DART Linear Actuators for the CIM Motor

[Dan Richardson]

Originally Posted by Paul Copioli

Dan,

Cool product and it looks great.

I do have a question: what is the actual pitch, or lead, of the linear actuator itself?

You gave us the gear ratio (that can be changed ... cool) but having the pitch is a crucial piece of information that many users may not realize they need.

mm/rev, in/rev, mm/deg, mm/rev or whatever units suit your fancy would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul

Thanks for the kind words Paul. The lead screw has a .500" O.D. and a .200" Lead. This information hadn't made it's way to the website but we've since added it and a calculator to help you determine Forces and Speeds for a custom configuration.

Yow!, why so much?... well, let me know if the price comes down... otherwise I think for me personally it will be more benefit to make them from other cheaper parts. I know I can find good deals on lead screws for around 12-15 dollars.

We're dedicated to producing affordable components for all FRC teams and we will continue to look for ways to improve our design and manufacturing processes to help bring the cost down. As Monochron pointed out, this ground up solution will bring a competitive advantage over other comparable linear actuators. Our actuator is also less expensive than many of the other industry alternatives that allow for similar power density.

It appears that you're using a normal 3/8" ball bearing to take all the thrust loads from the lead screw. How does this bearing hold up to large impacts and high loading? I only ask because our team has seen issues with bearings falling apart due to high thrust loads.

We iterated on the design and selection of bearings in the design process and landed on a high load capacity ball bearing that has performed well in testing. We have safely operated the linear at greater than 300lbs with no damage.

That said, with significant constant load increases there will be decreased bearing life and at some point they may need to be replaced. Since we were focused primarily on the CIM at higher speeds and forces less than 250 lbs I'd like to do some work here to determine what kind of load/life combos we could see.