Springs that follow Hooke’s Law are often referred to as “linear springs” because they have a linear relationship between load and deflection. A linear spring has the same diameter along its entire length, and this uniform diameter gives it a constant spring rate. In other words, the spring rate doesn’t change regardless of the load acting on […]
FAQs + basics
What are vibration criteria and VC curves?
Precision manufacturing and testing processes are highly sensitive to vibrations, which often result from both internal sources such as foot traffic, fans, and pumps, and external ambient sources such as outside traffic, construction, and other nearby industrial activities. To address these concerns, a set of “generic” vibration criteria was created in the 1980s by Eric Ungar […]
August 2020 Motion Systems Handbook
View the full issue by clicking below: Commentary Terminology: A modest proposal The time has come. In fact, I’d say that it’s long past due. Just what exactly am I talking about? I’m talking about some common terminology used in the software, industrial controls and IT worlds, specifically two words that refer to control and […]
What is MQTT and when is it used in motion applications?
Message queuing telemetry transport — commonly referred to as MQTT — is a machine-to-machine (M2M) messaging protocol that is extremely well-suited for devices that have low or unreliable network bandwidth. Although it was originally developed in the late 1990s for the oil and gas industry to address equipment in remote locations, MQTT has been an […]
What are power factor correction capacitors?
The measure of how efficiently a piece of equipment or facility uses power to produce work is known as its power factor. Although resistive loads, such as heating and lighting, have a high power factor, inductive loads, including AC induction motors, don’t use all of their supplied power to produce useful work, so their power […]
What is flux braking and how does it differ from regenerative braking?
AC induction motors are used to drive loads such as fans, pumps, lifts, and conveyors. But in some applications, the motor is also used as a brake to stop the load, reverse its direction, or hold the load and prevent it from moving. And while there are several methods of braking for AC motors, if […]
What role does Linux play in motion control systems?
Operating systems manage the communication between hardware and software in devices such as servers, computers, mobile phones, and embedded systems. Most personal computers and laptops use either Microsoft’s Windows operating system or Apple’s macOS, and mobile devices such as phones and tablets primarily use Google’s Android operating system or Apple’s iOS. In the industrial world, […]
What are motor starters?
A motor starter is an electronically operated switching device that starts or turns on a motor, allowing it to start and stop safely. The need for a starter is dictated by the type of motor. Generally speaking, low-power motors do not require starters, although what’s considered low power may be debatable. For instance, small dc […]
What is a gated index pulse for incremental encoders?
Incremental encoders typically use two square-wave signals in quadrature (out of phase by 90 degrees) to track position and direction of motion. But because they only track incremental position (not absolute position) they’re not able to determine the true position of the motor and connected equipment after a shut-down or power loss. So most incremental […]
What do bit rate, baud, and cycle time mean in industrial networks?
For industrial networks, two of the most important performance factors are determinism and speed. In other words, industrial networks must be able to deliver data in a specified, predictable period of time, and they need to do so as quickly as possible. When describing network speed, three specifications are typically used: bit rate, baud, and cycle […]
