Whitepaper: New motor technology for movement in applications

A new white paper is now available to help engineers take advantage of groundbreaking technology for movement in applications.

Traditional design methods use PCBs as motor controllers with connections to a physical motor located somewhere in the vicinity of the card.  “For building smaller, cheaper and better applications, we offer a patented new technology that allows you to build one or more motors directly onto the PCB itself. It significantly reduces application costs and introduces a world of new design opportunities” explains Henrik Staehr-Olsen, CEO of the Danish technology company, PCBMotor.

The white paper - available at www.pcbmotor.com - describes how the technology uses standardized components and well-established assembly techniques to increase profit margins by:

  • Reducing application size and integrating the motor and all electronics onto one printed circuit board
  • Reducing bill of materials – PCBMotor’s direct drive eliminates the need for gears
  • Further eliminating costs and the need for screws, wires, connectors and manual assembly
  • Surface mounting actuator components for the motor directly onto the PCB
  • Increasing your design options with the unique, hollow and ultra-slim form factor of the PCBMotor

Under the hood of the on-board PCBMotor
Technically speaking, the PCBMotor consists of two parts:

1. The stator. Milled out of the PCB itself, houses the piezos/actuators and the electrical connecting circuit (the PCB can also hold the driver)
2. The rotor. Pressed onto the surface of the stator, which delivers the mechanical output. 

A traveling wave is generated over the stator surface, acting as a flexible ring, and produces an elliptical motion on the rotor interface. This elliptical motion of the contact surface propels the rotor and the connected drive-shaft.

1 mm x 1 mm piezoceramic components are mounted onto the PCB. Operation depends on friction between the moving rotor and the stator as well as the amplitude and quality of the wave traveling on the stator. The rotor can turn between 60 and 120 RPM with torque ranging from 1 Nmm to more than 70 Nmm depending on the stator’s diameter, the number of piezo components and the rotor design and material.

Learn more
If you'd like more information, or to schedule an interview with Henrik Staehr-Olsen, please call +45 2087 5111 or e-mail hso@pcbmotor.com.


2009-02-01: Engineers Guide for building applications with SMD mounted SMD Piezo motor