Chicago, Ill. — To create a 200 MB per second, digital network for servodrives, Ormec (Rochester, N.Y.) introduced its new ServoWire drive network at the recent IMTS show in Chicago. ServoWire uses open standard IEEE-1394, originally developed as Firewire by Apple Computer Corp.

The drive network protocol is implemented in a series of ServoWire servodrives. It's also interfaced to an Orion PC-based controller via new Axis modules that also have a ServoWire interface. As a result, eight servodrive/servomotors can be controlled by a single ServoWire Axis module at loop update rates up to 2 MHz. Four axes can be controlled at a 4 KHz update rate.

ServoWire drive network also provides servo bandwidth for precise electronic gearing, electronic cams, and profiling for a variety of multi-axis control applications. IEEE-1394 gives ServoWire the ability to allocate network bandwidth with isochronous transfers that ensure delivery of real-time, time-critical data.

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