Machine building: Battery-operated tool speeds programming of hundreds of units
New Berlin, WI—Automation makes repetitive processes quicker and easier. Now, distributors, machine builders and system integrators who need identical programming across a host of drives for machine production or repeatable processes have their own automated tool.
New Berlin, WI —Automation makes repetitive processes quicker and easier. Now, distributors, machine builders and system integrators who need identical programming across a host of drives for machine production or repeatable processes have their own automated tool. The palm-size, battery-operated FlashDrop (MFDT-01) tool from ABB allows parameter selection and setting without even unpackaging the drive or connecting it the mains.
“Simply open the top of the box and seat the FlashDrop wand into the access point built into the ABB Low Voltage drives, and they are programmed in as little as three seconds,” said Michael Mikolajczak, product line manager for ABB’s ACS50, ACS150, ACS350 and ACS/H550 drive lines. The tool can copy parameters between two identical drives, or between a PC and a drive, for high-volume customization of machines. “The tool removes the variation that can affect an OEM’s potential quality issue related to varied programming across hundreds, or even thousands, of units,” he said.
DrivePM (Drive Parameter Manager) software, included within the FlashDrop package, creates, edits and copies parameter sets, and stores a maximum of 20. The FlashDrop user can hide each parameter/group from the drive’s display, which means that the drive user does not see the parameter/group at all. This protects the drive and connected machinery, while the drive users see only parameters relevant for their respective application. The drives are not connected to the mains during parameter setting, an additional benefit that enhances the safety of the assemblers.
The FlashDrop tool is compatible with the following ABB drives:
— ACS150 (v1.31b+);
— ACS350 (v2.41a+);
— ACS550 (v 3.11a+, May 7, 2007+) R1-R6 frames; and
— ACH550 (v 3.11a+, May 7, 2007+) R1-R6 frames.
—Edited by Renee Robbins , Control Engineering News Desk
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