This month in In Motion, we discuss the trade-offs with pneumatic versus electric systems and how ORCA™ motors can become a drop-in replacement for these systems offering higher repeatability and precision, with less maintenance. A new Iris Tutorial on position mode is shared, alongside a technical note on achieving high speed serial communication.
Pneumatic actuators have long been favoured for their simplicity and responsiveness in industrial automation. However, recent advancements in electric linear actuator technology, such as the ORCA Series Smart Linear Motors, offer compelling advantages in repeatability, lower maintenance requirements, programmability, precision, simplicity, and environmental performance. This white paper explores the technical and practical considerations involved in replacing pneumatic systems with modern electric actuators.
In the third operating mode of ORCA motors, Position Mode, the user inputs a desired end position for the motor's shaft, and the motor generates the required force to move the shaft to that position. Before entering this mode, it's important to ensure the shaft has been zeroed to a known position, either manually or through the autozeroing feature. This short Iris Tutorial covers the basics of operating in Position Mode, including how to tune the PID controller.
Does your application require real-time feedback, smooth motion, or the ability to stream large volumes of data from your motor? You may benefit from implementing high-speed serial communication. ORCA motors support high-speed serial communication via a subset of the Modbus RTU protocol, enabling update rates of up to 1 kHz on Windows and Linux. This allows for smoother motion and access to high-resolution motor data. This short technical note outlines how to achieve high-speed communication through Modbus RTU.