Motoring to Success

Chuck Lewin, President & CEO of Performance Motion Devices

When most engineers think about selecting a motor for their latest design, the highest level of excitement that can be expected is a heartfelt yawn. Motion control, which is tied to manufacturing automation, just isn't perceived as a fast-paced field. In the last several years however a battle for motor selection supremacy has been brewing, raising more than a few eyebrows, and ruffling more than a few feathers. The hubbub over motor selection has come within the context of dramatic changes in the motion control industry as a whole. Branching away from its historically machine-tool dominated past, motion control vendors now use the latest electronic and software techniques to squeeze out the maximum possible performance from a given mechanical system.

Industries such as semiconductor capital equipment, medical automation, precision pointing systems, and packaging automation systems are just a few examples of the diversified industrial segments which utilize modern motion control techniques in their applications. In this article we will look at the issues concerning the selection of the right type of motor in positioning control applications. The focus will be on understanding how these motors are controlled, and how the choice of the control techniques affects the system cost.