The development of modern drive control equipment such as general-purpose inverters and servo systems has also contributed to increased automation and energy savings in machinery and facilities. Together with an expanding range of application fields, the drive control units have realized higher functionality and performance, and smaller size and lower cost. Recent product development is advancing toward compliance with new requests for eliminating the use of harmful substances in accordance with the RoHS directive, supporting protection of the global environment through expanded green procurement, and in some select fields, for protecting against the corrosion of electronic components by sulfide gas exposure. This paper discusses the technical trends and Fuji Electric's product line-up of inverters and servo systems.

The performance and functionality of general-purpose inverters have increased dramatically, with their range of applications expanding from simple variable-speed drives to machine tools, and horizontal and vertical conveyors. Under these circumstances, the capability to support applications and facilities in a wider range than that possible with conventional general-purpose inverters is needed. In response to this need, Fuji Electric has commercialized the FRENIC-MEGA series as its top-of-the-line general-purpose inverter series featuring vastly improved control performance, equipment adaptability, and environmental suitability. This paper introduces the features of the FRENICMEGA series.

The use of inverters in fan pump applications significantly increases energy efficiency, and general-purpose inverters have been used in these types of applications for many years. However, in heat source systems, one such application, an external controller was typically used to control temperature, pressure and flow rate. For these heat source systems, Fuji Electric has developed the FRENIC-Eco Plus series of inverters which are equipped with an optimal HSAC function. Features of this series are described in this paper.

Recently, in the elevator industry, gearless elevators that use permanent magnet synchronous motors having been adopted throughout the world, and higher performance through the use of inverters is being requested. Also, in Europe, some older-type elevators are being converted for use with inverters and operation without the use of speed sensors is being requested in some cases. The FRENIC-Lift series of inverters for elevators is equipped with functions to satisfy these requests. This paper discusses the expanding range of applications of the FRENIC-Lift series and describes examples thereof.

As the range of applications for inverters expands, factors that improving environmental compatibility, such as reducing harmonics in the power source, reducing loss, the power source regeneration of braking energy, and so on are of increasing importance. Unlike conventional inverters which first convert an input AC voltage to a DC voltage, Fuji Electric's newly developed FRENIC-Mx series of matrix converters enable an output AC voltage of arbitrary frequency and magnitude to be generated from the input AC voltage directly. In addition, this series features to provide regenerating function of electric energy arising from motor to the system, and to generate few harmonics in input current. This paper describes the difference between these features of the FRENIC-Mx series and those of conventional inverters, and provides examples of operational performance.

General-purpose inverters are becoming increasingly multifunctional and having higher performance, and their range of applications is continuing to expand. This paper discusses the unique overload stop function built-into the FRENIC-Multi series. In particular, with the contact-stopping feature of the newly equipped overload stop function, when an overload is detected, the motor speed is decreased while maintaining motor torque, and then, after the speed has slowed, the contact-stopping torque (pressing force) can be obtained. The operating principles, responsiveness and stability of this function, and a comparison with the features of conventional inverters are described in detail, and specific application examples that utilize this function are also presented.

With the widespread usage of inverters for electric motor driving, there are increasing opportunities to use inverters in corrosive gas environments, and there is particular demand for measures to be implemented to protect inverters from sulfide gas. In response to this demand, we have formulated a specification for inverters to increase their serviceable life when in an environment of sulfide gas. In this paper we verify the capability of previous inverters to withstand sulfide gas, identify the areas which require countermeasures, describe the method for estimating inverter service life, and describe the formulated countermeasure specification.

In response to needs in the servo system market for enhanced performance and ease-of-use, Fuji Electric has newly developed and commercialized the ALPHA5 series of high performance servo systems. This series realizes improved basic performance with a highly responsive 1,500 Hz frequency characteristic and higher precision through using a 20-bit encoder, and is also equipped with an auto notch filter, a new vibration suppressing control and other functions to achieve shorter start-up and adjusting times. This series was developed with a focus on smaller size, longer-life design, and enhanced ease-of-use with a USB interface-compatible PC loader. This paper provides an overview of these features and specifications.

Fuji Electric's motion control systems are characterized by not requiring dedicated modules, but through supporting the replacement of installed motion software and allowing flexible software customization, can be applied to a wide variety of machines. These features have a synergistic effect when combined with the high performance and high precision of the new ALPHA5 series of servo systems, and contribute to dramatically improved machine performance. This paper discusses the applied technology and describes recent application examples.

Automation systems consist of many types of products, including programmable controllers (PLCs) programmable operation displays (PODs), inverters, servo systems, and the like. Owing to advances in network connections and improved performance, these types of products are increasingly being applied to large-scale distributed systems and to different fields than in the past. Meanwhile, higher reliability and development efficiency, multi-functionality and lower cost are also being required.

The MICREX-SX series of integrated controllers support redundancy functions to improve safety and reliability, and were developed to provide guaranteed safety and reliability at a reduced cost.
This paper describes the SPH2000 series of CPU modules that support redundancy functions in the MICREX-SX series and that feature dramatically improved monitoring control and data acquisition functions. The redundancy of the SPH2000 series is characterized by high-speed, high-capacity data equalization enabled by the application of Ethernet technology.

Applications of programmable controllers (PLCs) have expanded to a broader range of fields in recent years due to the adoption of open standards, multi-functionality and the like, and there is no end to the market demands on PLCs. Positioned as a "global system component," the MICREX-SX series of integrated controllers has responded precisely to these market demands since being introduced to the market. This paper describes a board controller that applies the MICREX-SX series technology.

Due to the rapid development of communication technology, control and maintenance in production systems are typically implemented via a network. The need for improved remote operations, such as production instructions to the production site and for performance monitoring from the production control section, is increasing daily. As a solution, the MICREX-SX series is equipped with a "transparent communication" function that enables information to be sent transparently from an upper-level PC for production control, via a PLC connected by an Ethernet or the like, to an intelligent equipment connected to a lower-level network. This paper describes the enhancement of remote support enabled by the transparent communication function.

Programmable controllers (PLCs) and programmable operation displays (PODs) are used in general industrial machines, but individual control programs for each machine and individual processing programs for machine operation are required to be developed and installed in the relevant PLCs and PODs respectively. This paper describes "Simple NC" packages which integrate control programs for the MICREX-SX series integrated controllers and edit function of processing programs for PODs.

In recent years, the functions and performance of general-purpose control components such as programmable controllers (PLCs), programmable operation displays (PODs) and the like have improved dramatically, and PLCs and PODs are being used in an expanding range of applications, even including water treatment, iron and steel, chemical, pharmaceutical and food industry applications in the instrumentation control field where distributed control systems (DCSs) had been used previously. This paper introduces the SX Simple Instrumentation System that dramatically boosts the efficiency of engineering work for using PLCs and PODs in instrumentation control systems.

With the MICREX-SX series of integrated controllers, innovative hardware modules are provided for configuring optimal control systems. Aiming to enhance the SPH300 series of CPU modules, the SPH300EX series ensures the large-scale I/O capacity required by multi-axial motion machines and is equipped with two systems each of an execution engine and SX bus for implementing control synchronously at high-speed. This paper introduces the high-performance SPH300EX which features dramatically increased processing capability.

Programmable operation displays (PODs) are core components in the field of factory automation, fulfilling a role that increases in importance with each year, and the market for PODs is steadily increasing. Under these circumstances, and with the higher functionality and sophistication of machines and systems, user needs for PODs are becoming more diverse and refined. Additionally, shorter development times are being requested and there is a focus on improving ease-of-use and convenience. This paper introduces Fuji Electric's novel UG40 series of PODs, which have been newly developed in response to these new user requirements.