| TECHNICAL INFORMATION |
Presented below are some of typical technical data you will need. If you require any further in-depth answers please refer to your local distributor.
| POSITION MODE |
| Position Mode will allow the actuating rod to be moved to chosen positions along the stroke using acceleration, velocity and force. It is possible to make absolute, relative and "learnt position" moves. |
| VELOCITY MODE |
| Velocity Mode allows the actuating rod to be moved with a given velocity, acceleration, force and direction. Typically used for "soft land" routines. |
| FORCE MODE |
| Force mode is open loop, using no feedback from the controller. Actual position can still monitored, but has no effect upon the output. |
| DUTY CYCLE |
| SMAC insist that all units must be
operated with a 40% duty cycle, this can be calculated as
follows: % of max force applied x % of cycle time it is applied = % duty cycle eg. 100% force x 40% of cycle time = 40% duty 60% force x 50% of cycle time = 30% duty 40% force x 100% of cycle time = 40% duty NOTE: Failure to observe this duty cycle recommendation will usually result in the actuator sustaining damage through overloading. Overloading will overheat the coil and may cause it to deform and touch on the magnet housing. |
| RUNOUT |
| Shaft run out is typically <50 micron. |
| RESOLUTION & REPEATABILITY |
| Resolution when applied to SMAC
products is defined as as the smallest position increment
produced by the encoder. Our standard encoder resolution is 5 micron, although most actuators also have the option to be fitted with a 1 micron or 1/2 micron encoder. Repeatability, sometimes referred to as reproducibility, is the ability to of a system to return to a given position with little or no deviation. One of SMAC's principle advantages is the absence of any mechanical backlash which is inherent in so many stepper and ballscrew systems. In addition our encoder reads the true linear position rather than converting the stepper motors rotary encoder signal to the linear ballscrew movement. With correct PID tuning our actuators are repeatable to 2 encoder counts. |
| CONTROLLER REPORTING AND QA FUNCTIONS |
| The controllers can output pass/fail and product performance figures, which can then be used in statistical QA and production analysis. |