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Contact UsEnergy-efficient Robots – feeding robot braking energy back into the power grid
Energy savings and energy efficiency are currently on everyone’s agenda. EGS Automation, an AMETEK brand, partners with Yaskawa, whose robots provide maximum support for this requirement. These robots are able to regeneratively feed kinetic energy back into the power grid during braking instead of converting it into waste heat in a braking resistor. According to Yaskawa, this is a unique selling point on the market. The feature comes standard with the current YRC1000 controller generation and has an effect on larger robots from the GP50 upwards.
To begin with, note that here are numerous acceleration and braking processes in every robot motion cycle. Roughly speaking, one can say that the shorter the target cycle time, the steeper the acceleration and deceleration ramps and the higher the energy that is used. During braking (deceleration), the motors of the individual axes switch to regenerative mode and feed power back into the system. This can either be used for other axes of the robot that are still working in motor mode or fed back into the grid.
The manufacturer describes the situation as follows:
“In executing their wide range of tasks, such as handling, palletising, joining and processing, industrial robots also perform many downward and sideways movements during which the servomotors can dissipate energy and potentially generate electricity. In older or other robot models on the market, the resulting energy has until now been converted into waste heat by electrical resistors in the control system and released unused into the environment.”
To begin with, note that here are numerous acceleration and braking processes in every robot motion cycle. Roughly speaking, one can say that the shorter the target cycle time, the steeper the acceleration and deceleration ramps and the higher the energy that is used. During braking (deceleration), the motors of the individual axes switch to regenerative mode and feed power back into the system. This can either be used for other axes of the robot that are still working in motor mode or fed back into the grid.
The manufacturer describes the situation as follows:
“In executing their wide range of tasks, such as handling, palletising, joining and processing, industrial robots also perform many downward and sideways movements during which the servomotors can dissipate energy and potentially generate electricity. In older or other robot models on the market, the resulting energy has until now been converted into waste heat by electrical resistors in the control system and released unused into the environment.”
With regard to the scale of the potential savings, Yaskawa provides the following information:
“With the Yaskawa solution, the electrical energy is fed back into the operator network and utilized further, even without additional hardware. The extent of the savings in individual cases naturally depends largely on the task and the individual movement pattern of the robot. Savings will range from 8 % to 25 %. This can result in annual feed-ins of around 2,800 KWh, 1,600 kg of CO2 and €1,200 per year.”
We are pleased to be able to make another important contribution to cost savings and CO2 avoidance for our customers in this way, in addition to the other measures we have already taken to optimise the energy efficiency of our systems.