Festo’s digital configurators streamline design, product selection and commissioning for better, faster outcomes.

It’s never been easier to optimize motion control in an automation project. Festo has a deep lineup of proven digital configurators and selection tools that cover every aspect of a project from selecting the best solution through commissioning.

The premise behind Festo’s configurator strategy is that optimization begins at project conception and that use of these digital tools should begin at that point and provide benefits at every subsequent stage – even post-commissioning.

Every engineer starts out looking for a Goldilocks solution: an outcome that meets project specifications, with the shortest possible timeline at the smallest cost. Keeping the timeline and budget as tight as possible from the get-go helps bring all stakeholders on board.

That’s why these Festo configurators should be employed during the initial conceptual stage – for example, for developing a budget or quote or fleshing out a proposal for the corporate decision-makers. They can help produce a preliminary design or parts list in minutes, based on a few data points. The suggested components can be priced at Festo’s online store in minutes to fine-tune budget projections.

Two of these configurators figure prominently in electric automation. Both the Electric Motion Sizing tool for single-axis actuation and Handling Guide Online (HGO) for multi-axis 1D, 2D and 3D gantries and Cartesian robots generate a Bill of Materials that’s easily shareable for purchasing. When the hardware is delivered, they come with an electronic commissioning file that contains all of the product settings and parameterization information. For commissioning a Festo CMMT servo drive, that file can be loaded into the free, PC-based Festo Automation Suite commissioning software. Festo has ensured that the integration of the hardware with this downloadable software is seamless. Using that commissioning software will save an enormous amount of a controls engineer’s time. That documentation also provides spare parts information for maintenance and purchasing.

Electric Motion Sizing and the HGO help answer key design questions: How to move the load that you want in the amount of time to hit the cycle times, or hit rate or throughput requirements. Which Festo products will help accomplish that?

By presenting best available options, and in a manner the user can readily visualize, these and Festo configurators also can help guard against indulging in a common engineering practice of oversizing drives and motors. It’s human nature to leave oneself with a little extra breathing room, so as not to come up too short. That extra breathing room can be an unnecessary expense or enlargement of the footprint.

Using all Festo configurators is free with no obligation to purchase. And they’re not just for in-house engineering departments; staff at systems integrators and distributors use them as well.

Let’s take a couple of these configurators for a spin.

Electric Motion Sizing – Click here, pick Linear Movement and the type of movement or use case you want to try out. If you key in the application parameters you envision, the configurator generates the combination of electric drive and motor or servo drive, motor and mechanism that meets your requirements most economically. The design is based on mass, stroke/movement distance and cycle time. No special software required, and you can either order right off the tool or share the result with your Festo sales rep or authorized distributor – like Electrozad.

For multi-axis solutions, click here to try out the Handling Guide Online. The HGO excels at 1D, 2D linear and planar surface gantries, 3D gantries and cantilever systems. HGO invites you to pick a gantry type, and based on few data points you enter, gives you a suggested design with a downloadable CAD model and data sheet. The entire process can take as little as 15 minutes.

This multi-axis gantry design can be ordered separately or with the Festo Motion Control Package (FMCP). An HGO-generated solution with FMCP comes with control, motion and handling as an integrated package. FMCP is a control system that handles co-ordinated motion for up to 6 axes, providing a complete robotic solution with kinematics for Festo standard gantry systems. Cartesian motion applications can be configured and integrated quickly with function blocks or AOIs for various controller brands. An FMCP comprises servo drives with safety circuit, power supply, gateway to the fieldbus of your choice and circuit protection; all prewired, tested and certified to work on arrival at your facility along with your gantry.

These configurators are based on Festo standard electric automation products, some of which bear consideration in their own right for the innovations they have brought to the electric automation marketplace.

ELGD axis family: With innovative guide technology, high rigidity and guide load capacity, this new generation of spindle drive and tooth belt axes offers a greater load capacity than comparable older models but with a smaller footprint. Festo inlaid the bearings into the aluminum extrusion and extended bearings to the full width of the axis. While ELGD takes up less space, machine builders get an even more powerful axis that achieves excellent feed forces and acceleration profiles, with a long service life. ELGD axes are among the most rigid on the market. Attachments of up to 20 kg on the Y-axis are possible. ELGD may well costs less than using a larger actuator to move the equivalent load.

ELGD can enhance many applications, for example:

• Cantilever systems and pick-and-place solutions for small parts handling, where short cycle times, high precision, and repeatability are key
• Handling systems for top loaders, which benefit from the ELGD’s attractive price/performance ratio, high travel speed, and long stroke lengths
• Automation of 3D printing, additive manufacturing, dosing, gluing, and picking and placing are enhanced with ELGD’s dynamic, virtually vibration-free movement

The spindle axes offer a maximum stroke of up to 2.5m, the toothed belt axes a maximum up to 8.5 meters. The motor position can be selected as axial or parallel.

ELGD is truly state-of-the art, but like a lot of the latest Festo product innovations, it complements rather than displaces tried and true performers in the catalogue, expanding the range of options for designers. For example, EGC axes will continue to be considered for projects where the smaller footprint or enclosed bearing rails of the ELGD aren’t must-haves.

CMMT-AS Multi-protocol drives: CMMT servo drives are Festo’s primary offering for workhorse drives. Every CMMT now is configurable as EtherNet/IP, EtherCAT, PROFINET, and Modbus TCP. The required bus protocol can be selected directly on the drive or using the Festo Automation Suite software. Not having to stock different single protocol drives saves machine builders’ procurement expense. The Festo CMMT multi-protocol family includes CMMT-ST-MP compact DC servo drives rated up to 300 W, popular with machine builders that require a small, high quality, drive for stepper motors in particular. 

CMMT-AS-MP compact AC servo drives are rated up to 12 KW and pair optimally with EMMT-AS servo motors to create a complete, one-cable drive system. The drive can be commissioned with the Festo Automation Suite – in just a few minutes. Routing a single cable throughout your machine is much easier than routing two or three. Yet, not every manufacturer offers single cable connection. Festo also offers EMMT-AS with multi-turn encoders, which again, not all do. Multi-turn encoders are a remarkably useful thing to have because any time there is an interruption – when the machine is stopped, turned off for the night, or whatever – then restarted, the drive does not have to reference itself to a home position. The multi-turn encoder never loses that position information. It's always stored in the drive. So next time the machine is reset or powered up, there is hardly any wait time for everything to reference. That really makes a difference when there are a lot of axes on the machine, because it could take several minutes for all the axes to reference themselves while staff stands around twiddling their thumbs. These CMMT drive families are Festo’s platform for development. Very soon, we’re going to be adding advanced safety features for functional safety requirements.

Last but not least, The Simplified Motion Series (SMS) are simple, low-cost, easy to parametrize drives for performing very simple movement tasks between two mechanical end positions like repositioning, aligning, feeding, sorting, clamping, ejecting and stopping. Despite their simplicity, they still provide electric drive motion characteristics such as pre-defined speed, gently cushioned movement into end positions and selectable force for pressing or clamping functions. These actuators are excellent products to transition from compressed air to just electric power, which is what its designed to do. There is no need for additional software. The parameters for the advancing and retracting speed as well as the pressing and clamping force can be set directly on the drive, along with the end position reference and cushioning profile. The Simplified Motion Series has its own Solution Finder – check it out here – which will indicate the one that is right for your application. And this video provides an overview of the SMS family, its latest additions and enhancements.

Distributed or decentralized I/O networking, artificial intelligence… there are more elaborate ways to optimize motion control, with a lot more coming. Festo configurators can be used with any project, any size, simple or complex, at no cost, with measurable benefits and positive outcomes.