subject: How Motion Control Products Are Used In Industrial Environments [print this page] The earliest electric linear motor was built by Charles Wheatstone of King's College in London, England in the early 1840's; a more practical version was developed in 1905 by Alfred Zehden, it was utilized for driving lifts or trains. The basic designs of the linear motor is very similar to the rotary version with the motion being along a line instead of circular and are operated by either AC or DC power, depending on the type being used.
The early versions of the linear motion systems were designed primarily for the purpose of using magnetic energy contained in the alternating coils of the motor to achieve precise control over the linear movement by controlling the forces of attraction and repulsion. Today, the two types of linear motion systems require either alternating or direct current.
The alternating current is often used in various high technical machines some of which include the magnetic trains and other ground transportation, water jet and laser cutting tools for cutting specialized materials that require exquisite precision and measurement. The engineering of the Trans-rapid Shanghai motor system is one such example of the alternating current magnetic train technology.
The brushless servomotors are mostly used for machines that do not require direct human oversight; such as robots, fiber -optical and photonics used in the positioning and alignment of machines such as digital printers used in photography that is used for high speed automation like that used in specialized types of aircraft or possibly military applications. The engineering of these brushless servomotors reduces the amount of vibration, loss of energy and movement needed for precise movements with very little tolerance for error in the tasks that require precision such as the building of semiconductor equipment. One of the most efficient designs is the U tube magnetic track, used because it is designed to reduce the effects of backlash, windup, maintenance and wear such as is common with other linear system designs using pistons, belt, ball and screw or rack and pinion systems.
One other component that is used with the linear motion control systems is perhaps the most important; the rotary position sensors. These are designed to sense the height, depth, incline, width or length of the position of certain specialized equipment such as sensors on an airplane wing to control the pitch of the elevators while flying. Without these, the advanced aircraft would not be able to fly as well by autopilot or with the advanced air avoidance technology that top aircraft in the military use. The rotary sensors are often combined with computers when being used as complex sensors for keying gyroscopes and other sensing technology like that used by the NASA aircraft.
The rotary position sensors are used for other applications relating to the precise accurate measurement of different types of environmental conditions. The refrigeration systems use both temperature and pressure sensors to keep a constant level of cold in the machine and the fluid used in the condenser coils. Wind farms use the engineering of the linear motion sensors to measure the vibration and angle of incline of the turbine to take full advantage of the wind direction and speed as to operate at the maximum efficiency to produce energy or pump water for irrigation.
The oil and gas sector of the economy depends on the rotary magnetic sensors and encoders to measure the flow of gasoline into either the liters or gallons as it is being sold at the pump. The flow of the valve that control the opening and closing of the pipes at refineries use the same type of sensors. These components of linear motion usually not noticed by the public but they do have a great impact on our technologically based lifestyle. The security systems use the engineered linear motion sensors in the motion detection systems to protect valuables against theft or areas against intrusion by unauthorized people.
The linear motion control technology is everywhere, from the computers that control the stop lights to the production of the video, DVD and game products found in practically all homes in the United States. Hospitals, movie theatres, stores and automobiles are just some of the ways that this technology has affected thousands of lives, every day.
The large equipment used in construction and mining, as well as the oil rig platforms use the some aspect of the linear motion control engineering to build, mine and explore this world around us. Without the precise ability to control the aspects of technology with the advantages linear motion systems and their engineering give us today, we would still be moving stones by inefficient rollers instead of transporting them quickly by truck, train or airplanes.
