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Will this 230VAC servo actuator idea work?

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Building Q&A / FAQ' started by Martin van Hagen, Sep 27, 2014.

  1. Martin van Hagen

    Martin van Hagen not trying brings you nothing! SimAxe Beta Tester Gold Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2013
    Messages:
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    Occupation:
    Instrument Engineer
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    The Netherlands
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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino
    I have been following various threads within this forum and still designing my first 2 DOF race simulator and if this is a success move to up-grade to 3 or even 6 DOF. That is why I want to experiment with these types of actuators to, if successful, just assemble a few more.
    Still struggling a bit with the actuators; 12Vdc PMDC's looks OK and are relatively easy to control; VFD's with a standard E-motor is a bit bulky and then I thought maybe a servo motor would do the trick, being small. I have looked at various options from 75Vdc up to this 230Vac example. What I like about this is that it does not hold as much current, so the wiring is relatively thin, but has some torque for its size. I need to pay attention with the voltage (230Vac) and the harmonic distortion using VFD's but that is just proper installation, which I am not uncommon with my industrial background.

    So I am wondering if this would work:

    upload_2014-9-26_22-1-57.png
    upload_2014-9-26_22-13-54.png

    Due to the variable load that goes through the worm gear it might give trouble, however I have seen enough nice designs that operate well with a window wiper set-up, winches or golf cart internals.

    My thoughts are to built a durable servo actuator with some grunt that I can feed from a mains outlet (20A).

    Does anybody have some points to share about this set-up?

    For the frame and my collection of race gear I will post another thread. On this I will use extruded aluminum i.c.w. plating (carbon look finish). Hopefully more of my sim rig design in the next month.
    • Like Like x 1
  2. tadythefish

    tadythefish Active Member

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    Occupation:
    Process automation engineer
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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor, Arduino
    that is a very expensive setup! i saw a few VFD ideas on the forum but i cant see how this would be useful. you will need fast accelerations and declarations if you want a race seat style sim. but if you build a flight sim this could work. i don't know i'm suck with the design of actuators myself. still searching for ideas :)
  3. Martin van Hagen

    Martin van Hagen not trying brings you nothing! SimAxe Beta Tester Gold Contributor

    Joined:
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    Occupation:
    Instrument Engineer
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    The Netherlands
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    Ratings:
    +29 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino
    @tadythefish Why would it not be fast enough? The Ghirri info was given at 1390 but the servo can punch it to 3000 given it a secondary output of 75 RPM. I have deliberately chosen the strongest quality on a fs=2. With the grunt of 37Nm on a meter thus up the scale by a factor of 10 on a 100mm long arm. Let's do 75/60= 1,25 RPS generates a 400mm/sec (approx.) travel. That would be a respectable grunt for a race simulator if not mistaken. With in this calculation I already have incorporated the 0,78 efficiency and am made aware that the temperature will cause the oil to heat up causing some deviations in the positioning but if the temperatures over the gearboxes are some what equal it will hopefully balance out nicely.
    Concerning the cost I think it requires some patience to purchase something that will be industrial quality, durable and reliable. first testing with one to make it all work then I would like to step up, from starting with a 2 dof, in stages to a 6 dof. If it works this will be almost indestructible :D
    • Like Like x 1
    Last edited: Oct 4, 2014
  4. tadythefish

    tadythefish Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2009
    Messages:
    148
    Occupation:
    Process automation engineer
    Location:
    Slovenia
    Balance:
    677Coins
    Ratings:
    +95 / 1 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor, Arduino
    that is something that needs to be tested in rel life :) i don't have a lot of experience with AC drives. I did wire up and made them work but i never tested how fast can they change the direction of rotation. You would need to setup the drives for really fast acceleration and deceleration :) if you can make it work you can have a really powerful rig :)