Chapter 1 – Electromechanical systems

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews a number of typical application areas where high performance servo drives are required. Within manufacturing, automation is defined as the technology which is concerned with the application of mechanical, electrical, and computer systems in the operation and control of manufacturing processes. In general, an automated production process can be classified into one of the three groups: fixed, programmable, or flexible. In a conventional machining operation, material is removed by the relative motion between the tool and the work piece in one of five basic processes: turning, milling, drilling, shaping, or grinding. Non-conventional processes are widely used to produce products whose materials cannot be machined by conventional processes. A range of non-conventional processes are now available, including: laser cutting and electron beam machining, electrochemical machining (ECM), electrodischarge machining (EDM), and water jet machining. The introduction of computer-numerical-control (CNC) systems has had a significant effect on the design of machine tools. The increased cost of machine tools requires higher utilization; for example, instead of a manual machine running for a single shift, a CNC machine may be required to run continually for an extended period of time. The penalty for this is that the machine's own components must be designed to withstand the extra wear and tear. It is possible for CNC machines to reduce the non-productive time in the operating cycle by the application of automation, such as the loading and unloading of parts and tool changing.