The word, "AlphaStep", describes Oriental Motor's patented Hybrid Control technology, which offers improved stepper motor performance by sensing the rotor position and automatically switching between open-loop and closed-loop operation when necessary. This post explains the unique technologies offered within the AlphaStep family of products and summarizes the numerous integrated options available. It also can serve as a website navigation guide (video added).
Topics: Stepper Motors, Absolute Positioning, Alphastep Hybrid Control, Linear & Rotary Actuators, VIDEOS, Gearheads, Software, Network
Robot adoption is increasing in many industries due to global efforts in reducing long term costs, maintaining quality, and freeing up time for humans to do "human" tasks. For example, by using a robot to clean floors or restock shelves in a supermarket, human employees can spend more time helping or selling to their customers. A company can either tap into this robotic trend by buying ready-made robots, or by making their own with less cost.
If engineering resources are limited, selecting the right components can reduce the difficulty and time for building a robot.
Topics: Stepper Motors, Robotics, Absolute Positioning, Alphastep Hybrid Control, Linear & Rotary Actuators, Motor Sizing, VIDEOS, Gearheads, Software, Application Examples
Topics: AC Motors, Speed Control, BLDC Motors, Gearheads
In the market of electric motors, there are products designed for general purpose applications, and there are motors designed for specialized applications, such as automated guided vehicles (AGVs) or autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). While standard, general-purpose motors work for most applications such as factory automation, sometimes, it may help accelerate your design cycle by going with a motor system that already offers the features that you are planning to design into your machine. In this post, we will summarize some of these features.
Topics: Robotics, Speed Control, Motor Sizing, BLDC Motors, Gearheads, Application Examples
Parallel shaft gear motors are the standard configuration in the industry. However, right angle gear motors are gaining popularity for its ability to minimize the footprint of a machine, such as a conveyor. Another factor that should be considered is the type of gears used in the gearhead. While worm gear technology is popular, its gear efficiency can vary from 50~90% depending on gear ratio. On the other hand, hypoid gear technology keeps its efficiency at 80~95% regardless of gear ratio. Higher gear efficiency allows more torque to be transferred from the motor to the load shaft, and sometimes allows even smaller motors to be used.
Topics: Conveyor, AC Motors, Speed Control, VIDEOS, BLDC Motors, Gearheads, Application Examples