The Kistler Group will soon unveil on the occasion of SPS IPC Drives a new calibration system for torques of up to 100 kNm. Kistler's stand will also feature more milestones in electrical automation: the high-performance torque sensors in the KiTorq series (with real-time capability) and the world's first digital charge amplifier.
Sensors and systems from Kistler help with inspection and calibration of drives and tools; they are used to monitor and optimize individual production steps and to analyze and automate entire production processes. Now that the era of digitization has dawned, one of the major challenges facing engineers is to continue developing products such as piezoelectric sensors towards the goal of Industry 4.0, ensuring maximum connectivity for automated environments. With one overriding aim: to generate real added value for customers.
Motion control in real time with KiTorq
Kistler has yet again enhanced the potential of its high-performance sensors in the KiTorq series. A transmission rate of 4 kHz now makes the evaluation unit (stator) of this modular series four times as fast when the Profinet or EtherCat interface is used for the connection. For Profinet, this allows the use of IRT mode, enabling real-time communication for isynchronous motion control applications – for instance, this makes torque control possible on the test bench.
The new stator can be combined as desired with the various rotors in the KiTorq system such as KiTorq 4550A (presented at the SPS IPC Drives 2016), delivering measurements of torque, speed or rotation angle with exceptionally high resolution of up to 8192 pulses per rotation.
Calibration for big challenges: high-end testing system available as a service
The new calibration system at the Kistler Group's Lorch facility now offers an exceptional service for customers in the drive technology sector. This system has a usable measurement range of 1 to 100 kNm and is one of the very few plants in this performance class to hold accreditation from DAkkS, the German accreditation body. Thanks to the new system, designers of heavy-duty machinery, ship engines and wind power turbines as well as manufacturers of special-purpose machinery now have the option of intensive testing and optimization for their solutions. This new plant (which ensures traceability) marks another significant expansion of the Kistler Group's range of calibration services.
First in the world: the new digital charge amplifier
Kistler has achieved a breakthrough in industrial sensor technology with its new Type 5074A data acquisition unit. The charge amplifier Type 5074A is currently the only amplifier on the market for piezoelectric sensors with communication consistently based on Industrial Ethernet (IE). For the first time, plant and machinery manufacturers can now integrate any desired piezoelectric sensors directly into a real time-capable Ethernet system, so they can easily make settings on the measurement amplifier via the control.
