A driver is a must-have for any stepper motor. In a stepper motor system, a driver controls how the motor operates based on signals received from the controller. It is responsible for sending current through various phases in a stepper motor and also regulates the motor current (torque) and step resolution. With recent trends of minimizing machine footprint, finding space to install drivers could be challenging.
Standard Stepper Motor System Configuration
Topics: Stepper Motors, VIDEOS, Application Examples
Robotic grippers are typically used to grip parts for transport. The driving force behind a gripper can be pneumatic, hydraulic, or electric. Which type is best for gripping?
Topics: Torque Limit (Push Motion), Robotics, Speed Control, VIDEOS, BLDC Motors, Application Examples
With recent trends focusing on improving engineering efficiency, many products have been developed to specifically help shorten design cycles for machine automation. Part of improving efficiency is making products easier to use, so additional time and resources can be spent elsewhere. This post describes an example of a product feature that can make index table applications less complex to manage.
Topics: Stepper Motors, Absolute Positioning, Linear & Rotary Actuators, VIDEOS, Software, Application Examples
There are many stepper motor manufacturers in the market place, but there are even more driver manufacturers. The crowded market place provides many standard product options for customers to build their motion control system just the way they like it.
However, if the best possible performance is desired, it would be difficult to beat a tested combination of a specific motor and driver from the same manufacturer. By combining R&D knowledge from both motors and drivers, unique product features can be developed to improve the performance further.
In this post, we will discuss 3 main advantages of using a CVD driver with a PKP Series stepper motor. There's also a video at the bottom of this post that summarizes the features.
Topics: Stepper Motors, Smooth Drive, VIDEOS
Stepper motors are popular for their ability to position accurately as well as their ease of use. Both the amount of rotation and the speed are controlled easily with the same digital square wave pulse signal. Unlike servo motors, stepper motors do not need an encoder to operate. Example applications of stepper motors are CNC machines, index tables, robotics, scanners, and more recently, 3D printers.
Topics: Stepper Motors, Motor Sizing, VIDEOS, Application Examples
Automation is great for repetitive tasks, such as test fixtures for a process that has to repeated. In this post, we will explain how to perform a reciprocating motion (back and forth cycles) with a product that does not require a PLC or external presence sensors, which can help speed up design cycles.
Topics: Torque Limit (Push Motion), Absolute Positioning, Alphastep Hybrid Control, Linear & Rotary Actuators, VIDEOS, Software, Application Examples
There are a variety of ways to synchronize the speed of multiple motors. In this blog post, we will explain another advantage of using brushless motors systems, which is its ability to set speeds accurately and be able to synchronize speeds on multiple axes easily . Brushless motors utilize built-in hall-effect sensors to regulate speed. Even if the load, input voltage, or temperature fluctuates, the speed regulation will always be under +/-0.2% or better.
Topics: Conveyor, AC Motors, Speed Control, VIDEOS, BLDC Motors, Washdown, Application Examples
With the growing popularity of efficient brushless motors, replacing AC motors with these motors brings several advantages. In this blog post, we will uncover one of the advantages that can benefit lighter and compact equipment designs. If we just look at the motors, brushless motors are much more power efficient than AC induction motors. This means a smaller brushless motor can do the work of a bigger AC motor. With recent trends in efficiency, brushless motors should be considered during the motor selection process for new designs.
Topics: Conveyor, AC Motors, Speed Control, VIDEOS, BLDC Motors, Washdown, 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