Home / Applications / Panel and container handling with 48 V DC servo drives
Technical note
Panel and container handling with 48 V DC servo drives
Usually a grip-and-transport duty cycle. The interesting question is how the drive behaves during the lift and the settle.
What the motion looks like
Grip, lift, traverse, place, release — repeated thousands of times a day. The axes are usually simple, but the duty cycle is relentless and the payload varies.Does it need force control?
Grip force matters at the gripper; the transport axes themselves rarely need force control. The interesting question is what happens during the lift and the settle when the load distribution is not what the tuning assumed.What to look at in the specification
| Criterion | Note |
|---|---|
| Continuous current vs peak | Payload decides the continuous rating; acceleration decides the peak |
| Holding at standstill | Brake function: internal common-bus supply at 1 A is relevant if the axis must hold without power |
| Long duty cycle | Thermal design matters more than peak capability |
| Wide ambient | DG series at −40 to +70 °C if the line runs hot |
A selection checklist you can send to your engineer
Send this list to whoever is doing the mechanical work. If the answers come back with specific numbers rather than adjectives, the drive selection is half done — and so is the quotation.- Continuous current vs peak
Payload decides the continuous rating; acceleration decides the peak - Holding at standstill
Brake function: internal common-bus supply at 1 A is relevant if the axis must hold without power - Long duty cycle
Thermal design matters more than peak capability - Wide ambient
DG series at −40 to +70 °C if the line runs hot
Common mistakes I see
- Sizing on peak current only. A panel handler spends most of its life holding or moving, and the continuous rating is what determines thermal behaviour over a shift.
- Over-gripping a thin or fragile panel. A current limit is the simplest safeguard available on a gripper axis, and it costs nothing to implement — set the limit from the tightest acceptable part, not the typical one.
Cycle time and settling
A panel handling line runs the same cycle thousands of times a day, so the questions are thermal and duty-cycle questions more than performance questions. The axis spends most of its life either holding a load or moving slowly, and the continuous current rating determines whether the drive stays within its temperature envelope across a shift. The second consideration is recovery. In a line handling varied panels, a jam or a mis-pick means the axis has to recover without a manual intervention, and a drive that reports a clear fault and can be reset quickly is worth more than a marginally faster traverse.Where I would start
Starting point: DS1 or DG3 for transport axes; UF -P for the gripper.. That is a starting point, not a finished selection — the deciding inputs are the motor model, the bus interface, the payload or stroke, the axis count and the ambient temperature. The parameter reference lists what each family covers, and the documents library has the cable tables and application notes your engineer will want.Key takeaways
- Where I would start: DS1 or DG3 for transport axes; UF -P for the gripper.
- Compare the current-loop and sampling specifications, not the force headline — the force number alone does not decide these applications.
- If the axis never touches the workpiece, say so. Position-control criteria are the right ones to judge on.
- Send the checklist to your mechanical engineer before choosing a model — most wrong selections start as an incomplete brief.
Common questions
Is a 48 V DC servo drive the right choice for panel and container handling?
It depends on whether the axis makes contact and on the thermal environment. My starting recommendation for panel and container handling is DS1 or DG3 for transport axes; UF -P for the gripper. — but the motor model, payload, bus type and ambient decide it properly. Send me those four and I will give you a specific answer.
Do I need force control for this application?
Grip force matters at the gripper; the transport axes themselves rarely need force control. The interesting question is what happens during the lift and the settle when the load distribution is not what the tuning assumed.
Can one drive cover several axes in this machine?
For synchronised axes on one bus, the G-series multi-axis units cover pairs and six-axis groups over EtherCAT. If the axes are independent, separate drives are usually simpler and cheaper. Tell me the axis count and which axes must move together.
Which communication interface should I specify?
EtherCAT if you have multiple axes that must move together, or if you need STO. Modbus-RTU or CANopen for simple point-to-point axes where the motion is self-contained. Pulse/direction when you are retrofitting into an existing controller. One warning worth repeating: STO exists on EtherCAT models only, so if your safety case needs it, that decision forces the bus choice.
How do I validate the choice before committing to a quantity?
Run the drive on your own part, not on a test piece. The ForceControl Application note in the documents library describes the setup, and the current-loop and sampling figures in the parameter reference tell you what to look for in the force signal at the moment of contact. If you would rather have someone look at your data with you, send me the traces.