Thomson Industries, Inc., a leading manufacturer of linear motion control solutions, announced that its Electrak® MD actuators are now rated at 48V. The availability of 48V actuators capable of handling loads up to 2 kN (approximately 450 lbs.) allows battery-powered system designers to achieve energy efficiency, cable management and control features that would otherwise require larger, more expensive actuators.
“As vehicles add more electrical capabilities and axes of motion, it becomes more prudent to use higher voltage batteries to drive actuators. Upgrading Electrak MD actuators to 48 volts reduces power consumption to half that of 24-volt actuators and a quarter of that of 12-volt actuators, opening new doors for value-added innovation in mobile systems,” said Anders Karlsson, senior product manager, linear actuators, Thomson.
New voltage standards
Battery technology has improved significantly in terms of both performance and density. 48V batteries are now the standard in material handling and agricultural applications. By delivering comparable load handling with significantly lower power consumption, designers can take advantage of the following benefits:
- Improved energy efficiency reduces costs and reduces heat generation.
- Thinner cables reduce cabling costs and simplify cable management.
- Use over longer distances reduces voltage drop by up to 10 times
- More efficient integration of intelligent features such as CANopen®, SAE J1939 and position feedback improves controllability.
Advanced applications
Electrak MD 48V actuators enable advanced motion control wherever 48V batteries are used. This is particularly valuable today in logistics and material handling applications such as operator-controlled and autonomous forklifts and AGVs.
Agricultural machinery is also an application area. For example, actuators in modern tractors’ electric power take-off (ePTO) drives help transfer power from the tractor to other on-board equipment, and their low power requirements improve the efficiency of the entire system. Similarly, low power requirements can improve the efficiency of automated harvesting systems.
The perfect solution
The availability of the Electrak MD 48V completes Thomson’s power options. Designers now have more flexibility to combine 12V, 24V and 48V actuators to move loads up to 25kN without having to configure subsystems such as DC-DC converters.
“Even if you’re doing automation with 6 or 7 axes that draw about 5 amps each, you might have to consider 100 amps for the inrush current of the motors, leaving little room in the actuators for additional features such as adjustments and interlocks. “With the Electrak MD 48 V, we can make everything fit without having to reconfigure the system more extensively than necessary,” says Karlsson.