|
Other SAE Magazines Sites
|
Technology update
Minimotor
-
EMS's tiny production motor and planetary gearhead, the Minimotor, is scaled against a postage stamp.
|
What is claimed by the company to be "the smallest production volume motor and planetary gearhead" has been launched by Electro Mechanical Systems (EMS). Called the Minimotor, it has a diameter of 0.08 in. and has been developed to meet a demand for use in ultra-high-precision applications such as laser tools. It incorporates a brushless dc micromotor, a planetary micro gearhead and a speed controller. "Creating a planetary gearhead of this size is in itself a feat of modern day cutting technology," says the company.
The motor system, combined with an external electronic drive, creates a torque capability considerably higher than the motor's own moment of friction, explains EMS. During operation, the motor's drive provides a three-phase sinusoidal signal to the dc micromotor to provide constant speed, even at low frequencies. For adequate power cover for a speed range spanning 0–100,000 rpm, two potentiometers are provided to set coarse and fine speed. Frequency and amplitude are adjusted via external potentiometers: "To avoid loss of synchronization during start-up, the motor speed undergoes standard asymptotic ramp-up, the ramp rate being set by the potentiometer."
EMS adds that the Microdrive System was initially developed by Dr. Fritz Faulhaber GmbH of Stuttgart, to meet the needs of medical procedures conducted within the human body's major blood vessels.
Stuart Birch
|
|
|
