Following some straightforward advice on gearmotor design will help ensure your gearmotor works in the most extreme environments. Gabriel Venzin • President | ABM Drives Inc. Designing a gearmotor application is tough enough in more or less “normal” conditions, normal here meaning something like room temperature and stable or typical humidity and altitude. Throw that application into […]
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Zero-backlash servo rotary indexing table from Sankyo Automation
The Sankyo Automation RollerDrive Reducer is a precision gear reducer that uses a zero-backlash roller gear mechanism. The unit is constructed from an input shaft and a turret (output shaft) that is assembled with roller followers. The roller followers are preloaded against a screw-like input shaft to eliminate backlash. Sankyo servo indexing tables offer a […]
Moments of inertia: Definitions and equations
The term “moment of inertia” is often used generically, but depending on the context and application, it can refer to one of three different moments of inertia: mass, planar, or polar. In order to know which one is needed for a given calculation or analysis, it’s important to understand the differences between them and how […]
Hysteresis loss and eddy current loss: What’s the difference?
All electric motors experience rotational losses during the conversion of electrical power to mechanical power. These losses are generally categorized as magnetic losses, mechanical losses, copper losses, brush losses, or stray losses, depending on the underlying cause and mechanism. Included in the category of magnetic losses are two types — hysteresis loss and eddy current loss. […]
AeroDef Booth #1053: Physik Instrumente (PI) motion simulation for image stabilization and rover-proven actuators
PI (Physik Instrumente) is showing an application of its six-axis hexapod for motion simulation such as used to optimize stabilization systems on vessels, drones and even for cell phone cameras. PI hexapods come in a variety of sizes with bases ranging from 100 mm to 1m, different stiffness configurations, and supportive of loads from 2 […]
12 Motion Trends articles offer engineering insight and technical 411
Each year, Design World publishes a Motion Trends issue — a standalone issue that’s the second in its regular four-part Motion Series. Following are links to the expanded versions of some of that issue’s articles. Connectivity and IoT expand control design functionality (a Motion Trends report) Connectivity in manufacturing is not a new idea — […]
Kuebler Sendix S36 motor-feedback encoders win first place SPS IPC Drives Automation Award
Kuebler recently won the first place Automation Award for its new Sendix S36 motor feedback encoders — getting 31.9% of all SPS IPC Drives show-visitor votes. The Automation Award is a leading prize in the international automation industry and is presented annually at the SPS IPC Drives trade fair in Nuremberg, Germany. Five products are […]
Servo motor torque curves: What you need to know
Updated November 2019 || A servo motor, when coupled with a feedback device, servo amplifier, and error-correcting control loops, can maintain a tightly controlled position, torque, or speed in applications that require closed-loop operation and the ability to respond to disturbances. But another benefit of servo motors is their ability to produce significant torque over […]
Rotary bearings: Summary of types and variations
Rotary bearings are common components in motion systems. They’re used in gearboxes, motors, pulleys, fans, pumps—virtually any time a shaft is rotating, rotary bearings are there to reduce friction and support radial or axial loads. The classification of rotary bearings begins with the type of bearing that supports the load—ball or roller. Within the ball […]
400-Volt servo motors — now with Yaskawa Sigma-7 performance
The Drives & Motion Division of Yaskawa America, Inc. announces the addition of a complete line of 400 Volt servo motors and amplifiers to its flagship series of Sigma-7 servo systems, extending the performance advantages of Sigma-7 products to all types of industrial users. The new 400 Volt offering includes a completely new amplifier design […]