maxon motor for Aerospace
maxon motor is a worldwide company with headquarters in Central Switzerland and production sites in Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, South Korea, USA, France, and the Netherlands. maxon motor develops and builds precision drive systems, including brushless and brush DC motors, flat motors, and modular systems that include planetary and spur gearheads, spindle drives, encoders, and control electronics.
maxon motor DC motors drive the Mars rovers and have been operating on Mars for more than ten years. For helicopters, passenger planes, or spacecraft, we offer customized precision and a vast support network that guarantees high standards.
Benefits of maxon motors
maxon motors, in addition to being incredibly reliable and efficient, offer the following benefits:
- Compact design
- High quality and reliability
- Robust design; resistant to vibrations and shocks
- Wide temperature range capabilities
- Long service life
- Flexible configuration
- Linear characteristics give excellent control properties
- EN 9100 certification
- Defined configuration and change management
- Batch tracing to minimize risk
maxon Technology
maxon DC motor – Ironless Winding
This brushed DC motor with ironless rotor comes in sizes of Ø6–65 mm with up to 250 watts of power. It’s key features include an ability to withstand high overload for short periods, low electromagnetic interference, easy control, and no magnetic cogging torque.
maxon EC motor – Ironless Winding
The maxon EC motor is an electrically commutated brushless DC motor and are available in sizes of Ø4–60 mm with up to 480 watts of power. They offer excellent control properties, a very long service life, high overload capacity, speeds up to 100,000 rpm, and autoclavable up to 1000 x.
maxon EC motor – Iron Core Winding
The maxon EC motors are brushless DC external- and internal- rotor motors that are electronically commutated. They are available in sizes of Ø9.2–90 mm with torques up to 500 mNm. They feature a flat design with high torques, very long service lives, and excellent price-performance ratios.
maxon gear
maxon manufactures planetary and spur gearheads, as well as custom, customer-specific specialty gears. These feature compact spindle drives with steel or ceramic spindles.
maxon sensor
These high-resolution encoders and digital encoders feature a relative position signal, suitable for positioning tasks and direction detection. They also offer speed information from number of pulses per time unit. These sensors are available with single wires and maxon also offers incremental and single-turn absolute encoders.
maxon motor control
4-Q servo controllers and position controllers control quick-response brushed and brushless DC motors up to 700 watts. These are available as an OEM module for installation on a motherboard or ready for connection with housing.
maxon motor Applications
Complex Flight Systems
maxon motor’s drives are used in complex flight systems, like autopilot systems that control flight altitude using mechanical control surfaces. They are also used in auto-throttle systems and force feedback joystick or fly-by-wire flight control systems. In meeting the strict requirements of the aviation industry, maxon motor developed a production method that electronically records the data of each product automatically during the manufacturing process. This ensures even the highest requirements can be met.
Aircraft Interiors
maxon motors have also found use in passenger planes, where a single aircraft can require up to several hundred small drives. Many of these drives are used in the cabin itself, where they ensure comfort for passengers and crew members. DC motors and gearheads can be found in the in-flight entertainment systems (IFE), environmental control systems (ECS), and window shades. They also allow for seat positioning at the press of a button, as well as adjusting cushion hardness. maxon motors ability to mass produce coupled with our high reliability and range of robust, compact catalog drives, highly differentiates us from competitors.
Environmental Control System (ECS)
As mentioned above, maxon motors are used in environmental control systems aboard passenger planes. This application requires 48 maxon DC motors for cabin ventilation, cooling the electronics, and closing and opening the air inlet on the outside of the aircraft.
Robotics: Unmanned Aerial and Ground Vehicles
Reliable components are critical to unmanned vehicles, whether aerial or ground. These components and vehicles often face harsh conditions and must withstand shocks and vibrations without issue. The drives must also be energy-efficient in order to allow for long periods of operation. maxon DC motors meet all of these requirements and automated production lines help maintain the high quality standards that these applications demand.
Commercial Spaceflight
In 2012, SpaceX launched the first private cargo capsule to the international space station. On board were ten maxon motor brushless DC motors to fulfill mission critical functions. EC 40 drives kept the two solar panels facing the sun at all times, ensuring adequate power supply. By 2015, more than 60 maxon brushless DC motors had participated in many SpaceX Dragon flights without a single failure.
Research Missions: Rovers, Satellites, and Spacecraft
Within NASA’s Mars rover, Opportunity, you will find more than 30 maxon DC motors, specifically optimized for use in the 8 mbar of CO2 Martian atmosphere. More than 11 years and 42 kilometers later, the drives are still performing as intended. For this reason, the European Space Agency (ESA) has chosen maxon for their next Mars mission with the ExoMars rover. maxon motor components can be found in satellites, on the ISS, in space labs, and in rovers that explore foreign planets. The knowledge maxon motor gains from these missions furthers the benefits we can provide our customers on Earth.
For more information regarding specific components used in each of the above applications, read the full article here or contact Electromate today.
