Maple is used for micro motor design at Rotalink

ROTALINK employed Maple, the symbolic mathematics software for engineering applications from Canadian developer Maplesoft, to simulate and design a new product for its AC miniature motor range. It contributes to reducing time-to-market and development costs of the product.

Rotalink is a 70-person UK-based company that designs and produces a wide range of miniature power transmission products: motors, gearboxes and control electronics. Its motor range includes shaded pole, unidirectional or reversible AC motors, permanent or hybrid stepping motors and brushed DC motors, with geared motors torques ranging from 0,01 to 10 Nm. Applications include vending machines, automatic retailing machines, peristaltic pumps, photocopiers. Rotalink differentiates itself via a wide range of off-the-shelf market oriented products, involving high research and development investments. It is supported by component sourcing strategies that drive costs down.

The traditional way of testing motors is to build physical prototypes and then analyse their performance. With Maple, Rotalink is now able to fully simulate the operation of the motor during the design phase. “The mathematical differential equations which describe the motion of the motor are very complex. They involve the rotor inertia, the flux linkage (a fundamental equation with third harmonics), the detent torque (fundamental with second harmonic), and the applied voltage with magnitude and phase,” says John Lines, Technical Manager at Rotalink.