Motion Trends: Customization tops gearmotor design trends

Joint cooperation is the norm especially for components designed for specific, unique applications. One area where manufacturers are seeing increased demand is in automated guided vehicles (AGVs). A major trend in transportation has been in the direction of electric vehicles and here gearmotors excel. Some of the most common uses are in automated warehousing applications such as automated storage and retrieval (AS/RS) systems. However, gearmotors can also be used in other vehicle applications such as in forklifts, lifting technology, construction equipment, and packaging machinery, to name a few.

A typical requirement for gearmotors used in AGVs is that their size should be as compact as possible because of space limitations. And because AGVs are battery powered, the gearmotor power consumption needs to be minimized. One way to do this is to pair low-voltage dc motors with high-efficiency gearboxes. As dc motors have higher peak torque for a given size they can be smaller and lighter than other motor options.