MotionCompass – Selecting the “right” motor for your application

 

humanoid robots, surveillance camera systems, aircraft seat actuation, tattoo machines, and more. We help OEMs select the “right” miniature motor to power their applications. Our solutions include miniature dc and bldc motors, miniature can stack steppers and disc magnet motors as well as linear actuators with gear composite. These are usually customized to varying degrees, to suit requirements of the end application.

Since our motors are exposed to diverse operating conditions, selecting the right motor can be a daunting task. Certain applications need motors that can operate at extreme temperature ranges, whereas in some cases, OEMs are looking for motors with ability to withstand shocks and vibrations. Parameters like “length”, “diameter”, “torque”, “speed”, “power density” etc play an important role in motor selection. Thus, we’ve provided our clients and prospects with an online platform - MotionCompass^TM, that helps them select the best-suited motor for their application.

 

So let us explore how MotionCompass^TM works!

Login to www.motioncompass.com. With a one-time registration, our MotionCompass^TM tool allows you to view and compare several options across Brush DC, BLDC and Stepper miniature motors technologies based on your specific application requirements. Once logged in, you will land at the Specification Input page, where you can insert all motor requirements and the tool will do the calculations.

You will need to keep in mind a few minimum application requirements such as motor speed and torque. The more specific your technical information, the better are your chances of selecting the perfect motion control solution for your application. In case the application requires a gearmotor (i.e. a motor equipped with gearbox), you can select it from the Gearbox or Linear field. Likewise, if you need bearings and encoders as well, you can select them from their proper fields.

 

Typically, for all battery-powered applications, motor efficiency is a very critical parameter. For such applications or those that have current limitations, you can think of the right balance between speed, efficiency, power and current for your motor search.

As indicated above, by locking the feature that you want (e.g. motor speed), you can select the other features and ensure the desired balance manually. If you hit the balance button it will spread all four features equally (i.e. in equal percentages).

 

After entering your information, the tool will automatically calculate the best motor option for you and show the sorted options based on the balance you’ve done.

Select appropriate motor(s) and click on Comparison Graphs Brush DC and Brushless DC (only available for those technologies). The system will then redirect you to another page that will show comparative graphs such as speed versus torque, current versus torque, and more.

You will then be able to select other motors options that were discarded when performing the first comparison.

 

For comparison of stepper motors, just click on the Stepper Comparison Graphs and these graphs will follow the above mentioned information method. If you want to see how each motor performs in terms of Speed vs. Torque, Current vs. Torque, Power and Efficiency,  you can click on Performance Graphs that display all this information within four graphs for your analysis.

 

By analyzing these graphs, you can determine how your motor is performing within its own curve. In other words, you’ll be able to check how much you are demanding from the motor and by comparing them you can check which of them works lighter than the other.

 

Click on Electrical and Mechanical to check motor datasheets for detailed information that might be important to define the final package application. This may also help understand if the motor fits into some pre-defined mechanical constraints as part of your project.

 Valuable information on electrical parameters is shown within those datasheets that also helps narrow down your motor search based on your specification or project technical limitations.

 

MotionCompass^TM provides a user-friendly interface for you to input your required performance parameters of a miniature motor and choose an optimal solution. Once you find the right motor for your needs and want Portescap to get in touch with you, all you need to do is just click the Contact Us button on upper side of page, or use the Submit your Application link at the left-side table, and a Portescap Sales Engineer will get in touch with you in 24 business hours. If you want to call us directly, please take a look at all our world-wide contacts in a table at the left-side of the page!