指南
Technical guides for motion control engineers
Everything we have written for engineers specifying motion for machines that go into production: how to select each product, how the technology works, and how the alternatives compare.
Selection guides
All selection guides →Step-by-step guides to choosing and sizing each product for an OEM application, with formulas, worked examples and a checklist of what to send an engineer.
滑环
- Ethernet through slip ringsFast Ethernet (100BASE-TX, which EtherCAT and most PROFINET use) needs two pairs and is routinely carried through good contact slip rings; Gigabit (1000BASE-T) needs all four pairs and tighter impedance and crosstalk control.
- Explosion-proof and ATEX slip ringsGet the hazardous area classification first: zone, gas or dust group and required temperature class come from the site's DSEAR or ATEX assessment, not from the slip ring supplier.
- How to select a fibre optic rotary jointCount the optical channels you really need, match the fibre type and wavelengths to your transceivers, then check the joint's worst-case insertion loss, including its variation over a full turn, against your optical power budget with margin to spare.
- How to select a rotary unionStart with the media and their pressures, because they decide the seal type and materials.
- How to select a slip ring typeLet four questions pick the type: does something have to pass through the centre (through-bore or pancake), how much current and voltage (capsule for small signals, high-current or carbon brush for heavy power), what data (Ethernet-rated rings, or a fibre optic rotary joint for very high bandwidth), and what else must cross the rotation (rotary union or a hybrid unit for air, fluid or fibre).
- How to specify a slip ringCircuits, current, data, speed, sealing and life: what to decide before you request a quote.
- Waterproof and subsea slip ringsFor splash, washdown and shallow immersion, a sealed slip ring rated IP67 or IP68 to a stated depth and time is enough.
直线执行器
- How to select a linear actuatorDecide first whether the load is pushed along its own guide (rod actuator) or carried by the actuator (rodless), then pick screw drive for force and accuracy or belt for long, fast strokes.
- How to select a linear motorChoose iron-core for the most force per size and cost, ironless for zero cogging and the smoothest, fastest-settling motion, and tubular for compact push-pull axes.
- How to select a linear stagePick the drive from speed, stroke and settling (ball screw for stiffness and moderate speed, belt for long and fast, linear motor for the fastest settling with no backlash), then build an error budget at the work point: repeatability, accuracy, straightness and flatness, Abbe error from pitch and yaw times the offset, orthogonality between stacked axes, thermal expansion and the flatness of the surface it bolts to.
- How to select a voice coil or piezo motorChoose a voice coil when you need fast, smooth, cog-free motion over a few millimetres to a few tens of millimetres, or direct force control, because force is proportional to current.
- How to size a linear actuatorBuild the move profile first, then add up load, friction, acceleration and gravity forces for every segment, size the screw on cubic mean force for life and peak force for strength, choose the lead from the speed and motor rpm, and size the motor on peak and RMS torque using T = F × lead ÷ (2π × η).
- Hygienic washdown actuators and IP69KStart from the zone and the cleaning regime, not the force: in product and splash zones washed with hot high-pressure water and caustic or acid detergents, specify a 316 stainless actuator rated IP69K, built to hygienic design principles (smooth, self-draining, no crevices), with NSF H1 lubricant, food-compatible seals and confirmed compatibility with your chemicals at your concentrations and temperatures.
- Replacing hydraulic cylinders with electric actuatorsMost hydraulic cylinders up to roughly 50 tonnes can be replaced by a servo-driven roller screw or ball screw actuator, provided you size it on the force the machine actually needs across the stroke, not the cylinder's theoretical maximum.
伺服和步进电动机
- How to select a BLDC micropumpWork out the flow your loop needs and the pressure drop at that flow, convert it to head, and choose a pump whose curve passes comfortably above that point at nominal voltage, so speed control can trim it down.
- How to select a DC motorDecide brushed or brushless first, mainly on required life and whether you can fit a controller, then choose the rotor type (iron-core, coreless or slotless) for inertia, smoothness and cost.
- How to select a drone motorStart from maximum take-off mass and work outwards: set a thrust target of roughly 2 to 2.5 times MTOW across the rotors, choose the largest propeller the airframe allows, then pick the motor KV and battery voltage that spin that propeller to its maximum thrust with headroom.
- How to select a servo motorChoose the supply class first (mains AC or 24–96 V DC), then size from the move profile: RMS torque must sit inside the motor's continuous rating and every peak inside the intermittent zone at its speed.
- How to select a stepper motorPick a hybrid stepper for almost any OEM axis, size it on pull-out torque at your operating speed with a safety factor of 1.5 to 2 (not on holding torque), keep the load inertia within about 10 times the rotor, then choose the winding and supply voltage so the drive can push current in at speed.
- How to select an integrated servo motorChoose an integrated servo motor when you have many small, spread-out axes (roughly 100 W to 1 kW on 24–70 VDC in most ranges) with moderate dynamics, because it removes cabinet drives and most motor cabling; then size it like any servo on torque and speed, but with margin for the drive's heat inside the motor, the DC supply's inability to absorb regenerated energy, and the fieldbus, feedback, IP rating and STO each axis needs.
无框架和力矩电动机
- How to select a frameless torque motorPick a frameless rotor and stator kit when you can hold the air gap with your own bearings and housing and want the lightest, most compact axis; pick a housed direct-drive motor when you want bearings and encoder already aligned.
- Sizing frameless torque motors for robot jointsSize a frameless joint motor from the joint's torque budget (gravity, acceleration and friction) divided by the gear ratio and efficiency, then check RMS torque against the continuous rating derated for your actual housing, using copper loss P = (T/Km)².
齿轮箱和谐波减速器
- How to select a gearbox for a servo or stepper axisChoose the gearbox type from the geometry and ratio (planetary below about 30:1, strain-wave for compact high ratios, spiral bevel or worm for right angles), set the ratio from motor speed and inertia matching, then size the frame so mean torque, acceleration torque, emergency-stop torque, input speed and output shaft loads all sit inside the catalogue limits with a service factor for shock.
- How to select a harmonic actuatorBuy an integrated harmonic actuator (strain-wave gear, motor, encoder and often brake and drive in one housing) when you need a compact high-ratio rotary axis working quickly and the catalogue sizes fit; build your own joint from a gear set and frameless motor when mass, shape or volume pricing demand it.
- How to select a planetary gearboxDecide precision or economy from the position tolerance at the load, inline or right angle from the envelope, and stainless only where the gearbox is washed down; then set the ratio from speed and inertia and size the frame so cube-mean torque sits under T2N, peak cyclic torque under T2B with the maker's operating factor, crash torque under T2NOT, and the real shaft load under the radial rating at its actual position.
编码器和反馈
- How to select a linear encoderBuild an error budget at the tool or carriage first, then pick the technology the environment allows: magnetic tape for long, dirty axes at tens of µm per metre, capacitive for compact absolute axes with passive heads, exposed optical for µm-level accuracy in clean machines, and enclosed optical where you need that accuracy among chips and coolant.
- How to select an encoder for a motion axisStart from the accuracy you need at the load, not the resolution on the datasheet.
伺服驱动器
- How to select a multi-axis servo driveChoose a multi-axis drive when several axes of similar size sit in one cabinet and move together, so they can share a rectifier, DC bus and braking resistor; then check each axis's continuous and peak current against its own channel (they are not always equal), size regeneration for the worst case where every axis stops at once, and make sure the STO arrangement matches the safety zones in your risk assessment.
- How to select a PCB-mount servo driveSize the drive on RMS current over the duty cycle and peak current for the acceleration, at your bus voltage, then prove the thermal path: a PCB drive's rating assumes its baseplate is cooled.
- How to select a servo driveStart from the motor, not the drive: match the drive's supply and bus voltage to the motor winding, its continuous current to the motor's rated current and its peak current to the torque peaks in your move.
- How to select a stepper drivePick open or closed loop first, then match the drive's phase current to the motor and choose the highest supply voltage the motor and drive allow, because voltage, set against winding inductance, is what holds torque at speed.
- Servo drives for extreme environmentsStart from the environment the drive will actually see, not the one on a standard datasheet: temperature range and thermal shock, shock and vibration profile, altitude, humidity and salt, ingress and cleaning, supply transients and EMC.
控制器和PLC
- How to select a motion controller or PLCCount the axes and decide how tightly they must be coordinated.
- How to select an HMI and remote I/OSize the HMI from what the operator must see and touch at once (typically 7 to 10 inch for a single machine, larger for lines), confirm its drivers for your controller, its front rating as installed and its operating temperature, then place remote I/O where the sensors are, on EtherCAT when I/O is part of the machine cycle and on Modbus RTU or TCP only for slow signals, and plan IIoT access with outbound, authenticated connections.
Technology explained
All technology explained →How the technology works: construction, operating principles, control and the engineering trade-offs behind each type of motion component.
滑环
- How slip rings workA slip ring passes power and signals from a stationary frame to a rotating one through conductive rings that turn against stationary brushes, so cables never wind up.
直线执行器
- How electric linear actuators workAn electric linear actuator turns a motor's rotation into straight-line motion, usually through a screw and nut (lead, ball or roller screw) or a toothed belt; a linear motor skips the conversion and drives the load directly.
伺服和步进电动机
- Closed-loop stepper motors explainedA closed-loop stepper adds an encoder to a hybrid stepper so the drive can detect and correct lost steps, raise current only when the load needs it and alarm on a stall; it lets you size with less torque margin than open loop and run cooler, but a servo still wins at high speed, high torque at speed and with rapidly changing loads.
- How servo motors workAn industrial servo motor is a permanent-magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) with an encoder: the drive reads rotor position, commutates the three-phase stator current so it always pulls at right angles to the magnets, and closes current, velocity and position loops around it.
- How stepper motors workA stepper motor turns a fixed angle each time its drive switches the current in its windings: a standard two-phase hybrid makes 200 full steps per revolution (1.8°).
无框架和力矩电动机
- Direct-drive torque motors explainedA direct-drive torque motor is a large-diameter, high-pole-count brushless motor bolted straight to the load, with no gearbox or belt.
齿轮箱和谐波减速器
- How strain-wave gears workA strain-wave gear uses an elliptical wave generator to flex a thin toothed flexspline inside a rigid circular spline with two more teeth, so each input turn moves the output back by two teeth.
编码器和反馈
- Encoder interfaces explainedMatch the encoder interface to what the drive accepts first, then to cable length and data needs.
伺服驱动器
- How servo drives workA servo drive converts supply power into a DC bus, then switches that bus into the motor's phases with pulse-width modulation so the winding current follows a command.
- Servo drive form factors explainedPut the drive where its heat, wiring and servicing are easiest to manage for your machine.
Technology comparisons
All technology comparisons →Side-by-side comparisons of competing technologies, with tables, worked examples and clear guidance on when to choose each.
滑环
- Capsule vs through-bore vs pancake slip ringsPick a capsule slip ring when nothing has to pass through the centre and space is tight; a through-bore ring when a shaft, cable or fluid line must run through the axis; and a pancake (platter) ring when the axial height is very limited but there is room radially.
- Contact vs contactless slip ringsChoose a contact slip ring for power, mixed circuits and moderate data at the lowest cost; it is the only practical way to pass kilowatts.
直线执行器
- Ball screw vs roller screwA ball screw is the cheaper, slightly more efficient choice for moderate loads and smooth motion.
- Rodless actuators: belt drive vs ball screwChoose a belt-driven rodless actuator for long strokes and high speed (Tolomatic quotes up to about 5 m/s and strokes beyond 5 m), and a ball screw for thrust, stiffness and accuracy on strokes up to about 1–3 m and speeds up to about 1.5 m/s; then size the guidance for the cantilevered payload's moments, not just its weight.
伺服和步进电动机
- Brushed vs brushless motorsChoose a brushed DC motor when running hours are modest (maxon puts typical brush life at 1,000 to 3,000 hours), the electronics must be minimal and cost per unit matters.
- Servo vs stepper motorsChoose a stepper for low-to-moderate speeds (roughly under 1,000 rpm), modest inertia and simple point-to-point moves where cost matters; a closed-loop stepper removes the risk of silently lost steps.
无框架和力矩电动机
- Frameless vs housed motorsUse a frameless rotor and stator kit when the motor can become part of your machine's structure, sharing its bearings and housing, and you need the shortest, lightest and stiffest axis with a hollow centre.
齿轮箱和谐波减速器
- Planetary vs worm vs bevel gearboxesUse a planetary gearbox for inline servo axes needing high efficiency, low backlash and high torque density; a worm gearbox for low-cost, quiet right-angle drives at modest duty where low efficiency is acceptable; and a spiral bevel or hypoid stage, usually combined with planetary stages, for right-angle servo axes that need planetary-class efficiency and precision.
- Strain-wave vs planetary vs cycloidal gearboxesChoose a strain-wave (harmonic) gear for compact, zero-backlash joints needing 30:1 to 160:1 in one stage; a precision planetary for ratios below about 30:1, high efficiency and lower cost; and a cycloidal reducer when the axis needs high torque, high stiffness and the best tolerance of shock and tilting loads.
编码器和反馈
- Absolute vs incremental encodersUse an absolute encoder when the machine must know its position at power-up without moving, which is most servo axes, robot joints and anything that cannot safely home.
- Magnetic vs capacitive vs optical encodersOptical encoders give the highest accuracy and resolution but need a clean optical path and tight mounting.
控制器和PLC
- EtherCAT vs PROFINET vs EtherNet/IP for motion controlAll three can run synchronised multi-axis servo motion.
- PLC vs motion controller vs industrial PCUse a PLC when the machine is mostly logic and I/O with a few simple axes; a motion controller (or motion-capable CODESYS PLC) when several axes must move together with gearing, cams or interpolation; and an industrial PC when the same box must also run vision, data handling, HMI or custom code alongside real-time control.
规格构建器
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