Machine Condition Monitoring Keeps a Factory Running

Learn how to outfit your equipment with sensors.

Bipolar and Unipolar Drives for Stepper Motors: A Comparison

Learn the differences between bipolar and unipolar motors, their driving methods, and advantages and limitations.

Back to Basics: Improving Your Drives Investment

An OEM must think about how to build a machine that will work on any kind of power system.

Servo Motion Improves Robot Operations

Servo motion control delivers powerful, fast, and precise movement onboard robots and for associated equipment.

High Bus Voltage Stepper Motor Systems

New high bus voltage stepper motor systems avoid the complexity and expense of servo motors.

Precision Position Feedback for Smart Manufacturing

There is a growing demand for direct-drive motors.

Practical Design Solutions to Improve Contactless Current Sensing in Electric Vehicles

With new vehicles, automotive manufacturers will need to closely monitor the current flowing to the motor.

Keeping Drones Flying When a Motor Fails

Onboard cameras can be used to keep damaged quadcopters in the air and flying stably, even without GPS.

High-Efficiency Megawatt Motor

This partially superconducting machine can be used as a motor or generator.

Selecting the Best Power Supply for Your Stepper or Servo Motor Application

We review three of your power-supply choices.

Composite Material Increases Electrical Current Capacity of Copper Wires

The material can be scaled for use in ultra-efficient, power-dense, electric vehicle traction motors.

Self-Contained Wheel Unit

Researchers have developed a self-contained wheel unit that combines a wheel and an electric motor.

Precision Low-Speed Motor Controller

The technology can be used in commercial motors, robotic systems, and hybrid and electric vehicles.

Stepper Motor Drives: Factors to Help Determine Proper Selection

Stepper motors and stepper-based linear actuators are often selected for open-loop motion control devices and equipment. These can be found in a wide range of products and...

Selecting Electric Traction Solutions for AGVs and Mobile Robots

Smarter, better, faster, less expensive — those words are the mantra of today’s global economy. As organizations seek to streamline operations and do more with less, they...

Directly Cooled Electric Motor Made from Polymer Materials

Making electric cars lighter also involves reducing the weight of the motor. One way to do that is by constructing it from fiber-reinforced polymer materials. A new cooling concept...

Speedy Motor Modeling

Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists have created open source software that scales up analysis of motor designs to run on the fastest computers available.

Implementing Anti-Rotational Guidance for Stepper Motor Linear Actuators

Integrating lead screws with stepper motors is a simple and cost-effective method for getting precise linear motion. But achieving that precision requires...

Benefits of Using Encoders to Improve Step Motor System Performance

Step motors are widely used in automation due to their high resolution, precision positioning, minimal control electronics, and low cost. As an open loop system, traditional...

Transparent Eel-Like Soft Robot Swims Silently Underwater

An eel-like robot was developed that can swim silently in salt water without an electric motor. Instead, the robot uses artificial muscles filled with water to propel itself. The...

VTOL UAV with the Cruise Efficiency of a Conventional Fixed-Wing UAV

NASA Langley Research Center has developed Greased Lightning, the first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that combines vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability with...

Novel Turboelectric Aircraft Design

NASA Langley Research Center has developed a novel aircraft design that can carry 150+ passengers over a range of 3,500 nautical miles. Key features include a turboelectric propulsion system, twin...

Electrical Requirements for Direct Current Electric Actuators

Servo control systems require accurate control of motion parameters such as acceleration, velocity, and position. This requires a controller that can apply current (torque) to...

MOTOR DRIVES: Build or Buy

Every system design presents a unique set of specifications regarding cost, space, time-to-market, and other factors. Designers must therefore make tradeoffs to meet these requirements, such as opting for a higher...

Harmonic Air Motor Offers Very High Efficiency

Currently available air motors have many advantages over electric motors. They are more compact, lighter-weight, instantly reversible without sparking, create no heat buildup, are undamaged by...