Animatics Corporation announces the utilization of their SmartMotor™ in Trak-kit’s telepresence systems. The SmartMotor is a fully programmable multi-axis motion controller with integrated brushless servo drive and motor. Trak-kit is using the SmartMotor to blend industrial capability with aesthetic design and bring motion control to the telepresence and entertainment industry.
Animatics’ Class 5 SM23165D-C-AD1 SmartMotor
Trak-kit™ frees plasma or LCD screens from bulky wall mounts and replaces them with a customizable track mounted to the ceiling that houses the A/V wiring and components and the SmartMotors. Two SmartMotors allow the flat panel to glide effortlessly on installed tracks to and from any location, or disappear completely flush into the wall. The master SmartMotor controls the linear movement along the track while the second SmartMotor dictates rotary motion.
“An entire motion control system is housed inside the SmartMotor. From the outside it looks similar to other servos and steppers, but it’s not similar at all. When customers are able to understand and harness the full functionality of the SmartMotor, it becomes a key factor in the buying decision” says Doug Parentice, President of Animatics.
One of the challenges facing an automated moving telepresence system is the interference between the voltage needed to run the motorized track and the sensitive cabling that transmits high definition audio visual signals. Because of the SmartMotor’s integrated design, significantly less cabling is needed compared to a conventional system. “With these applications, we couldn’t afford to play around with something unreliable. We also needed a servo motor that simply sent out DC voltage with minimal cabling, because too many cables lead to artifacts in the video signal. In addition, with all the code stored in the motor’s internal memory if there’s a power loss, all of our programming isn’t lost with it.” said Shadi Sharokhi, Founder and Chief Designer of Trak-kit LLC.
Trak-kit with SmartMotor schematics and architectural design.
The SmartMotor, an integrated multi-axis motion controller from Animatics, also has an encoder, drive amplifier, motor and communication buses, making it the optimal choice for compact machine design where less parts and wiring mean more success. In addition, all two-way communications for the Trak-kit system happen within the SmartMotor, allowing apps (like the iPhone or iPad as the remote control) to send simple ASCII code to the SmartMotor for operation.
Animatics Corporation
www.animatics.com
Moog Inc.
www.moog.com
::Design World::
Filed Under: Factory automation, AUTOMATION, Drives (servo) + amplifiers, Motion control • motor controls, Motors • servo
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