How To

Power. Wattage. Energy Consumption. All these terms can be used when discussing electric linear actuator power consumption. But what exactly do they mean and how do you calculate the power consumption of a 12V DC motor or any motor/linear actuator? That is exactly what we intend to show you in this article.   Current Draw of Linear Actuators Electric linear actuators that are manufactured by Progressive Automations use DC motors. Depending on ...

The PA-18 Track Linear Actuator is our largest fixed-length actuator and is commonly used in custom cabinetry, home automation, and robotics. You can easily control an actuator with an Arduino board, and this article will showcase how to build and program an Arduino controlled linear actuator that can be easily adapted to fit your application!   Required Hardware The following pieces of hardware are required for an Arduino controlled linear ac...

Micro linear actuators – the smaller counterpart of standard-sized linear actuators – are relatively new to the market, where their size and capabilities are being installed into a wider automation field. Nonetheless, the active development of robotics and the constant advancement of all modern technologies available to the US make these handy devices more interesting and fruitful for professionals as well as amateur engineers in the long run....

There may be cases when you want to move an object a longer distance than what the actuator's stroke length is. You can achieve this by using a telescoping actuator or you can use the physics of mechanical leveraging to your advantage. Common examples of this are the scissor lift or what our friend Mike Senna, the creator of the Wall-E Robot, did with his DIY Chicken Coop Automatic Door Opener. [cta] [cta-content] The stroke length of our elec...

Raising chickens at home is becoming more common and accepted for producing local fresh food. With that said, rearing chickens at home can be a lot more than just collecting the eggs. It does come with a set of responsibilities of ensuring they are well-fed, healthy; they have access to water, sunlight, ventilation and much more. But most of all, you need to be able to shut the chickens in and let them out of their coop daily, which does requi...

Electric connectors are used as a mechanical assembly to join electrical components together. They are widely used in electrical devices such as an electric linear actuator. It is common for users to install a new connector to wires or change connectors for an existing power cable. In this article, I will go over the tools needed, and the steps required to install a new connector for your linear actuator. Components and Tools Wire. Connector ...