Development and manufacturing of fully integrated, ultra-compact servo drives with Ethernet and EtherCAT connectivity
Henschel Robotics GmbH
Winterthur (CH)New on Amplifa
About us
Henschel Robotics GmbH is a Swiss engineering company headquartered in Winterthur. The company develops and manufactures ultra-compact, fully integrated servo drives of the HDrive brand, which combine motor, power electronics, encoder and controller in a single housing and operate without a separate control cabinet. Two product lines cover different application areas: HDrive17-ETH for developers, laboratories and PC-based control via standard Ethernet (Python, C#, C++, Java, Matlab), as well as HDrive17-ETC and HDrive23-ETC for EtherCAT-based PLC automation according to CiA 402. The proprietary firmware uses field-oriented control (FOC) with torque ripple compensation and achieves a positioning accuracy of ±0.1°. Product development is supported by applied research in collaboration with ZHAW and Innosuisse. Customers come from optics & photonics, medical technology, industrial automation, research, textile & manufacturing and robotics.
- Site
- Winterthur
- Processes
- Field weakening research project for stepper motors (>3000 RPM in the laboratory, not shipped), Development and manufacturing of fully integrated servo drives (HDrive), Firmware development (FOC, torque ripple compensation), Python/C#/C++/Java/Matlab integration and sample code, Web server-based commissioning and monitoring, ESI files and support for EtherCAT/CiA 402
- Materials
- Field-oriented control, Standard Ethernet (TCP/UDP/HTTP), EtherCAT / CiA 402, Firmware update via FoE
- Certificates
- CE (EMC/EMI and safety testing), CE (EMC/EMI and safety, tested at Eurofins)
- Founded
- 2015
- Industries
- Optics & Photonics, Medical Technology, Industrial Automation, Research & Prototyping, Textile & Manufacturing, Robotics
- 01
Firmware and control engineering development (FOC)
- 02
Electronics and product development
- 03
Manufacturing and assembly of the drives
- 04
Testing (EMC/EMI and safety)
- 05
Support with ESI files, sample code and documentation
Technology & Control
Field-oriented control
Closed-loop field-oriented control with torque ripple compensation for position, speed and torque operation with ±0.1° accuracy.
Standard Ethernet (TCP/UDP/HTTP)
Connection of HDrive17-ETH from Python, C#, C++, Java or Matlab without a PLC, with integrated web server for commissioning and monitoring.
EtherCAT / CiA 402
Industrial connection of the HDrive-ETC family to PLC masters such as TwinCAT or Codesys with a typical cycle time of 1 ms (min. 50 µs).
Firmware update via FoE
Bootstrap firmware updates of the EtherCAT drives over the EtherCAT network.
Locations
Winterthur
CHDevelopment and manufacturing (headquarters)
- HDrive17-ETH (42×42×88 mm, 0.6 Nm, ~700 RPM)
- HDrive17-ETC (42×42×88 mm, 0.6 Nm, ~2200 RPM at 48 V)
- HDrive23-ETC (56×56×120 mm, 2.2 Nm, ~1500 RPM at 48 V)
Products
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Engineering | ±0.1° | – | – | – | – |
| Field weakening research project for stepper motors (>3000 RPM in the laboratory, not shipped)Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
3 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Integrated Ethernet servo drive NEMA17 | Henschel Robotics HDrive17-ETH | – | – | – | Winterthur |
| Integrated EtherCAT servo drive NEMA17 (CiA 402) | Henschel Robotics HDrive17-ETC | – | – | – | Winterthur |
| Integrated EtherCAT servo drive NEMA23 (CiA 402) | Henschel Robotics HDrive23-ETC | – | 56 × 56 × 120 mm, holding torque 2.2 Nm, ~1500 RPM (48 V), Vs 12-24 V / Vp 12-48 V, 2.0 A / ~70 W | – | Winterthur |
Additional services
Quality
The HDrive drives were tested as CE-compliant in 2017 following EMC/EMI and safety tests at Eurofins. All models operate with a magnetic 14-bit absolute encoder and ±0.1° accuracy at protection rating IP40.
| Evidence | Winterthur |
|---|---|
| CE (EMC/EMI and safety, tested at Eurofins) |
History
- 2013
Idea for the first WiFi stepper motor drive as part of the EU project AVERT
- 2014
Venture Kick Stage 1 completed
- 2015
Foundation of Henschel Robotics GmbH in Winterthur; joint trade fair booth with ams at the Hannover Messe
- 2016
Swiss Robotics Industry Day Lausanne; Kickstarter campaign (goal not reached)
- 2017
CE conformity after EMC/EMI and safety tests at Eurofins
- 2018
Swiss Robotics Industry Day Lausanne; Maker Day Winterthur
- 2019
Market launch of HDrive17-ETH-i (first series of 250 units); ZHAW bachelor thesis on torque ripple compensation
- 2021
New power stage for NEMA23/NEMA24 drives
- 2023
EtherCAT product family announced
- 2025
Innosuisse research project field weakening completed (>3000 RPM in the laboratory)