Where can we find fast linear actuators?

Other Hardware Motors, Mechanics, Power and CNC
1

Hi,
I am looking for linear actuators with around 5'' (10-15 cm) shaft length, which have a linear speed of 30mm/s or more. The hard part is that I also need my motor to have some sort of positioning system, ideally it would be a stepper, but I found some actuators with a pot as positioning sensor attached to it like this one 4 Inch Stroke 150lb Force Linear Actuator - RobotShop

I find it very hard to find motors with such specs by googling. I do not know if anyone has motors in mind? I am not that much aware of all the available motor products right now.. Is it possible to have a linear stepper with 30mm/s or more??

Thank you!!

2

What is the weight they need to move? Why don't you make a linear actuator using a threaded rod, a nut to ride on the threaded rod and a stepper motor and gearing/belting to connect the stepper to the threaded rod?

Paul

3

Inkjet printers probably have stepper motor actuators that move the print head pretty quickly.

4

Devices like this should cover that speed range I think: https://www.motioncontrolproducts.com/linear-electric-actuators/linear-stepper-actuators/hybrid-linear-stepper-motor-actuators/

aliexpress might have considerably cheaper variations.

5

I would look at using a crank mechanism attached to a stepper motor or servo as maybe one of the cheapest options.

Going on from there would be a stepper motor with feedback / encoder (closed loop) and a crank.

Most linear only units can get quite expensive.

6

ballscrewbob:
I would look at using a crank mechanism attached to a stepper motor or servo as maybe one of the cheapest options.

Going on from there would be a stepper motor with feedback / encoder (closed loop) and a crank.

Most linear only units can get quite expensive.

Yeah we decided to go with a nema23 with a rack and pinion mechanism. Linear units are expensive but also very limited in shapes and dimensions. All of them were pretty slow or huge as hell haha

7

You can always mount a linear sensor on the rack for pure positioning as a feedback loop or just some magnets and a hall switch for less precision.

A rack might be a little slower than a crank system but without knowing real details it is hard to say which would be better.

Good luck with your project.

Bob.