# Motor Drives and Amplifiers

**URL:** <https://forum.deltamotion.com/t/motor-drives-and-amplifiers/107>\
**Category:** Actuators\
**Created:** [September 20, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://forum.deltamotion.com/t/motor-drives-and-amplifiers/107 "2010-09-20T16:06:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jacob\_Paso](https://forum.deltamotion.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@Jacob\_Paso](https://forum.deltamotion.com/u/Jacob_Paso)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://forum.deltamotion.com/t/motor-drives-and-amplifiers/107/1 "2010-09-20T16:06:34Z")

</div>

Electric servo motors require an amplifier to provide the current to the correct phases at the right time, which is called commutation.

The following items are important to make sure a drive is compatible with the RMC:

1. ±10V Control Signal  
The drive must accept a ±10V signal from the RMC as a velocity command or torque command. Velocity will typically produce the best results, but will require tuning the drive.

2. Encoder Feedback to Drive  
For high-performance control, the drive should support encoder feedback. The drive should be wired to both hall sensors and an encoder from the motor. Using only hall effect sensors will not result in as good control as using an encoder. Delta always recommends using an encoder.

3. Position Feedback to RMC  
The RMC must also receive feedback from the system. This can be either:

There are two main types of amplifiers: Analog Amplifiers and Digital Drives. Delta’s RMC motion controllers can work with both Analog Amplifiers and Digital Drives.  
Analog Amplifiers are less expensive but lack many features available on Digital Drives. Analog Drives are generally set up by turning potentiometers and setting switches. Digital Drives are set up using software on a PC or by downloading data over a network. Digital Drives have control modes not available on Analog Amplifiers. Many motor manufacturers will sell motors and digital drives as matched sets which makes design easier.

Analog Amplifiers that have been used with the RMC:  
Copley Controls [http://www.copleycontrols.com/](http://www.copleycontrols.com/)  
Advanced Motion Controls [http://www.a-m-c.com/](http://www.a-m-c.com/)  
These companies also sell Digital Drives. Many others do as well.

Drives that have been used with the RMC:  
Kollmorgen [http://www.kollmorgen.com](http://www.kollmorgen.com)  
Allen Bradley [http://www.ab.com/drives/](http://www.ab.com/drives/)  
Pacific Scientific [http://www.pacsci.com/](http://www.pacsci.com/)

Drives with SSI emulation:  
MOOG: MSD Servo Drive. This drive supports SSI emulation that can be used by the RMC as feedback. This requires the SSI module option.

**See also:**

> [@EtherCAT drives](https://forum.deltamotion.com/t/ethercat-drives/1344):
>
> EtherCAT drives are generally fairly easy to integrate. Look for drives that conform to the CAN in Automation (CiA) 402 profile. The RMC200 supports the CiA 402 modes Cyclic Synchronous Position (CSP), Cyclic Synchronous Velocity (CSV), and Cyclic Synchronous Torque (CST) modes with pre-defined configurations. These configurations will have the Process Data Objects (PDOs) necessary to initialize them on the EtherCAT network. Delta Motion has specifically tested the following drives with the RMC…

For more details, or to suggest a product to be added to this list, send an email to [support@deltamotion.com](mailto:support@deltamotion.com).