4. Actuators
Actuators can be built in may different ways, most
prominently:
electrical motors
pneumatics and valves.
In this course we will only deal with electrical motors
In past we built pneumatic robots which you can still find in
the lab.
We will build them again after purchasing air compressor
My first robot was very strong and it was hydraulic. It pissed
hot oil at students in Warsaw.
5. Servo SystemServo System
Servo is mechanism based on
feedback control.
The controlled quantity is
mechanical.
Jussi SuomelaHUT/Automation 5
6. Servo Control of an
Electrical Motor
Jussi SuomelaHUT/Automation 6
7. Properties of Servo
high maximum torque/force allows high (de)acceleration
high zero speed torque/force
high bandwidth provides accurate and fast control
works in all four quadrants
robustness
Jussi SuomelaHUT/Automation 7
8. ElectricalElectrical
ActuatorsActuators easy to control
from mW to MW
normally high velocities 1000 - 10000 rpm
several types
accurate servo control
ideal torque for driving
excellent efficiency
autonomous power system difficult
Jussi SuomelaHUT/Automation 8
11. DC-Motors
simple, cheap
easy to control
1W - 1kW
can be overloaded
brushes wear
limited overloading
on high speeds
Jussi SuomelaHUT/Automation 11
12. DC-motor control
Controller + H-bridge
PWM-control
Speed control by
controlling motor
current=torque
Efficient small
components
PID control
15. H-Bridge
Hardware Implementation with
Microcontroller:
2 Digital output pins from microcontroller,
[one at Gnd, one at Vcc] feed into a power
amplifier
Alternative: use only 1 digital output pin plus
one inverter, then feed into a power amplifier
18. Brushless DC-Motors
(pm synchronous motor)
no brushes no wearing parts high speeds
coils on cover => better cooling
excellent power/weight ratio
simple
needs both speed and angle feedback
more complicated controller
From small to medium power (10W – 50kW)
Jussi SuomelaHUT/Automation 18
19. Asynchronous Motors
very simple, very popular in industry
0,5kW - 500kW
More difficult to control (frequency)
nowadays as accurate control as DC-motors
In mobile machines also (5kW )
Jussi SuomelaHUT/Automation 19
20. Structure of an Asynchronous
motor
Jussi SuomelaHUT/Automation 20
21. Synchronous Motors
usually big 100 kW - XXMW
also small ones ~ brushless DC-motors from
50W to 100 kW
controlled like as-motors (frequency)
ships
industry
Mobile machines
Jussi SuomelaHUT/Automation 21
23. Reluctance (Stepper) Motors
angle control
slow
usually no feedback used
accurate positioning
with out feedback not servos
easy to control
Jussi SuomelaHUT/Automation 23
25. Stepper Motors
Stepper motors are another kind of motors that do not require feedback
A stepper motor can be incrementally driven, one step at a time, forward or
backward
Stepper motor characteristics are:
Number of steps per revolution (e.g. 200 steps per revolution = 1.8° per
step)
Max. number of steps per second (“stepping rate” = max speed)
Driving a stepper motor requires a 4 step switching sequence for full-step
mode
Stepper motors can also be driven in 8 step switching sequence for half-
step mode (higher resolution)
Step sequence can be very fast, the the resulting motion appears to be very
smooth
26.
27.
28. Stepper Motors
Advantages
No feedback hardware required
Disadvantages
No feedback (!)
Often feedback is still required,
e.g. for precision reasons, since a stepper motor can “lose” a step signal.
Requires 2 H-Bridges plus amplifiers instead of 1
Other
Driving software is different but not much more complicated
Some controllers (e.g. M68332) support stepper motors in firmware
(TPU)
33. Motor and Encoder
Motor speed determined by:
supplied voltage
Motor direction determined by:
polarity of supplied voltage
Difficult to generate analog power signal
(1A ..10A) directly from microcontroller
→ external amplifier (pulse-width modulation)
34. Motor and Encoder
Encoder disk is turned once for each rotor revolution
Encoder disk can be optical or magnetic
Single detector can determine speed
Dual detector can determine speed and direction
Using gears on motor shaft increases encoder accuracy
35. Pulse-Width ModulationPulse-Width Modulation
A/D converters are used for reading analog
sensor signals
Why not use D/A converter for motor
control?
Too expensive (needs power circuitry)
Better do it by software, switching power on/off
in intervals
This is called “Pulse-Width Modulation” or PWM
36.
37. Pulse-Width Modulation
How does this work?
We do not change the supplied voltage
Power is switched on/off at a certain pulse ratio
matching the desired output power
Signal has very high frequency (e.g. 20kHz)
Motors are relatively slow to respond
The only thing that counts is the supplied power
⇒ Integral (Summation)
Pulse-Width Ratio = ton / tperiod
41. Servos
Terminology:
Do not confuse “servos” with “servo motors”
DC motors (brushed or brushless) are also sometimes also
referred to as “servo motors”
See: http://www.theproductfinder.com/motors/bruser.htm
“So when does a motor become a servo motor? There are
certain design criteria that are desired when building a servo
motor, which enable the motor to more adequately handle the
demands placed on a closed loop system.
First of all, servo systems need to rapidly respond to changes in
speed and position, which require high acceleration and
deceleration rates.
This calls for extremely high intermittent torque.
42. Servos
As you may know, torque is related to current in the brushed servo
motor.
So the designers need to keep in mind the ability of the motor to
handle short bursts of very high current, which can be many times
greater than the continuous current requirements.
Another key characteristic of the brushed servo motor is a high
torque to inertia ratio.
This ratio is an important factor in determining motor
responsiveness.
Further, servo motors need to respond to small changes in the
control signal.
So the design requires reaction to small voltage variations.”
43. HydraulicHydraulic
ActuatorsActuators linear movement
big forces without gears
actuators are simple
in mobile machines
Bad efficiency
motor, pump, actuator combination is lighter
than motor, generator, battery, motor & gear
combination
Jussi SuomelaHUT/Automation 43
46. Hydraulic Valves
servo valves
complicated structure, expensive
good control
proportional valves
simple, cheap
robust
more difficult to control
Digital hydraulics, new!
several fast on/off valves (2n
)
digital control of the flow
Jussi SuomelaHUT/Automation 46
49. Pneumatic ActuatorsPneumatic Actuators
like hydraulic except power from compressed
air
fast on/off type tasks
big forces with elasticity
no leak problems
Jussi SuomelaHUT/Automation 49
55. Practically
In this class we will use only servos
In past we used DC motors with H-bridge,
pneumatic actuators, nintinol wires and
hydraulic actuators.
So far, if you want to build rather small robots
and you want to concentrate on intelligence and
sensing, RC servos are the best choice. Many
new types arrive every year, from very small to
big powerful ones. Look to internet.
We will learn about some new actuators if time
will allow at the end of the class.