If you’re looking for good, informative articles on servo motors, where are the best places to find them? Of course, short of a really good textbook on servo motors (which not all of us may have access to), there are plenty of places online that offer really good information on servo motors and systems; everything from the basics to advanced concepts useful in designing and understanding complex control systems using servo motors.

Here’s a look at some of the most informative articles on servo motors available on the web:

1. First off, as a primer on all things motors and drives, a very good source is this article from Baldor. A veteran in the motor business, Baldor’s expertise comes through as the article describes common motor types as well as open and closed loop controls in addition to covering types of controls and feedback devices. If you’re new to servo systems or need a good refresher, this is a good place to start.

http://www.baldor.com/pdf/manuals/1205-394.pdf

2. Moving beyond the basics and background information, this article by Matt Pelletier from Yaskawa, discusses servo motor sizing such as inertia ratio, the speed-torque curve and the importance of understanding the motion profile in selecting a servo motor for a system.

http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=228478&dfpPParams=ind_182,aid_228478&dfpLayout=article

3. Next is an article from Lenze discussing the specifics of servo motor construction as well as devices such as brakes and sensors in addition to operating characteristics of the motors themselves.

http://www.controlengeurope.com/article/24050/Servo-Motors–The-Muscle-for-Automation-Tasks.aspx

4. An article by Dal Y. Ohm of Drivetech, Inc. goes into greater technical detail on the selection process for servo motors and drives, including analysis of load and its impact on the selection process.

http://www.drivetechinc.com/articles/pm96sizrev2.pdf

5. Lastly is not a single article but really a cluster of tools for tuning a servo system available at Motion Engineering, a part of Kollmorgen. Here you’ll find the basics of servos as well as detailed information about tuning a servo systems including control algorithms such as PID and PIV.

http://support.motioneng.com/downloads-notes/tuning/default.htm