Henschel Robotics GmbH is a Swiss engineering company based in Winterthur. We design and manufacture ultra-compact, fully integrated servo drives that combine power electronics, sensors and motion planning in a single unit.We build some of the smallest fully integrated servo drives on the market. Each HDrive combines motor, drive electronics, encoder and controller in one compact Swiss-made unit, with no separate drive cabinet. Field-oriented control and in-house firmware provide position, velocity and torque modes with sub-degree accuracy.Two product lines cover two use cases: HDrive17-ETH for developers and researchers (Python / PC, no PLC), and HDrive-ETC for EtherCAT-based industrial automation. Our customers work in precision optics, medical simulation, research and industrial automation.Advance servo drive technology with highly power-efficient integrated drives that connect directly over Ethernet and EtherCAT. We get the most out of the motor by compensating its non-ideal behaviour in the control loop, so that a compact unit delivers servo-class results.Product development is backed by applied research in cooperation with the ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences and supported by Innosuisse projects (formerly CTI/KTI). Joint work has included torque ripple compensation for field-oriented control and field weakening for higher motor speeds. Torque ripple compensation already ships in firmware; field weakening remains a research topic for future releases.Industrial automation PLC-based multi-axis machines, pick-and-place systems and compact robots (HDrive-ETC).21 January 2025 Innosuisse project: field weakening Completed an Innosuisse research project on field weakening in stepper motors. Lab tests exceeded 3000 RPM. Not a shipping product feature yet — product integration is planned as a future firmware update.16 September 2023 EtherCAT family announced Announced the NEMA17 EtherCAT HDrive line for PLC automation. EtherCAT-P (power + data in one cable) was explored as a concept; current catalog products ship as standard EtherCAT (separate Vs/Vp), not EtherCAT-P.Announced the NEMA17 EtherCAT HDrive line for PLC automation. EtherCAT-P (power + data in one cable) was explored as a concept; current catalog products ship as standard EtherCAT (separate Vs/Vp), not EtherCAT-P.6 July 2019 Torque ripple compensation ZHAW bachelor thesis by M. Bill and L. Wyssling on torque ripple compensation for FOC on the HDrive17. Trajectory accuracy improved by almost 50% at around 50 RPM, demonstrated with a laser projector following a printed path.ZHAW bachelor thesis by M. Bill and L. Wyssling on torque ripple compensation for FOC on the HDrive17. Trajectory accuracy improved by almost 50% at around 50 RPM, demonstrated with a laser projector following a printed path.13 June 2013 First WiFi stepper drive, EU project AVERT The idea originated during work on the EU project AVERT. A mock-up with eight mecanum wheels was used to validate the kinematics and was controlled directly from Matlab, so the models could be tuned live.