The Σ-7 series of AC servo drives was further enhanced with the inclusion in the lineup of the Σ-7F model integrated servo motor. This product has a built-in amplifier and was the world’s first such motor to include a Gallium Nitride (GaN) power semiconductor. In addition to achieving miniaturization and reduced wiring of control panels, it is also possible to reduce the device footprint, so it can achieve further size reduction and efficiency improvement on servo systems.

The Σ-7mini model (SGM7M model) was added to the Σ-7 series AC servo motor lineup.

This model uses reflection-type encoder technology and optimized electromagnetic part design to achieve the high precision and increased output that is being increasingly required in the market for electronic component manufacturing equipment.

There have been great changes in the environment surrounding the manufacturing sector in recent years, including with the reinforcement of energy efficiency regulations around the world for motors. There has also been increased interest in the enhancement of productivity through the use of the IoT (Internet of Things), as in Industrie 4.0.

Working with the concepts of being “flexible,” “easy,” and “sustainable,” we previously renewed our conventional AC drive series for general industrial with the release of the AC drive GA700. We have now also launched the AC drive CR700 for crane applications as the second part of the series. This product boasts functions developed specifically for crane applications, such as braking sequences, slope prevention and load swinging suppression, which we have developed during 30 years of experience developing AC drives for cranes.

(1) At the System Control Fair 2017 (November 29 to December 1, 2017, Tokyo Big Sight), Yaskawa attended with the theme of “i³-Mechatronics (i cube mechatronics) for smart factories” with exhibits that included a demonstration machine for BTO (Built to Order) production using the example of a smartphone assembly line. There were also exhibits of the YASKAWA Cockpit service that proposes functions such as the IoT and failure prediction, the next generation motion field network MECHATROLINK-4, the Σ-7 series application specific model Σ-7FT, GA700, CR700, Σ-7 series AC servo motors with batteryless encoders and hollow servo motors. Many visitors showed their interest in the Yaskawa initiatives for the IoT and Industrie 4.0 and the keyword of i³-Mechatronics.

(2) In the 2017 “Cho-Monodzukuri” awards for components, the “AC servo drive Σ-7C model” received the award for mechanical components and the “AC drive GA700 for next-generation general industrial” received the award for environment related components.

Yaskawa robot development was previously all conducted in Japan, but development organizations have now also been established in locations such as America, China, and Europe, to make it possible to respond rapidly to the requirements of customers in the various areas. This improves the ability of Yaskawa to respond as a robot manufacturer and raises the competitiveness of the company in the market.

For production too, in order to be able to respond to the increased demand in the market, Yaskawa has decided to increase its facilities in China with a third plant in Changzhou city, Jiangsu province. Furthermore, in Europe, the Yaskawa Europe Robotics plant was established in Slovenia. Preparations at these two sites are currently in progress with the aim of starting production during FY2018.

New products launched included the MOTOMAN-HC10DT collaborative robot, which is attracting attention as a new robot application, and the YRC1000micro compact robot controller that supports the MotoMINI, the smallest and lightest robot in the industry.

Furthermore, a full series lineup from small to large sizes was completed with the launch of a series of medium and large-sized robots which are compatible with the YRC1000 robot controller that was released in 2016.

In addition, other products released included the MOTOMAN-SP180H and –SP225H hollow spot welding robots that can be used for high pressure spot welding for materials other than steel, such as for the move to EV automobiles, and also the MOTOMAN-MPX1950 compact painting robot.

At the International Robot Exhibition 2017 (November 29 to December 2, 2017, Tokyo Big Sight), Yaskawa attended with the theme of “i³-Mechatronics (i cube mechatronics) for smart factories” with exhibits that proposed advanced manufacturing solutions. These included an integrated robot control system that uses the latest controller and ICT technology and a collaborative robot system that supports production which has varying processes.

Many visitors showed their interest in the exhibits of the latest technology to improve the flexibility of the manufacturing workplace and to the large range of example applications to meet the various requirements.

For waterworks, based on the “New Water Supply Vision” established in March 2013 and the “New Sewerage Vision 2100” established in July 2014, there are demands for a reorganization into more efficient and more effective facilities, more sophisticated monitoring and control systems and new functions and roles for sewer systems.

Yaskawa has contributed to this policy by performing work on emergency power generation systems, work on pumping station electrical equipment that contributes to the removal of rainwater and the renewal of electrical equipment and central monitoring equipment for waterworks and sewage facilities.

Furthermore, in addition to promoting the development of water treatment technology, Yaskawa has also utilized the engineering strength it has built up so far to perform safe and secure facility renewals for the waterworks and sewage facilities at the core of social infrastructure and also to build and supply new systems.

In the wind power market, there has been an expansion in the installation of off-shore wind turbines, particularly in Europe, and there has been a trend towards the use of increasingly large turbines in order to lower the generating cost. In response to this demand, Yaskawa developed an 8 MW class permanent magnet type generator in 2014 and has worked to construct a system for mass production and to reduce costs. As a result of this response to the requirements in expanding demand, orders were received for 93 units in the single year of 2017.

Furthermore, for the drives for marine vessels that are being developed as one part of the measures for energy utilization, it is expected that there will be a move to the use of electric motors on propulsion systems in response to the IMO (International Marine Organization) regulations on sulfur oxide (SO_x) emissions that will come into effect from 2020. In response to this situation, Yaskawa has developed a highly efficient DC bus line system and received an order for the first unit. This DC bus line system uses a semiconductor high-speed DC circuit breaker and reliably protects the healthy equipment to achieve the reliability peculiar to marine vessels.

Yaskawa attended the 44^th International Home Care & Rehabilitation Exhibition H.C.R. 2017 (September 27 to 29, 2017, Tokyo Big Sight), and introduced our Humatronics business initiatives in the medical care and welfare sector, as stated in Yaskawa’s Vision 2025. This exhibition is the largest exhibition of welfare equipment in Asia, with more than 120,000 participants. The large number of customers showed their interest in CoCoroe.

The products shown at the exhibition included the CoCoroe AR² arm rehabilitation robot that supports repetitive facilitative exercise, which was launched in September 2017, and the ReWalk walking assist equipment for persons with spinal cord injuries, which is already on sale. Products that are planned to launch were also displayed; an ankle device that assists in walking rehabilitation, a transfer assist device that aims to reduce the burden on carers and a walking assist device that supports walking.

Demonstrations were given of each device. The medical care and welfare related personnel also used the devices so that they could understand the merits and functions of the products.

During the exhibition, awareness of the Yaskawa CoCoroe brand of nursing care and rehabilitation products was spread among a large number of hospital and facility related users and sales agencies. At the same time, useful information for product improvement and new product development was also collected by asking visitors about the methods of usage and requirements at their facilities.

The “teaching by demonstration” function was displayed at the Robot Industry Matching Fair in Kitakyushu 2017 (June 21 to 23, 2017, West Japan General Exhibition Center). This function is to teach movement directly to the robot by human demonstration. This can be used in order to promote the use of robots for complex contact tasks that require proficiency, such as polishing.

Full polishing examples were demonstrated. It was easy to teach contact work that is difficult to using a programming pendant. There was a great deal of interest from the visitors and requests from polishing workplaces were also received. By performing continued of actual tasks, function brush-up, improvement of task quality and convenience are targeted.

The “Development of integrated servo motor” by Yaskawa was awarded the 65^th Electrical Science and Engineering Promotion Award by the Promotion Foundation for Electrical Science and Engineering as a recognition of its contribution to electrical science and engineering and to progress in industrial development.

The development of a gallium nitride (GaN) power semiconductor drive circuit technology, vibration resistance and high heat dissipation structure technology made it possible to achieve a reduction to half of the volume whilst retaining the conventional servo amplifier functions and performance.

By integrating the servo motor and servo amplifier functions into a single unit, it can contribute to the reduction of the overall manufacturing equipment size and the reduction of wiring expenses.

In order to develop the power conversion equipment using Gallium Nitride (GaN) or Silicon Carbide (SiC) power devices, Yaskawa is currently working on the development of GaN/SiC power device drive circuits and related peripheral technologies for those power devices. In this regard, GaN power devices were used in the servo amplifier, and “Integrated Servo motor” was developed by integrating the servo motor and servo amplifier functions into a single unit. This integrated servo motor received the 65^th Electrical Science and Engineering Promotion Award as a recognition of the novel technologies, that results in the miniaturization of the manufacturing equipment size and the reduction of wiring expenses due to wire-saving.

This article describes servo drive systems using the integrated servo motor and the application effects of a GaN power device to the servo amplifier part.

With conventional AC drives, it was necessary to select a dedicated control method to fit the type of motor, so there was a problem that there were different setting parameters and adjustment methods and their setup was complicated.

In this development, EZ open loop vector control was developed that can drive induction motors, permanent magnet type synchronous motors and synchronous reluctance motors with just one control method. The EZ open loop vector control makes the adjustment and parameter management easier and can reduce the time required for setups. Furthermore, it is possible to minimize the current during the actual operation, so it achieves even greater energy saving than the conventional control methods.

The EZ open loop vector control received the 65^th Electrical Science and Engineering Promotion Award as a recognition of the novel technologies. This article describes the principles and merits of the EZ open loop vector control and its effects in comparison with the conventional control methods.

In the biomedical sector of drug discovery, drug production, and clinical examinations, dual arm biomedical robot systems have been developed for robots to support or replace repetitive and dangerous work. In order to use robots in the biomedical sector, it becomes necessary to perform complex teaching work such as for the handling of apparatus and equipment. However, researchers in the biomedical sector are unfamiliar with the operation of robots, so this was a barrier to robot installation.

In response to this, the burden of the work to teach biomedical robot systems was reduced with the “ProtocolMaker” software to simplify robot teaching and by having a function (the Path Planning function) to automatically generate the robot motion trajectory to avoid interference.

This development received the “22^nd Technical Innovations Award” from the Robotics Society of Japan as a recognition of the practicability and novel technologies. This article describes the configuration of biomedical robot systems and the function to reduce the teaching workload, previous results in the application to bio experiments and the future outlook for the technology.