ORCA motors’ fully integrated design greatly simplifies installation and setup, unlike other actuators that typically require additional components to get moving. Essentially, with ORCA Motors, you have the cable, stator, and shaft. The magnetic stainless steel shaft has been designed to excel in a variety of mounting applications. Watch this short video to learn how to mount objects to the end of the shaft based on the needs of your application.
Mounting directly to the ORCA shaft allows for compact, efficient integration, no additional couplings or hardware is required. This is especially useful in applications where precision and minimal dead length matter. With both metric and imperial thread options, and available custom lengths up to 39 inches, the shaft is ready to meet your specific needs—no machining required.
The end of the shaft is flat, allowing for flush mounting of end effectors. It is crimped with a proprietary geometry that functions as a high-strength joint, while also featuring wrench flats and minimal dead length.
The video tutorial uses the ½-20 threaded hole at the end of the shaft to attach a common mounting component: a swivel joint. These joints are especially useful for testing and measurement applications, as well as for attaching motors to our RAVEN six-degree-of-freedom motion platforms.
Please note that ORCA shafts contain very powerful magnets and require extreme caution when handling them, especially around other magnetic components or shafts. This also means they cannot be altered or machined, although custom shaft lengths of up to 39 inches are available.
A wrench is used to apply torque when mounting end effectors. We recommend using non-magnetic tools to avoid denting the surface. Note that it is more effective and safer to fit the wrench to the flat closest to where the accessory is being mounted, rather than to the flat at the opposite end of the shaft.
Also note that the threaded hole on the end of Iris’s newly designed shafts is a blind hole. This reduces the risk of damaging the shaft or the magnets inside.