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

The level of troubleshooting you can perform depends on your knowledge of the system.  This blog post provides the basics of troubleshooting for stepper motor systems.

Topics: Stepper Motors, Troubleshooting, Motion Control Basics

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

Which type of electric motor do you size for your conveyor, XYZ table, or robot?  Before you select one, you must understand the characteristics of each type of motor in the market.

Topics: Conveyor, AC Motors, Stepper Motors, Speed Control, Motor Sizing, BLDC Motors, Washdown, Servo Motors, Motion Control Basics

In this blog post, I will explain how to easily program a timed pressing operation with our MEXE02 universal product support software.  This example works for any products included in the AlphaStep AZ Series family, which also includes other series that use the same technology and software.

Topics: Stepper Motors, Absolute Positioning, Alphastep Hybrid Control, Linear & Rotary Actuators, VIDEOS, Software, Application Examples, Motion Control Basics

When a voltage is applied to an AC induction motor, it runs at a certain speed.  Variable speed requirements for AC induction motors are typically fulfilled by a 3-phase motor and an inverter or VFD.  This blog post also introduces another option.

Topics: Conveyor, AC Motors, Speed Control, Motion Control Basics

There are three main types of stepper motors available in the market: PM (permanent magnet) type, VR (variable reluctance) type, and hybrid type.  What are the differences, which one should you use, and how do they work?

Topics: Stepper Motors, Motion Control Basics

Proper grounding is necessary for electrical devices for different reasons, but why do we do it?

Topics: AC Motors, Stepper Motors, Alphastep Hybrid Control, Linear & Rotary Actuators, BLDC Motors, Servo Motors, Cooling Fans, Motion Control Basics

No matter how many functions a product offers, without an intuitive, easy-to-use software, those functions can be difficult to implement.

Topics: Stepper Motors, Absolute Positioning, Alphastep Hybrid Control, Linear & Rotary Actuators, VIDEOS, Software, Application Examples, Motion Control Basics

An easy way to alter the speed and torque characteristics of a stepper motor is to connect it to a different type of driver or change its wiring configuration.  However, there's more to it.  Knowing the pros and cons between "unipolar" and "bipolar" can make or break your stepper motor performance.

Topics: Stepper Motors, Motion Control Basics

For someone who has never had experience wiring I/O for motion control, it can be scary the first time.  If devices are not wired correctly, it can cause a range of issues from a motor simply not doing what's expected to irreversible product damage.  I still get that nervous feeling before I press the START button on a demo.  Murphy's Law, anyone?

Topics: AC Motors, Stepper Motors, Alphastep Hybrid Control, Linear & Rotary Actuators, Speed Control, BLDC Motors, Servo Motors, Motion Control Basics