In 2011, the EU implemented minimum efficiency performance standards (MEPS) for electric motors used in residential, commercial, and industrial applications with Commission Regulation (EC) 640/2009, which was implemented in three stages through 2017, and its amendment Regulation (EU) 4/2014. In October 2019, Regulation (EC) 640/2009 was replaced with Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/1781, which outlines updated efficiency […]
FAQs + basics
What are electromagnetic power-off brakes and where are they used?
Power-off brakes are commonly used in motion control applications for stopping or holding a load (or both), especially on vertical axes or for emergency stop functionality in servo applications. Power-off brakes are so named because the brake is engaged when power is removed from the system — either intentionally or accidentally. (Power-off brakes are also […]
What is Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) and how is it used in industrial applications?
Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) is a technology that provides Ethernet transmission over a single pair of copper wires, while also transmitting power to connected devices via Power over Data Line (PoDL). Single Pair Ethernet was initially developed to meet the demands of the automotive industry — smaller, lighter cables and connectors for transmitting data from […]
How to calculate continuous and peak torque values for servo applications
One of the most important tools for sizing a servo motor is the motor’s torque-speed curve, which shows the combinations of torque and speed that the motor can produce in two operating zones — continuous operation and peak, or intermittent, operation. To prevent thermal overload of the motor — and the drive — it’s important to […]
What’s the current status of AGMA and ISO gear quality standards (and why are they so confusing)?
Gear quality standards developed and published by the American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA), have dominated gear manufacturing in the U.S. market since the 1960s. But in the 1990s, AGMA began working with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to update and harmonize gear quality standards, with several versions of both AGMA and ISO standards published […]
What is a direct drive in the context of motion applications?
In the most common motor-driven systems, the motor is coupled to the load being moved by a mechanical transmission element — a belt, chain, rack and pinion, ball or lead screw, or even simply a gearbox. But some linear and rotary motion systems do away with mechanical transmission elements and couple the load directly to […]
What are the performance benefits of 5-phase stepper motors?
Stepper motors are often categorized by the number of phases in their construction, with 2-phase and 5-phase versions being common designs. And although 2-phase versions are more widely adopted, 5-phase stepper motors offer performance advantages that make them the preferred choice in some applications. The basic construction of a hybrid stepper motor includes two rotor […]
What are breakpoints and how are they used in motion control?
In computer programs, breakpoints are functions within the code that help with monitoring and debugging the program. The programmer can mark, or flag, a line of code as a breakpoint, and when the program encounters the breakpoint marker, it pauses before executing that line of code. This allows the programmer to inspect variables, I/O status, […]
What’s the difference between NEMA and IEC motor starters?
A motor starter is a device that controls power to a motor for starting, stopping, reversing, and in some cases, protecting the motor from overload current. Although sometimes referred to as contactors, motor starters actually consist of a contactor and a thermal overload relay. The contactor is an electromechanical device based on a coil and […]
What are eddy currents and how do they affect motor performance?
One of the electromagnetic principles that governs the operation of an electric motor is Faraday’s law, which states that when the magnetic environment of a coil of wire is changed — whether by moving the magnet and coil relative to each other or by changing the magnetic field — a voltage, or electromotive force (EMF), will […]
