Are there any alternatives to an electric actuator?

[BBray_T1296]

Originally Posted by EricH

Come to think of it...

I'm not sure you want a motor, per se.

Figure out how much torque you'll need to move what you're moving, then go down to your local hobby store that deals with large R/C stuff. You're looking for a good-sized servo. (Servo motors are technically motors, but they're set up to hold a given position rather than run at a given speed--unless you're making a continuous-rotation servo run at speed.)

The bonus here is that servos are rigged for linkages (say, a pivot) so you can really open up your options if you work it right. They don't rotate very fast, necessarily. And, they're relatively cheap. You'll just need a controller--the RoboRIO has servo slots, as I recall, and I know that Arduinos can handle 'em.

It depends on the scale. I think it will be difficult to find an out-of-the box servo solution for a man sized sword swinging arm.

Electric linear actuators might work however if you include a lever multiplier. If you apply the force near the pivot, the resulting end of the arm moves much faster. Again we aren't sure the scale, but if you actuator was attached 6 inches along a 3 foot arm, the end would travel 6 times faster and 6 times further than the actuator. Of course the limitation is 6 times less torque, but depending on the specific motor solution you may have way too much of that anyways.