Siemens has introduced an extra-low-voltage drive package for battery-powered industrial vehicles, pairing its Sinamics E210 converter with Simotics E-1EE1 servomotors. The system is designed for 24V and 48V automated guided vehicles, autonomous mobile robots and other driverless transport equipment. It combines motion control, network communication and functional safety capabilities in a coordinated set of components for vehicle manufacturers and system integrators.
The Sinamics E210 is a compact, regenerative converter intended to control traction and wheel drives as well as steering, lifting and auxiliary axes. Its ability to connect directly to a vehicle’s extra-low-voltage battery supply can remove an intermediate power conversion stage from suitable designs. The system must still be engineered around the battery’s voltage range, the motor load and the demands of each movement axis, but the direct electrical interface offers a simpler architecture than one that requires a separate converter between storage and drive electronics.
A mobile robot’s drive system has to manage several operating conditions that are different from a fixed industrial conveyor. The traction motor accelerates the vehicle, maintains speed under varying payloads and decelerates within the limits of available grip and the motion controller. Steering and lifting axes may have separate response requirements, while short peak loads can exceed the continuous power needed on a level route. Converter overload capability and motor sizing therefore have to be considered for the vehicle’s full duty cycle rather than for its nominal travel speed alone.
Regenerative operation can return electrical energy from a decelerating motor to the vehicle’s DC supply where the battery management system can accept charging current. How much energy is recoverable varies with stop-start frequency, speed, load and the state of charge of the battery. Braking and electrical protection also have to be coordinated so that deceleration remains controlled when regeneration is limited, including when the battery is near its charge limit. Siemens has not provided a quantified energy saving for the drive package.
The new Simotics E-1EE1 servomotors are offered for extra-low-voltage systems in shaft heights from 40 to 63. Siemens positions them as a matched option for the E210 converter and for mobile applications requiring higher power and torque than some smaller drive configurations. Optional holding brakes, gearbox choices and alternative connection arrangements give developers scope to adapt the mechanical assembly to the available installation space and the machine’s required movement characteristics.
An absolute 14-bit BiSS-C safety encoder supplies motor position feedback, supported by an internal dual-channel design. Siemens specifies support for safety-related applications up to Safety Integrity Level 2. Achieving a defined safety integrity level for a complete AGV or AMR also depends on the control architecture, diagnostics, wiring and verification against the machine risk assessment. The converter’s PROFIsafe interface can form part of that safety system where the design requires networked safety functions.
The electrical and control interfaces are designed to fit industrial automation systems. The converter supports PROFINET IRT communications and PROFIsafe, while engineering integration is available through Siemens’ TIA Portal and Simove modular system. Deterministic communication is important when multiple axes must follow coordinated commands, particularly where traction, steering and material handling functions operate as parts of the same vehicle. Safety-related communication also needs to be implemented with the machine’s established control and emergency-response strategy.
The electronic nameplate allows the Sinamics converter to read the motor’s relevant data automatically during commissioning. This can reduce manual entry and the potential for a mismatch between the selected motor and its drive settings. Acceleration profiles, gear ratios, load limits and permitted speeds remain vehicle-specific configuration tasks because they depend on machine geometry, payload and operating environment.
Industrial vehicles often have little spare installation space once batteries, wheel modules, guidance sensors, control cabinets and the load-handling assembly have been accommodated. Converters and motors that can be integrated into a common architecture may simplify cable routing and service access, provided the arrangement also meets thermal and ingress-protection requirements. Heat generated by motors and power electronics still has to be removed under sustained load, and electrical protection must match the vehicle’s duty and operating environment.
Automated material-handling vehicles range from AGVs running established routes to AMRs that adapt their travel paths around obstacles. Both need reliable wheel and auxiliary-axis control, although navigation and supervisory software vary by machine architecture. Siemens’ package supplies drive and automation functions that can be integrated with those higher-level systems. Traction, steering and lift axes may still require different gearing and thermal duty cycles even when they share the same communication and engineering environment.
With the converter, motor feedback, automation interface and safety communications specified together, machine builders can work from a coordinated architecture when designing wheel modules and auxiliary drives. Mechanical interfaces, drive sizing and thermal limits still require engineering for each vehicle. Siemens positions the E210 and E-1EE1 as components for 24V and 48V battery platforms, with final motion and safety performance established during machine integration and commissioning.
