In robotics, servo is becoming one of the most popular names. From robotic arms to other applicable situations, the use of servo motor is becoming more widespread in the building of robots and you may be wondering why this is the case. In this short post, we are going to explore the reasons for this and explain a little about how things work with the mechanism.
The major reason servos are becoming the preferred engine for most robotic engineers is because it demonstrate a bigger torque generation potential while delivering equivalent levels of performance and accuracy found in other engines like steppers. This is one huge factor behind the widespread application of the motor in closed loop systems where precise position control is required.
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Basic Things to Know About Servo Motor
A servo motor is a self-contained electrical device that has the ability to efficiently rotate parts of a machine with great precision. It has a controller, which is one of the most important parts. It also uses a sensor for positional feedback, and this is why it is often precise with its movement.
One of the most important things to understand about the servo motor is that it is normally a part of a closed-loop system comprising of the servo motor, a control circuit, shaft, potentiometer, drive gears, amplifier, and an encoder or resolver. When everything is alright with the servo motor, its output shaft can be moved to a particular position, in a particular angle, and at a velocity a regular motor is not capable of achieving.
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High Toque and Why It Is Important
Torque is basically a measure of how much strength a motor can output. In a servo motor, high torque potentials simply means that the mechanism is able to handle heavier load. It means the machine will be able to perform tasks with higher accuracy even when the load it is handling is heavier. The total amount of turning force the mechanism will output will depend on such design factors as shaft speed and supply voltage. The electric signal that controls the motor can be analog or digital.
In designing and building robots, one simple trick that works all the time is finding motors with the right balance between torque and speed. Speed is mostly not an issue in the mechanism but once the torque potentials is limited, it will put a limit to the efficiency of the design. There are instances where gears will be needed to convert speed to torque or torque to speed but this is not too necessary when the motor has an impressive torque rating.
When designing and building robots, servo motors are preferred for so many reasons. High torque is a sizing criterion that must be considered as a matter of priority. There are some other critical metrics you will need to understand and put into consideration such as servo speed and inertia ratio. This is why it is important to go for trusted servo motors like the RDrive series from rozum.com, which feature high torque by design and will deliver the right solution for different kinds of robotic projects.
