Factors To Consider When Designing A Precision Motion System

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Precision motion systems are designed to support a variety of automation applications. They provide smooth movement with low friction for accurate movement of components and products. These systems can be utilized in a variety of applications including automotive assembly, packaging and food processing processes, factory automation, and medical product assembly.
To ensure that the motion systems are designed to meet the requirements of each industry, engineers uses different types of guides such as belt drives and linear slide guides, lead screw and ball guides, and ball screw and slide guides.
Factors to Consider for the Precision Motion System Design Process
As one can see, there are many alternatives that can be used to design precision motion systems. So how does an engineer decide which design elements would be the ideal one for a particular industry? Engineers use a systematic selection process when choosing the design elements for creating precision motion systems.

"Technology Systems for Linear Motion Design: Generally, there are two types of technological systems used - profile rail systems and round rail systems. There is a tendency for engineers to speed up the work process by using a previous design. This can complicate matters as every industrial application will have its own design needs. So the concept of "one size fits all" will never work. The engineer has to take aspects such as load bearing capacities, the accuracy of the rail guides with the movement of the screw balls, and the stiffness of the rail bearings into consideration when designing linear motion systems. Depending on the application requirement, the engineer will have to choose between profile rail systems and round rail systems.

"Modified Components: While better technologies are being developed to aid the linear motion product industry, most manufacturers are concentrating on creating cost-effective parts that can match an existing machine"s requirements. The advantage of modified or customized components is that new features can be added to further enhance the overall machinery. A few examples would be taking on higher stress loads, extending the length of the linear slide, better cables and connectors, etc. When developing a new linear motion system, the engineer has to look at these aspects for improving the overall system design.

"Improved Tools for Component Configuration: Modified components can help enhance a precision motion system. But put all of these aspects together, and it can lead to a time consuming process. For this reason, linear motion system manufacturers are using different approaches to estimate the right configurations that will be required for a particular system. One approach is using new online configuration software. It allows you to select the component type, and provide the necessary application parameters. The software then provides the exact configurations you will need to manufacture a component. Using this software will allow the engineer to decide whether to use a modified component or a standard one to suit the application.

The development of a precision motion system is an intricate and complicated process. By making the right choices in terms of technology and components, engineers can design better systems that will meet the requirements of industrial applications.
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