Servo2Go.com Expands Line of Integrated Step Motors

Greenville, DE- Servo2Go.com has expanded it’s line of Integrated Step Motors to include many new NEMA 17 frame models.

Manufactured by Applied Motion Products, the STM is a Drive + Motor + Control unit, fusing step motor and drive technologies into a single device, offering savings on space, wiring and cost over conventional motor and drive solutions.

Communication options include: RS232, RS485, CANopen, Ethernet and Ethernet/IP. Models are CE marked, and RoHS Compliant.

Servo2Go.com

TAK Enterprises’ Dual Belt Tractor Feed uses stepper or servo motors

TAK Enterprises, Inc. (www.takenterprises.com) has unveiled a product specifically designed to feed thin strip and fine wire materials for integration or as a stand-alone unit within existing process systems. In dealing with fine wire in the 004in – 030in diameter range, pull-through feeding can be sometimes challenging. Common solutions largely involve utilizing a roll feed with custom radii ground or “V” grooves into the feed roll OD’s to match the wire diameter. However, it can also be difficult to determine the effective configuration from a cost and practical viewpoint.

The Dual Belt Tractor Feed, which is sometimes referred to as Caterpuller, is integrated with most strip processing and fine wire operations and offers benefits and features making it ideal for pull-feeding applications. The material can be guided between two pressure pads, one below and one above the cog belts. Pressure on the cog belts can be applied through an adjustable jack screw. The belts are made from plastic materials that are soft enough to flow in the wire diameter and are not very hard to avoid damage. The force is spread out across the surface area to minimize the effect when the material is being pulled, at the same time providing ample grip. Depending on the specific application, variable speed, constant speed, controllers and stepper or servo motors can be utilized to drive the Dual Belt Tractor Feed input shaft.

JVL Integrated Motors

JVL offers compact and versatile integrated motors. They offering connection to a wide range of bus systems such as CANopen, Devicenet and Profibus as well as Wireless Bluetooth, WLAN and Zigbee systems.

JVL also offers complete motion control solutions. This includes a wide range of gears that fit directly on the motors for any application:

Low Cost Planetary
If the application is cost sensitive and high performance is not needed the HMGH series is the right choice.

Worm Gears
If cost is important and a 90° angle is also needed – then Worm gear boxes, the HFOS series, should be the first choice.

High Performance Planetary
When an honest hard working Planetary gear box is needed think of the HTRG series. They provide standard backlash of 15 or 10 arcmin (1+2 stage) and also high precision reduced backlash of either 5 or 3 arcmin.

Backlash free Robot Gears
Combine bearing and backlash free gear box into one ultra compact unit – the HSPG reducer. These gears offer unbeatable specs and performance.

JVL International
www.jvlusa.com

Integrated Step Motor Drive Series from USAutomation

Laguna Hills, CA – USAutomation has announced the introduction of the Accuriss™ Series of fully integrated and packaged intelligent step motors. Accuriss motors combine a 1.8° hybrid step motor with a microstep drive and an intelligent controller in one easy-to-mount package.

Measuring only 1.1 inches across, the Accuriss 28 is capable of microstepping at up to 1,600 steps per revolution, virtually eliminating the resonance inherent in step motors. The Accuriss 60 is 2.36 inches across and can microstep up to 51,200 steps per revolution. A high-level command language is embedded in the controller to allow users to execute real-time motion commands or write programs that can be executed with a start command, upon power-up, or via input signals.

Both Accuriss motors include programmable I/O ports. Communication to the motors is via RS485 and up to 16 units can be daisy-chained together. A USB-to-RS485 converter is a standard Accuriss option to allow users to communicate with standard USB ports.

Three different lengths of each motor are available allowing the Accuriss 28 to achieve up to 11 oz in of dynamic torque and the Accuriss 60 to achieve more than 300 oz in. The Accuriss 28 can be supplied as a standard motor option on USAutomation’s Microstage™ positioning system.

Accuriss motors can be programmed from any standard terminal program (such as HyperTerminal) or from the Accuriss Terminal™ program, a free dedicated terminal program available for Windows. Once the Accuriss is programmed it is capable of independent motion sequences with only the DC power source connected.

USAutomation also offers a wide variety of modifications to the Accuriss Series to help users design an ideal solution. These include custom connectors, cabling harnesses, and unique mounting provisions.

For more information, contact USAutomation at (949) 588-0513 or on the web at:  http://www.usautomation.com.

Servo2Go.com Offers New Integrated Motor Shipped From Stock

Greenville, DE – The STM is a stepper drive and motor unit fused into a single device that offers significant savings on space, wiring and cost when compared with conventional motor and drive solutions.

Powerful features such as advanced current control, anti-resonance technology, torque ripple smoothing and microstep emulation allow the STM to deliver optimized stepper performance ideal for medical, packaging, semiconductor and a wide variety of other automation applications. STM drive+motor units come standard with protection against over and under voltage, over-temp, motor shorts and motor open phase. They are RoHS compliant and CE certified.

The STM is available in lengths of 92.4 mm with an output torque of up to 125 oz-in, or 114.4 mm with an output torque of up to 245 oz-in. They provide three digital inputs, one digital output and one analog output.  Users can choose from an RS232 or RS485 communication interface and an optional 1000 line encoder that is integrated to the motor body without increasing the size of the unit. The optional encoder provides stall detect and stall prevention functionality.

Two versions with different control options are available; the S version with step and direction input, and the programmable Q version. The STM-S is quickly and easily configured with graphical, intuitive CONFIGURATOR software. The STM-S can be configured from a drop-down menu, or the user can quickly create custom motor configurations if desired. The STM-Q is well suited for more complex motion. It provides stand-alone operation and is quickly programmed with the robust Q programming environment, which delivers a number of benefits including register manipulation, conditional processing, math functions, multi-tasking and “generic” HMI compatibility.

Self-Test and Auto Setup features measure and configure motor parameters automatically, while Electronic Damping (anti-resonance) technology eliminates midrange instability for higher motor speeds and fuller use of available torque. Command Signal Smoothing reduces extraneous system resonances for smoother motor performance and reduced wear on mechanical components. Torque Ripple Smoothing adjusts the current waveform to reduce low speed torque ripple for smooth motion at low motor speeds. Additionally, MicroStep Emulation provides smooth motion for systems that require low step resolutions, such as retrofit systems with controller resolution that is fixed at a low value and cannot easily be changed.

For more information, visit www.servo2go.com.

SureStep Motion Control Line Expands

AutomationDirect has expanded their line of SureStep motion control products. Stepping motors in standard NEMA sizes (17, 23, & 34) now include bi-polar models with output torques ranging from 61 oz-in. to 1291 oz-in. The motors feature a pigtail cable with locking connector for easy hook-up and 200 steps per revolution. The stepping motors are CE compliant and prices start at $17.

Also, three additional power supplies are now offered for SureStep drives and motors.  These unregulated linear power supplies offer full load outputs of 32, 48 and 70 VDC.  The power supplies are electronically overload protected and electrically isolated from motor supply output. They feature screw terminal connections, power-on LED indicators for motor supply and logic power, and have fast acting, 3AG fuses on both input and output. The new unregulated power supplies start at $119.

Two new Advanced Programmable SureStep Drives offer more functionality and higher current capability. Software-selectable resolutions up to 51,200 steps per revolution provide smoother, more accurate motion and power capability up to 10A per phase. These new drives accept step and direction, CW/CCW pulse inputs, A/B quadrature inputs, and 12-bit analog input (analog velocity mode). Other features include a discrete speed command (oscillator mode), a joystick mode, and a built-in indexer which can use serial communications to configure and execute motion profiles on the fly. The drives come with a serial cable for setup and programming and the SureStep Pro Software, also available as a free download.  Programmable SureStep drives start at $199.

See the complete line of SureStep motion products at www.automationdirect.com/stepper-systems.

Step Motor Basics Calculator

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Maximize Your Torque with Lin Engineering

Going through a costly trial and errorprocess while selecting a motor should be always be avoided. The trick is to properly utilize the right step motor and then operate it at its maximum efficiency.

Lin Engineering Inc., the Step Motor Specialists, have coined the term “Maximize Torque at Desired Speed” in order to simplify this process. The term essentially describes selecting a motor that will operate at its most efficient point and output the maximum available dynamic torque, while running within the user’s crucial operating speed. Doing so often times avoids experiencing a motor stall, under perform, or otherwise fail.

During a recent application study, engineers at Lin Engineering found that the customer’s existing motor was stalling due to inadequate torque output at the application’s operating speed. Using the practice of “Maximize Torque at Speed”, a motor winding was selected that performed at its most efficient state while running at the customer’s operating speed.

www.linengineering.com

IS23x-MA Intelligent Step Motors

Technosoft announces the new IS23x-MA Intelligent Step Motors, based on the MotionChip™ DSP Control Technology, specially adapted to distributed motion control applications with integrated intelligence.

These ready-to-run motors have a cost optimized design embedding stepper motor, power electronics, controller and interface into a single compact unit (61/96 x 57 x 57 mm), together with basic local digital and analog I/O signals and PLC functionalities. This structure significantly reduces the motor cabling through the machine and eliminates the usage of external setup analog components.

IS23x-MA have been developed in 2 motor lengths, offering 1 to 1.8 Nm permanent output torque and operated from a 12 to 48 V single power supply. High resolution settings to the equivalent of up to 256 microsteps / step can be used.

The motion programming can be done from a CAN / CANopen master via PC / PLC, either by using the appropriate motion library, or directly at motor level, using the built-in motion controller and the EasyMotion Studio platform. This greatly simplifies the master’s task: motion functions pre-stored in the motor memory can be called or executed via I/O signals.

IS23x are fully programmable to execute position or speed control. They include high-level trajectory generators for: profiles (S-curve, trapezoidal or PVT), contouring, electronic gearing and camming. Communication is done over CAN (CANopen / TMLCAN) or RS-232 networks.

For an off-the-shelf usage, the IS23x-DS motors (already configured to cover the usual operation modes and parameters) are available.

All these benefits – compactness, embedded intelligence and cost-effective design – make the IS23x a valuable motion control solution for all industrial applications where space is critical and the machines need to look neat and uncluttered. Thanks to the IS23x’s local intelligence, users can really simplify complex applications by distributing the intelligence between master and motors. Thus, instead of trying to command each step of an axis motion from the master, they can program the motors using TML to execute complex tasks and inform the master when these tasks have been completed.

www.technosoftmotion.com

Pneumatic Step Motor is First Fully MRI-compatible Motor

Engineers at Johns Hopkins University are investigating the use of a robot (MrBot) that can operate within the closed bore of magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI) equipment to help physicians perform remote biopsies of tumors under MRI guidance. Researchers involved in the project say that MRI is ideal for this type of application because it is the preferred method for imaging soft tissue, and it provides an image that lets the physician manipulate the robot so that a needle can be inserted precisely in the center of a tumor.

However, such a system has yet to hit the market because electromagnetic motors typically used in robotics are incompatible with MRI. Ultrasonic (piezoelectric) motors are magnetism free, but they present conductive components and use electricity, which creates image distortions if operated within a certain distance of the object. Engineers at Johns Hopkins have developed a pneumatic step motor to overcome these challenges. PneuStep is the first pneumatic stepper and the first fully MRI-compatible motor because it does not interfere with the electromagnetic field. The motor is comprised of entirely nonmagnetic and dielectric materials, such as plastics, ceramics, and rubbers. Encoding was performed with fiber optics so that the motors are electricity free, exclusively using pressure and light.

Six PneuStep motors actuate the robot. The PneuStep invention is based on the idea that end-to-end motion of a piston within its cylinder is always exact. This can be achieved by simply pressurizing the cylinder, which is easier than positioning the piston in mid-stroke with pneumatic-servo control. To create airflow, a remote pneumatic distributor generates pulsed pressure waves.

According to a paper published in IEEE/ASME Transactions On Mechatronics, VOL. 12, NO. 1 that describes the invention, the step motor successively collects small end-to-end motion strokes in a rotary motion. A step is made by an end-of-stroke motion. A new kinematic principle induces the step motion and de-multiplies it (gears it down) with the same mechanism. The basic motor is rotary, but the integrated gearhead can be configured for either rotary or linear output of various step sizes part/assembly, named “hoop-gear.”

The motor assembly includes a motor, gearhead, and incremental position encoder. A special electronic driver controls the motor with electric stepper indexers and standard motion control cards. The motor accepts open-loop step operation as well as closed-loop control with position feedback from the enclosed sensor.

Unlike other pneumatic types, the motor can easily perform accurate and safe actuation. In case of malfunction it may only stall. What’s more, breaking a PneuStep hose, for example, may not unwind the mechanism, which could harm the patient.

Johns Hopkins University
http://urology.jhu.edu/urobotics