In In Motion October, we share a new application story with the University of Washington where ORCA Motors powered batoid-inspired propulsion for research and development purposes. Iris Dynamics releases more engineering resources, sharing a quickstart guide for Modbus RTU enabling easy operation from PLCs or embedded microcontrollers. Finally, Iris Dynamics exhibited at PDX 2025 where we presented a full training session on Harnessing the Power of Linear Motors for Precision Control.
Unlocking Passive Dynamics: Batoid-Inspired Propulsion with ORCA™ Motors || Application Story with the University of Washington
Researchers at the University of Washington aim to understand how nature's most adept swimmers, rays and skates, propel themselves in the water, through the study of batoid-informed undulatory propulsion. Their early 7DoF robotic system struggled to product smooth, repeatable motion, in a silent manner. ORCA Motors offered a precise, repeatable solution with near silent operation, a waterproof, and fully integrated design.
"There are plenty of linear actuators that are really, really fast, but they're all too weak. There are plenty that are ridiculously strong, and they're all too slow. The ORCA Motor gave us total freedom to pick our amplitude and frequency within our required ranges ".
- John Michaels | Project Lead at the University of Washington
Getting Started Modbus RTU || Easy Operation from PLCs or Embedded Microcontrollers
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We’re always working to make it easier for you to navigate our documentation and accelerate your development times. That’s why we’ve created the Getting Started webpage, a guide to setting up your ORCA motor with the interfaces we support. Right now, you can dive into the IrisControls, Python, and C++ guides. More resources, including MATLAB, LabVIEW, and others, will be available soon.
Iris Dynamics at PDX 2025 || The Future of Linear Motion
Thank you to everyone who visited Iris Dynamics' booth at the Product Development Exposition in Phoenix, Arizona. A special thank you to those who attended our training session, Harnessing the Power of Linear Motors for Precision Motion Control. If you missed the training session, not to worry! We've recorded the session in its entirety so you can see how to set up an ORCA Motor, configure motion profiles through Kinematics Mode, explore Haptics Mode, and see our latest force feedback and sensing egg demo!
WATCH THE FULL TRAINING SESSION
