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March 2011 Newsletter
In This Issue
Wakecable System
Control Techniques Commander SK
TEC Electric Brake Motors
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Issue:11March 2011
Greetings!

Welcome to the latest newsletter from The Motor Control Warehouse (MCW).     

 

This issue of our newsletter focuses on an ongoing project to develop a winch system for wakeboarding in conjunction with Wakecable, and also takes a look at the Control Techniques Commander SK and TEC Electric Brake Motors both used in the Wakecable system. 

Wakecable System

Here at The Motor Control Warehouse we design and build a number of systems. In this issue we have focused on an ongoing project to produce an electric pulley system for Wakeboarding in conjunction with Wakecable.com.   

 

Wakeboarding is a surface water sport which involves riding over the surface of a body of water. It was developed from a combination of water skiing, snow boarding and surfing techniques.

Wakeboarding is the fastest growing watersport in the world, helped in the UK by the Wakestock festival in Abersoch that attracts the best wakeboarders as well as some of the biggest names in music.

  Wakeboarding is predominently done
  by pulling a rider on a wakeboard
  behind  a motorboat, but these boats
  are expensive both to buy and to run.
  Recently a number of firms have made
  pulley systems that take out the need
  for the boat. James Hughes, founder of
  Wakecable who is a keen wakeboarder himself had been on one of these pulley systems and found that it did not have the power needed to pull larger wakeboarders and kept stalling. James then decided to produce his own system with enough power to pull any wakeboarder.

James approached us here at The Motor Control Warehouse to design the control system for his pulley system. We used a Control Techniques Commander SK and a 7.5kW TECCBM Brake motor with encoder. We mounted the inverter in an IP66 cubicle and developed the system to control the speed and direction of the motor pulling the wakeboarder back and forth across the lake.

The pictures below show the cubicle we built and the first trial of the system in a field using a modified skateboard.




The system will be homed for a specific site using the home button on the controller. The operator will press either the forward or reverse button, and the wakeboarder will then go in the respective direction for a preset number of counts (measured by the motor mounted encoder) and then the direction will be reversed. The wakeboarder will then keep going backwards and forwards across the lake until the controller releases the button. The software for the system was developed using Control Techniques SyPTLite PLC package and programmed onto the Commander SK's LogicStick. The drive has position feedback derived from a motor mounted encoder, and two suitably positioned limit switches either end of the pulley system to provide an emergency stop if the wakeboarder travels too close to the edge of the lake. This feedback is fed through the SM-I/O Lite application module into the Commander SK drive.

For more information on Wakecable please click on the link below:

 Wakecable.com

For more information on our bespoke cubicle builds please click on the link below:

Custom Cubicle Systems- 'Drive in a Box' 

Control Techniques Commander SK

A look at the features and applications of Control Techniques Commander SK. 

 

The Commander SK is Control Techniques very popular general purpose AC drive. The SK is a very versatile drive combining vast levels of functionality with affordable pricing. Here at The Motor Control Warehouse we have used this Open Loop Vector drive in a number of different applications including the wakecable application mentioned above.

 

The features at a glance for the Commander SK range are:

  • Open loop vector control, speed or torque control 
  • IP20 body ingress protection
  • 3 to 18kHz switching frequency
  • 0 to 1500Hz output frequency  
  • Ultra-compact modules resulting from advanced thermal design, state-of-the-art power technologies and the use of a rigid SMC plastic chassis
  • Optimised for both heavy duty and fan and pump applications
  • Can be easily integrated within an automation system using Control Techniques click-in fieldbus option modules including Profibus, DeviceNet and CanOpen
  • Ethernet connectivity allows global drive access for monitoring, configuring and troubleshooting
  • Optional SmartStick allows the drive configuration to be stored and replicated - ideal as a parameter back up and for mass/batch production applications
  • Optional LogicStick adds program memory for onboard PLC functionality, adding intelligence to the drive. This can remove the need for external PLCs and reduces size and costs
  • Easy to use remote mounting keypad with IP65 protection
  • Operation with global power supplies - 100V, 200V, 400V, 575V and 690V
  • The built in EMC filter is suitable for most applications and can be easily switched in or out of circuit. When more arduous EMC standards must be met, such as for residential environments a range of compact footprint mounting filters are available
  • The drive has an RS485 serial port as standard and is supplied with software and documentation CD for easy configuration and monitoring
  • Low power drives may be mounted on DIN-rail for quick and easy installation
  • The drive has an integrated keypad with all the parameters you need for typical applications detailed on the drive
  • Worldwide product expertise and support
  • Worldwide certifications including CE and UL  

Applications where we have used the Commander SK are:

  • Wakecable pulley system
  • Conveyor systems
  • Fans and pumps
  • Mixers
  • Door and barrier systems
  • Food and beverage lines
  • Test rigs for motor vehicle parts
  • Engine test bay temperature and pressure control
  • Air curtain control system for large retail outlets  

 

TEC Electric Brake Motor

A focus on TEC Electric Brake Motors. 

 

Here at The Motor Control Warehouse we sell a wide range of TEC Electric Motors. Our range consists of TECA aluminium motors, TECC cast iron motors, ATEX explosion proof motors, TEE EFF efficiency 1 motors, and motors with mechanical brakes. This issue we are focusing on the TEC AC motors with mechanical brakes.

 

Brake motors are ideal for applications where the motor needs to be able to stop quickly and/or is going to be under load when the motor is stationary. 

 

Our brake motors are equipped with a powerful DC electromagnetic brake. The braking torque can be adjusted by a torque adjusting ring to meet the requirements of the application. The brake is supplied with a DC current from a full wave rectifier sourced from the three phase input of the motor. All of our brake motors come fitted with a hand release lever.

 

Applications where we have used a TEC Electric brake motor include:

  • Wakecable pulley system
  • Dry dock boat winch 
  • Electric hoists  
  • Cranes
  • Lifts 
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Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter, we hope that you now know a little bit more about The Motor control Warehouse and the services we can offer. For our contact details please follow the links opposite.
    

Sincerely, Motor Control Warehouse.