FAULHABER MICROMO LLC

"In conventional agricultural machinery, mechanical gear transmissions and pneumatic drives are very common," explains Kevin Moser, who, as Business Development Manager, is responsible for applications in this sector at FAULHABER. ""For smaller-scale systems in smart farming, these are often too heavy, too bulky, too mechanically complex and too energy inefficient. We therefore see an increasing number of electric micromotors in use here that supply the power for specific work steps. The drives in an agricultural environment must, however, usually meet very high requirements.

Unlike the traditional large devices, the machines and components used in smart farming are generally more compact and lighter. This means that there is often little space available for the motors. Nevertheless, as drives of sowing disks, flaps, grippers, robot arms or shears, they must supply sufficient power to reliably perform the respective task over countless cycles. At the same time, they should operate extremely efficiently, as the autonomous units usually draw their energy from batteries with limited power reserve. It must also be possible to integrate the drive electronics in networked structures and make intelligent control possible.

These are typical requirements placed on drive systems of the highest class; the right answers are always standard issue at FAULHABER,"" says Kevin Moser. ""Moreover, the drives used in agricultural environments must also be extremely robust so that they themselves function reliably and for the long term under the most demanding conditions. Large temperature fluctuations and strong mechanical loads are the norm in agriculture and horticulture. And, in spite of all of this, the costs must remain reasonable. We at FAULHABER can offer multiple series of devices that manage this balancing act.

Moser is referring to the maintenance-free brushless and especially compact flat DC-micromotors of the BXT series as well as the exceptionally robust and cost-efficient copper-graphite motors of the CXR line. The gearheads of the new GPT series are very well suited for high load transmission under harsh conditions. Extremely efficient, they are also very robust and, thus, ideal for agricultural applications. Optional incremental encoders enable highly precise positioning. Various controllers, e.g., with CANopen interface, are available for the networking of the drive systems. ""Drives from FAULHABER are already being used in smart farming,"" reports Kevin Moser. ""They will continue to play an important role for demanding applications in this area.