Voice Coil Actuators | High-Speed, Frictionless Stroke

A Voice Coil Actuator is a specific electromagnetic actuator capable of fast, smooth, and frictionless linear actuator motion. It essentially works akin to a loudspeaker coil wherein the flow of current results in the reaction of the coil with a magnetic field to produce force and motion. These actuators are ideally suited for applications involving high speeds and short distances. Engineers prefer the zero-contact system because it works sans mechanical friction and backlash. These systems find their use among scanning, focusing, or vibration-sensitive systems demanding precise, repeatable motions at top acceleration.

Voice coil actuators operate on the principle of the Lorentz force. The moment electric current is supplied to a coil kept in a magnetic field, it feels a force perpendicular to the directions of current and magnetic field. This force generates linear motion of the coil (or attached payload) without any mechanical contact.

With that, here are the key points from the Principle of Lorentz Force:

1) Direct-drive motion:

• No gears or mechanical linkages involved, guaranteeing smooth and accurate actuation.
• It allows for faster response times and reduced mechanical complexity.

2) Bidirectional control:

• Control over direction and magnitude of motion is exercised through manipulating the current.
• This ensures near-instant dynamic positioning in either direction.

3) Frictionless movement:

• No friction or backlash since there are no contacting parts in the drive mechanism.
• It ensures longer life and better performance in sensitive applications like scanning or focusing

• Frictionless motion: Our direct drive design utilizes no mechanical contact, lowering wear and improving response.
• Rotary voice coil actuator: The compact rotary actuator delivers precise motion in constrained motion environments.
• Linear voice coil actuator: The linear actuator supplies high-speed, backlash-free linear displacement to high degrees of accuracy.
• Zero back lash: Each actuator is designed to ensure smooth, vibration-free operation during high-speed cycles.
• High dynamic response: Fast acceleration and deceleration, great for scan, focus, and pick-and-place applications.
• In-house manufacturing: Norck Robotics is always in control, from the coil winding process through final testing, ensuring total quality.
• Global support: Engineering support and fast delivery for parts in different parts of world.

There are several notable features that render a voice coil actuator suitable for the most demanding motion control applications. As a frictionless linear actuator, it provides smooth, non-contacting movement with no mechanical wear and, hence, long life.

Some of its key features include:

• Rapid response: Can reach enormous acceleration quickly, along with fast reversals, suitable for rapid positioning.
• Frictionless: No gears, no contact of moving parts create smooth operation with no vibrations.
• Short and precise strokes: It can provide accurate and controlled motion over very small distances, usually at a sub-millimeter scale.
• Compact and lightweight: Its simple electromagnetic structure allows it to fit into limited spaces.
• Bidirectional control: Precise control of position allows smooth motion in either direction.

This makes it the first choice for applications such as scanning, focusing, and high-speed automation.

Voice coil actuators (VCAs) are known as friction-less actuators: rapid, accurate, and repeatable motion applications with minimal mechanical resistance are particular in their need. They ensure smooth motion without physically contacting the moving parts, thus making them most suitable for sensitive systems. Some applications are:

• Laser scanning: Short-distance motion for imaging, laser scanning, and surface inspection applications needing speed and precision.
• Focusing: Fine linear adjustments were made to the optical system of cameras, microscopes, and laser systems.
• Vibration-control: It acts as a responsive element used for dynamic damping to reduce vibrations in sensitive instruments.
• Positioning: It allows micro-positioning at high speeds for automation, probing, and metrology setups.
• Test and simulation: Generates accurate and repeatable displacements in laboratory and aerospace test environments.

Being frictionless actuators, they provide the highest performance with minimal wear and beachfront accuracy, more so on advanced research and industrial automation platforms.

The removal of mechanical resistance facilitates frictionless motion, and with that, furnishing smooth operations, along with reliability, and longer service time. It is extremely capital for repeatable, high-precision systems.

Among the main advantages are the following:

• Faster response time: Resistance being low, actuators can swiftly accelerate and decelerate.
• Better energy efficiency: Less friction means less energy is lost to heat, which allows better performance of the system.
• Minimum wear and maintenance: There being no contact between the moving elements, the components have longer wear life and require less care.
• Extreme precision and accuracy: The absence of friction allows for extremely precise and accurate relative positioning to the end, where mechanical noise may arise or the dimension can vary.
• Cleaner operation: Situations that require a clean environment, such as a cleanroom or medical applications, lend themselves to frictionless operation, as contamination due to particulates from mechanical wear must be prevented.

Frictionless motion is particularly useful for microscopy, semiconductor handling, and optical alignment, where infinitesimal disturbances affect performance.