7 Compelling Reasons to

Design using Actuators

with Integrated Servo Drives
Harmonic Drive® Actuators with Integrated Servo Drive Technology (IDT) simplifies cable management, control hardware
and commissioning while achieving outstanding performance in a compact size. These actuators enable engineers to choose
a proven solution to create slim designs while mitigating concerns of cable failures, large control boxes and selection of servo
drives that require installation and commissioning. Harmonic Drive® IDT actuators are available in eight different sizes and
configurations from size 5 with 1.4 Nm to size 32 with 477 Nm of torque. EtherCAT® will also be available soon!

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Simplified Cable Management
• Conventional systems with connections to external servo
drives consist of a motor power cable and a feedback cable
from each actuator, typically with large diameters, causing
5 Easy Commissioning
• Typical servo drives require motor parameters and feedback
settings to be entered before enabling and tuning the servo
• Harmonic Drive® IDT actuators are factory configured with
difficulty in routing to the servo drive in the control box the appropriate settings
• A six-axis robot would require 6 power cables and 6 feed- • Plug and play operation – once connected to the CAN bus,
back cables to connect to 6 servo drives with up to the actuator is recognized and ready to operate
90 connections • Little to no servo tuning is typically required
• Multiple Harmonic Drive® IDT actuators connect to a com- • HDL-IDE software allows for additional tuning and frequen-
mon bus with only a single cable of 4 conductors (+VDC, cy response analysis with Bode Plots and Step Response
0VDC, CANH, and CANL) features

2 6
Simple Control Hardware Exceptional Functionality and Performance
• External servo drives require a large control box with proper • Zero Backlash Harmonic Drive® gearing provides exceptional
spacing between each servo drive accuracy and torque density
• Harmonic Drive® IDT actuators do not require external servo • Robust output bearing can support large loads
drives, enabling small control boxes • CANopen® communication certified to CiA DS402 and
• IDT actuators also enable simple scalability when adding an DS301 with up to 127 nodes on a single bus
actuator to the system – no need to increase the size of the • Dual absolute encoders for FHA-Mini and SHA provides
control box position data within one revolution of the output without

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the need for a battery
• I/O option for 2 Digital Inputs and 2 programmable Analog/
Ideal Solution for Mobile Robots
Digital Inputs or Outputs for CANopen addressable remote I/O
• Harmonic Drive® IDT are especially beneficial for auto- • Modes of operation – Position, Velocity, Torque (CST), CSP,
nomous systems like AGVs that operate with batteries CSV
• Battery life is improved with an overall system weight

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reduction
• Space is conserved as no external servo drives are Very Economical
required • Conventional systems include costs for motor power

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and feedback cables as well as external servo drives
Compact Actuator Design • It is time consuming to evaluate a path to pass cables
through the system and make up to 15 connections per
• Typical integrated actuators or motors include large
actuator
housings added radially or axially to include the servo drive
• Harmonic Drive® IDT actuators simplify cable routing and
• Harmonic Drive® IDT actuators have maintained the overall
only requires connecting 4 conductors to the control box
size and shape of the same actuators without servo drives
for the entire system, saving substantial installation time
for most with a maximum axial length increase of only 3mm
• There is a considerable cost savings compared to a
• SHA IDT actuators have a large hollow shaft to pass cables
conventional system with only a single cable necessary
through
and servo drives already included in the actuator

Call to learn more 800.921.3332 or visit us at HarmonicDrive.net