Backdrivable?

[d99100165]

Hi,

Can anyone give me a good defination of 'backdrivable' in terms of electromagnetic actuators/voice coil actuators

Thanks

 

[cswilson]

I've usually seen this term with regard to power transmission devices like gear trains. A system is "back-drivable" if a force/torque on the load can force the actuator to move. A system with spur and bevel gears is generally back-drivable; a system with worm gears typically is not. I can't imagine what you could do with a voice-coil actuator to make the system "not back-drivable".

Curt Wilson
Delta Tau Data Systems

 

[d99100165]

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. I'm trying to create a list of essential characteristics that actuators should possess for a particular application and this seems to be one of them.