How to Choose the Correct Actuator

Hi, I’m Adam Ring with Innovative IDM. I wanted to share a couple of ideas of things to consider when selecting an actuator for industrial automation.

First thing to consider is what is the speed requirement that you need to be able to move at. Also what kind of acceleration do you need? Is it really, really slow? Is it really, really, fast? 5 Gs? What kind of thrust is going to be required? How much force are you going to have to push with or pull with? What is your overall travel that you’re going to need the distance from your furthest most retracted point to your most extended point? What kind of accuracy and repeatability do you need or is that even important for your application? These are just some of the basics that might steer you one direction or another.

As you can see here, I have an example of a screw drive linear actuator, then I also have an example of a belt drive rodless actuator. This one from a speed standpoint gets you up to about 200 inches per second, whereas the screw is going to be typically more in the 20-50 inches per second range. From an acceleration standpoint, we can get you up to 1 G. If you really, really need some fast acceleration, you might consider a linear motor actuator that gets you up to basically 5 Gs of acceleration. So depending on what you need, the speed, the acceleration, the thrust, the travel, the accuracy, and repeatability are things to consider when selecting an actuator.

If you have a need for an actuator or would like to learn more, please visit innovativeidm.com after all we’re the home of the legendary customer experience.