Kevin Drown, senior application engineer, ABB: A decentralized drive places power and control electronics directly at or near the motor. This reduces the length of motor cable runs, as well as the opportunity to eliminate the use of output filters such as load reactors or dV/dt filters. With short length output cable runs, a decentralized drive will have less common mode noise as compared to long cable lengths.

When considering decentralizing a drive, identify what type of environment the decentralized drive would be placed in. This is typically near the machine, which could be dusty and at high ambient temperatures. Also, it could be placed in remote locations, such as agriculture applications, in a field or similarly in an oil field. In these instances, it is important to determine if the cabinet construction or enclosure used can protect and cool the drive in this environment.

With a centralized drives system, the drives would all be in a climate-controlled room ensuring proper cooling and humidity in a clean space. This method could have extensive motor‑cable routing, resulting in higher installation effort and operating costs.

Servo motors have traditionally been preferred for high-precision, high-response applications. How might an inverter affect someone's evaluation of switching out servos for induction motors?

Kevin Drown, senior application engineer, ABB: Replacing a servo motor with an induction motor is not always a straightforward decision, since the applications they serve are different. However, modern inverters have narrowed the historical performance gap between servo systems and induction motor setups, forcing engineers to take a more nuanced look at where each solution truly fits.

Swapping out motors may not be justified unless there’s a clear economic or significant performance advance, as this change can be costly. Often, a more practical approach would be to upgrade to a more advanced drive, rather than replacing the motor.

How have frequency inverters evolved over recent generations in terms of control features, communication protocols and energy efficiency?

Kevin Drown, senior application engineer, ABB: VFDs are moving more toward embedded ethernet solutions, faster processors, more memory for customization to include PLC-like capabilities.  Remote connectivity is also part of this, as users seek to get access to data remotely, which reduces travel time and expense.  As control has improved, energy efficiency gains have also grown as a result. IE5 motor efficiency is also available now. These motors have extremely low energy loss compared to traditional induction motors when paired with the appropriate drive product.

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What sorts of emerging technologies, such as edge computing, AI-assisted diagnostics or advanced simulation are being integrated into drives and inverters?

Kevin Drown, senior application engineer, ABB: We are seeing communication standards like OPC UA—ABB has these native to our ethernet-based comm cards—being embedded to allow data to be sent directly to SCADA systems and cloud providers.  This helps preventive maintenance and predicts when components and systems may fail. The drives also have some of these capabilities integrated into the drive to predict lifetime and temperature of hardware, and they give customers the ability to write their own code to solve problems in their systems.

Tell us about one of your company’s state-of-the-art products, if any, that involves drives, motors, inverters or digital twins.

Kevin Drown, senior application engineer, ABB: The ACS880 product line is ABB’s most advanced and versatile variable frequency drive platform for industrial use. These drives deliver precise motor control, broad connectivity and intelligent features that support your automation and digitalization goals.

The ACS880 family includes active front end (AFE), ultra low harmonic (ULH) and six-pulse versions. AFE and ULH drives reduce supply network harmonics and operate at a unity power factor, helping you meet site power quality requirements. The ACS880 supports a wide range of motor types, making it easy to standardize across facilities.

The drive family offers extensive connectivity options with current F type modules, so you can integrate with most industrial networks. The latest universal control unit (UCU) controllers feature embedded Ethernet and support protocols such as OPC UA for modern automation architectures.

Built-in energy optimization tools automatically adjust motor speed and torque to match real-time demand. This reduces unnecessary power consumption and supports your plant’s sustainability targets. The load analyzer tracks peaks and underloads, helping you optimize performance and schedule maintenance efficiently. With advanced processing power and adaptive programming, you can customize the ACS880 for your application without major code changes. Safe torque off is standard, and additional safety modules are available to monitor site systems.