Modern Electrical Drives: Design and Future Trends

Electrical drives efficiently convert electrical power into mechanical power. As factory automation, comfortable lifestyle and energy conservation are growing businesses, the number of drives produced worldwide keeps growing. The increased use of information technology (computers, digital control) and communication systems not only has created new markets for drives, e.g. disc drives but also enforces more electrical drives to be used in systems as actuators and mechatronic systems. In this paper, the author reviews the present state of development of drive technology and probes into future application and technology trends.