One of the trends in industrial motion control right now is a move away from the need for a cabinet. Those air conditioned boxes your servos live in take up space, and space can be costly. Reducing the footprint of your motion control system can be desirable.
Doing away with air conditioning can be a cost-cutting measure, too. We often see cabinets propped open with a fan trying to take the place of air conditioning, so we know that this is an appealing idea.
The catch is, you can’t just decide to quit using a cabinet. This isn’t like a decorating trend you can opt into. Some motion control systems are designed not to require a cabinet. The IndraDrive Mi from 2007, for example, has a motor casing that acts as a heat sink. It’s designed not to require an air-conditioned cabinet.
The trend in the newest motion control is to create electronics that don’t require an enclosure cabinet at all. But these units are designed with that in mind. not only are they prepared to deal with heat, they’re also designed to be safe from dirt, dust, mice, insects, and all the other stuff that can turn up in a factory. Unless you’re talking about a sterile environment, the cabinet was expected to protect the components from dust and debris as well as maintaining a controlled temperature and humidity.
The cabinets are also protecting the workers. Exposed electronics can produce safety hazards. Again, components which are designed to function well without cabinet enclosures are built with safety in mind.
So unless your electronic components were designed not to require enclosure, keep them in their cabinet. They need that controlled environment, and they’ll thank you for it by working longer without giving you trouble.
If they do give you trouble, though, just give us a call.