power AC drives, says ARC, is their significant energy savings. When big AC drives are used for material handling, crane controls, building automation, and water and waste treatment, they use less energy than more traditional methods.
Following is a brief summary of what suppliers are offering these days in drives. We were surprised to see that only a few have added Ethernet connections. In fact, only a few drives even mention how you might communicate with them. Finding out how to talk to these new drives is a good excuse for calling the company. We've provided web addresses and phone numbers to help you with your search for the right drive product.
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(Editor's Note: This is the third and final installment of our roundup of motors and drives.)
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Integrated Control--Animatics
