1. Motors, Gearmotors & Integrated Solutions ISO 9001:2008 Registered
Moving Motors to Motion Control
Over the years Groschopp has continued to grow in the
overall technical complexity of the products that we offer and
produce on a daily basis. The foundations of the company
started with Universal motors and production of motor parts
sets. Moving on from part sets, we began offering a wide
variety of completed motors including UM, PMDC, AC
Induction, and BLDC. With the advancement of motors
came the need for reducers and the addition of Groschopp’s
Planetary, Parallel shaft, Bevel, and Worm type gearboxes.
In general terms, a motor is a device that outputs power to do
mechanical work. The general motor is loaded with a certain
torque and the motor design dictates that a given speed is produced. As engineers we work with
our customers to select the optimum motor size and winding to allow for the correct speed and
torque to match the application. A typical application might be a pump or blender motor that is
continually used to do one simple, repetitive task.
So what is this business of motion control and how does it relate to Groschopp motors? Motion
control is defined by Wikipedia as “a sub-field of automation, in which the position or velocity
of machines are controlled using some type of device such as a hydraulic pump, linear actuator,
or an electric motor, generally a servo.” When an encoder is added to a motor and coupled with
a control, there is a whole new realm of tasks that the motors can be used to accomplish. The
encoder simply gives detailed feedback to the control regarding the actual position of the motor
shaft at any given time. In some motion control systems the encoder outputs one pulse per shaft
revolution. This type of system can be used to open and close a door or other simple tasks by
counting pulses and calculating the number of counts until the end of travel. In simple systems
the motor performs thousands of revolutions to complete a task so a low precision feedback
system is acceptable. In more complex systems, a higher resolution encoder might be required
(e.g. 2048 or 4096 ppr). These applications require more precision because they can be used as
torque mode motors. The control tells the motor to produce a certain torque based on the precise
feedback of the shaft position. This is much different than an application which runs at speeds
between 1000 to 8000 revolutions per minute.
If you are thinking that is too complicated, here is another way to look at it - adding an accessory
(encoder) allows the motor to be used in a wider variety of applications that perform complicated
tasks. If you ever have a question about an accessory that is being added to a motor, ask our
engineers what it is used for. They would be happy to help solve your motion control problem.
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420 15 St. NE, Sioux Center, IA 51250-2100 USA | sales@groschopp.com | 800-829-4135 | www.groschopp.com