I'm an avid Harbor Freight shopper. Well, window shopper mostly. They have cheap power tools with way more torque than you can get with hobby grade stuff for the price.
By the time you get the electronics down to use them as servos, are they worth trying to use? It's my understanding that controlling AC motors is different than DC; any idea of the cost difference in controllers?
Seems to me this would be a good way to build a strong arm or something. Obviously it would not lend itself to portability, but with the right inverter it could be done.
allanonmage:
I'm an avid Harbor Freight shopper. Well, window shopper mostly. They have cheap power tools with way more torque than you can get with hobby grade stuff for the price.
By the time you get the electronics down to use them as servos, are they worth trying to use? It's my understanding that controlling AC motors is different than DC; any idea of the cost difference in controllers?
Seems to me this would be a good way to build a strong arm or something. Obviously it would not lend itself to portability, but with the right inverter it could be done.
As you stated controlling DC and AC motors are pretty different unless you use just plain old relays for simple on/off control. Any 'servo' application or even variable speed for AC motors is more difficult and/or expensive then their DC counterpart.
When you say 'high power', what sort of speed/torque range do you have in mind? Power tools are typically not designed to be used stalled and might object to being used as as servo if loaded anywhere near their full torque, but with suitable gearing a much lower torque motor can be used.