How to Control a Stepper Motor
Motion ControlProduct

How to Control a Stepper Motor

Stepper motors use specialized control methods to achieve better precision than standard variable speed motors, while avoiding the expense and complexity of servo systems. For industrial automation, the term motion control usually means using an electric motor to positively drive the position, velocity, and acceleration of a physical system. Pneumatics are economical, and hydraulics can…
White Paper: When to Use Steppers for Motion Control
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White Paper: When to Use Steppers for Motion Control

Stepper motors can be the best option, even for precision motion control applications, while avoiding the expense and complexity of servo motors. Standard AC induction and DC motors can only produce basic motion control, and servo motor solutions provide exceptional performance but drive up costs and complexity. For many motion control applications, stepper motor solutions…
Stepper Motors | White Paper
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Stepper Motors | White Paper

Stepper motors play an important role for motion control applications requiring more precision than standard variable speed motors, but not warranting the expense and complexity of servo motors. For many applications, a stepper motor solution occupies the sweet spot of providing the required performance, but at a much lower cost than servo solutions. This white…
Beam Testing at Portland State
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookAutomationDirect SpotlightDiscrete SensingEducation/DIYIndustryIssue 37 - 2017Learning ResourcesMotion ControlNotebook IssuePLCProductProgrammable ControlStudent SpotlightTest and MeasurementVariable Speed Drives

Beam Testing at Portland State

For their undergraduate senior capstone project, a team of Mechanical Engineering students at Portland State University (PSU) recently designed an electronic system upgrade for the control system of a 100-year-old beam testing machine. Using a range of AutomationDirect parts, the purpose of the project was to make the operator experience comparable to modern machines.
Selecting Motors for Industrial Applications
+Tech TopicsAC Motors and ControlsLearning ResourcesMotion ControlMotorsOnline OnlyProductVariable Speed Drives

Selecting Motors for Industrial Applications

Efficient use of motors is always important, but there are many other things to consider when specifying an electric motor. Mechanical and environmental considerations are on the list, as is the application and operation. All of these factors are important, but the application is where the selection process should start. How to Select a Motor…
Small Timing Belts and Pulleys
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Small Timing Belts and Pulleys

October 5, 2016 – AutomationDirect’s SureMotion line of motion control products now includes additional synchronous timing belts and pulleys for small motor applications. An excellent choice for many industrial applications, SureMotion MXL series timing belts are 1/4-inch wide, have a 0.080-inch pitch, and are available in neoprene with fiberglass reinforcement and urethane with polyester reinforcement…
Lock-Jaw2 Robot Competes in BattleBots TV Show Using AutomationDirect Parts
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Lock-Jaw2 Robot Competes in BattleBots TV Show Using AutomationDirect Parts

Robots Activate! Is a familiar phrase to those fans who follow the BattleBots competition which just completed its 2016 season broadcast on ABC Television in the United States. One of the BattleBots competition veterans, Donald Hutson, has been involved since the show began and has been on the robot combat circuit since 1986.
Machine Produces Nanofibers for Biomedical Research
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookAutomationDirect SpotlightDrivesEducation/DIYIndustryIssue 36 - 2016Learning ResourcesMachine ControlMechanical Power TransmissionMotion ControlNotebook IssueOperator InterfaceProductProgrammable ControlStudent SpotlightStudent Spotlight

Machine Produces Nanofibers for Biomedical Research

If you can’t buy it, you have to build it. This was the situation our group of engineering students encountered when we needed to grow vascular tissue for a bioengineering project at Walla Walla University, and found existing solutions were not acceptable.