FEATURE Drives, Controls & Motors
Micromotors in scientifi c study and exploration
Stewart Goulding, Managing Director of precision drive system supplier, EMS, explores the places and ways advanced micromotor technology is facilitating investigation and experimentation projects
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n May 2021, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft left its study asteroid Bennu to return to Earth. Scientists will use the samples it brings back to learn more about how the planets formed and how life arose on Earth. This is just one example where a technological feat is aiding research. Whilst new ideas, creative leaps and pure chance can all play a role in new scientifi c discoveries, technological advances provide the supporting resources to make new concepts a reality. Due to their ability to complete tasks independently and at faster rate, automated equipment has accelerated research in many industries. Laboratories are just one example:
Previously, testing samples was a tedious process, fi lled with manual mixing, transporting and handling. Now, motorised equipment takes on many of the simpler laboratory tasks, allowing staff to focus on innovation.
For instance, a motorised conveyer belt can transport samples around the laboratory to its designated station. There, a robot can pick up the sample and scan its barcode using an onboard camera to identify it and decipher what type of analysis is required. Using its motorised arm, the robot then places the sample into the appropriate piece of laboratory equipment, such as a centrifuge or a spectrophotometer. Motors are also found in these pieces of equipment, helping to power the spinning force in centrifuges, and positioning the sample mounts in spectrophotometers.
Taking the plunge We are now also seeing automated equipment plunging into the depths of oceans to deliver important information to scientists.
Seismometers measure and record details of earthquakes, such as force and duration. Ocean-fl oor seismometers operate several kilometres below the surface, which makes cables unpractical. Instead, they are battery- powered and placed on the ocean bed to take samples, then retrieved to surface for sample analysis. In order for the sensors to accurately
40 April 2022 | Automation
record the seismic data, it’s important that the seismometer is completely level once placed on the ocean fl oor. As part of the levelling process, accelerometers determine the degree of tilt, which is then communicated to the microprocessor. The microprocessor uses those values and a “levelling” algorithm to calculate the motor motions needed to correct the tilt. Following instruction from the microprocessor, the micromotors adjust the seismometer’s position to become level in a matter of minutes. With the seismometer now level, the sensors can accurately collect valuable data that geophysicists can use to monitor earthquakes.
Shoot for the stars In ocean-fl oor seismometers, micromotors can be found several kilometres below the surface. However, there are many projects where micromotors are traveling hundreds of millions of kilometres away from the ground, as part of explorative space missions. Rovers are sent to explore planets and other celestial bodies without sending humans into space. After landing on a surface, the rover can travel across it while taking photos and collecting samples. A rover can have up to twenty cameras
on board, used not only for its navigation, landing and traversing the surface, but also for sending images for study. The pan and tilt functions of the cameras, along with the lens fi lters, are controlled by micromotors, and allow panoramic photographs to be taken. Rovers also collect rock samples. Here,
micromotors power the drills that excavate the rock, and the robotic arms that place the samples in a safe chamber. Once transported back to a laboratory on Earth, the rock pieces can be used to discover the biological and geological history of the body.
Meeting high requirements Precision is vital in scientifi c research, to achieve accurate and reliable results. Therefore, it’s important to build automated equipment using dependable and high- quality components.
EMS is the sole UK supplier of
FAULHABER motors, which are all made in a fi nely-controlled manufacturing process that ensures they perform with reliability and repeatability. They also deliver high power in a small space envelope, helping to keep research equipment compact, which is benefi cial when trying to fi t between other laboratory equipment or transporting it into space, for example. Technology is an integral part of research,
providing the support required to study the unexplored and test scientists’ hypotheses. With the help of precision micromotors, automated equipment can act as research assistants, performing tasks independently from the depths of the oceans to outer space.
CONTACT:
EMS
www.ems-limited.co.uk
automationmagazine.co.uk
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