slaveboy2000:
I am working on a project that moves a heavy load either forward or backward to a specific location and I am looking for an actuator that would do that. My first thought was a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder but those require a lot of space and are hard to precisely control. I then thought of a thread system like they have in 3d printers but I can't find a long enough or strong enough thread that would work for my purposes. Are there options I haven't considered or are there ways to better the options I have already thought of?EDIT:
Sorry for not adding specific definitions, I don't have any actual measurements but looking at it now it seems silly not to just add approximations. To address some of the comments: they need to span about 32 inches and need to pull with about 300 pounds of force. The faster the better, about a half a second to full extension if possible. Thank's to everyone and their suggestions so far, they will be helpful.
If you are an industrial engineering student, you just failed the class.
You have defined a SINGLE USE MACHINE. Move something one time and then go to the junk yard.
You may want to define how often the machine will move and how and how fast it returns to the initial conditions.
Paul