The centralised default
Conventional installations put every drive in one cabinet and run motor cable out to each machine. The cabinet needs floor space, cooling and, on a long line, a great deal of screened cable.
What changes when the drive moves
FD500 is installed next to the motor, with the control unit and the power unit coordinating over the communication network. Wiring becomes simple and local, maintenance happens at the machine, and the long screened run between cabinet and motor disappears.
EMI follows cable length
A PWM output on a long motor cable is an efficient antenna, and it is the usual source of drive-related interference on a plant. Shortening the run is the most direct fix there is; FD500 states low electromagnetic interference as a design result of the distributed topology.
The protection rating this demands
A drive on the machine has no cabinet around it. FD500 is IP65, and covers 220 V ±15% at 0.75–1.5 kW and 380 V ±15% at 0.75–5.5 kW.
Keeping one control view
Decentralising the hardware should not decentralise the control. FD500 supports ModbusRTU, CanLink, PROFINET, PROFIBUS-DP and ASI, so the line still presents as one system to the PLC.
