Motors for Robotics
| There are 3 types of motors which are used in robotics 1. Regular DC motors 2. Step motors 3. Servo motors Regular DC motors: Regular DC motors are generally used to move a robot on an horizontal plane. DC motors are usually intended for speed but using a simple gear its possible to convert the speed into power. A regular DC motor has 2 wires and it can be operated by simply connecting one wire to ground (-) and the second one to voltage(+). Replacing between the wires will move the motor to the other direction. The higher the voltage the higher the speed, but too much voltage may burn the conduction coils in the motor. There is a need to look at the datasheet of a motor in order to know how to use it properly. You can find here schematics showing how to build an electrical circuit which will control the speed and the direction of a DC motor. There is a wide range of DC motors. The most suited for robotics are the ones which require 12 volts or less because of the battery size that a robot can carry. Here are some links to DC motors manufacturers and datasheets. Step motors: Step motors are type of DC motors. Step motors are generally used to move a part of a robot in a measured angle or a number of steps. Step motors are characterized with high torque relatively to regular DC motors and they don’t require feedback since they are quite accurate. Step motors usually have 4 or 5 wires. One wire for each phase (there are 4 phase) and if there is a fifth wire it is connected to the supply voltage. The easiest way to control the direction and angle of a step motor is by a micro-controller since the control is done by sequencing the voltage to the phases. There are also drivers which control step motors. You can find here schematics showing how to build an electrical circuit which will control the direction and the angle of a step motor. There is a wide range of step motors. The most suited for robotics are the ones which require 12 volts or less because of the battery size that a robot can carry. Here are some links to step motors manufacturers and datasheets. servo motors: Servo motors are type of DC motors. They behave like regular DC motor , but they use feedback to determine position or speed, by using in addition to the motor gear and an encoder or a tachometer. Servo motors have 3 wires: voltage supply, ground and signal which comes from a micro-controller since the signal requires accurate sequenced pulses. There is a wide range of servo motors. The most suited for robotics are the ones which require 12 volts or less because of the battery size that a robot can carry. Here are some links to servo motors manufacturers and datasheets. Links to other web sites which deal with electrical motors: http://www.epanorama.net/documents/motor/rcservos.html http://www.lirtex.com/embedded-systems/stepper-motor-controller-circuit http://www.coolmagnetman.com/magdcmot.htm back to robotics part list |
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