Welcome to Oriental Motor's "Engineering Notes" Blog:

Motors exhibit noise.  The important thing to know is how you distinguish normal noise from abnormal noise, and how to troubleshoot.

Topics: AC Motors, Stepper Motors, Speed Control, BLDC Motors, Gearheads, Troubleshooting

AC motors are the workhorses of industrial automation.  They're robust, easy to use, and offer a wide product breadth.  What do you do if they stop working, and you don't have a spare?

Topics: AC Motors, Troubleshooting, Motion Control Basics

Tension control is a niche application that is not easy to implement.  Using the right type of motor is the first step to success.  Hint: you don't always have to use a servo motor.

Topics: AC Motors, Torque Limit (Push Motion, Tension Control)

Servo motor systems are expensive but great for demanding applications that require high speed, peak torque, or feedback.  Stepper motors are cost-effective but do not offer the peace of mind of feedback.  For designs that do not need the bells and whistles of servo motor systems, there is another option.

Topics: Stepper Motors, Robotics, Absolute Positioning, Alphastep Hybrid Control, Linear & Rotary Actuators, Servo Motors, Network

Agricultural automation has been a trending topic lately due to rising food inflation.  This case study tells the story of an agricultural producer who has successfully improved production efficiency by building in-house automation.

Topics: AC Motors, Speed Control, BLDC Motors, Washdown, Case Study

Pneumatic linear actuators and electric linear actuators are often compared for linear motion requirements that do not require the high forces of hydraulic linear actuators.  Here are 15 factors that should be considered.

Topics: Stepper Motors, Linear & Rotary Actuators, Servo Motors

In this post, we introduce a real-world SCARA and cartesian/gantry robot example of in-house automation built using our AlphaStep AZ Series family of motors, actuators, drivers, and our 4-axis robot controller.

Topics: Stepper Motors, Robotics, Absolute Positioning, Alphastep Hybrid Control, Linear & Rotary Actuators, Software, Rotary/Index Tables, Case Study

Increasing power efficiency and minimizing the carbon footprint is the trend these days.  Do you know how to calculate CO2 emissions from your electric motors, and which types of motors emit less?

Topics: AC Motors, Speed Control, BLDC Motors

Modular automation is the next phase of factory automation where the same production line is separated into modules and can quickly reconfigure itself to serve different needs.  We're ready for this trend.  Are you?

Topics: Stepper Motors, Robotics, Alphastep Hybrid Control, Linear & Rotary Actuators, Speed Control, VIDEOS, BLDC Motors, Application Examples

The BLV Series R Type brushless DC motor and compact driver not only reduces the size and weight of the original BLV Series driver but offer an upgrade to the motor as well.  This blog post uses videos to explain the features offered by the BLV Series R Type.

Topics: Robotics, Smooth Drive, Speed Control, VIDEOS, BLDC Motors, Software, Network