Minimization of torque ripple

1. An electric motor comprising:

a first linear actuator including a first coil;

a second linear actuator including a second coil;

a rotational shaft;

a cam assembly mounted on said rotational shaft for translating linear movement of the first and second linear actuators to rotational movement of the rotational shaft; and

a controller programmed to generate during operation a first drive signal for the first coil and a second drive signal for the second coil, wherein the first drive signal causes the first linear actuator through interacting with the cam assembly to generate a first torque on the rotational shaft that varies periodically over a complete rotation of the shaft and the second drive signal causes the second linear actuator through interacting with the cam assembly to generate a second torque on the rotational shaft that varies periodically over the complete rotation of the shaft,

wherein the controller is programmed to generate the first and second drive signals to produce a total torque that is substantially ripple free constant throughout the complete rotation of the shaft, the total torque comprising a sum of the first torque and the second torque.

2. The electric motor of claim 1 , further comprising:

a first cam follower assembly coupling the first linear actuator to the cam assembly; and

a second cam follower assembly coupling the second linear actuator to the cam assembly,

wherein the first cam follower assembly is arranged to ride along a first cam surface within the cam assembly, said first cam surface having a first profile over 360 degrees of rotation,

wherein the second cam follower assembly is arranged to ride along a second cam surface within the cam assembly, said second cam surface having a second profile over 360 degrees of rotation, and

wherein the first and second profiles as well as the first and second drive signals are selected to generate the substantially ripple free torque.

3. The electric motor of claim 2 , wherein the first profile is described by n cycles of a trigonometric function, wherein n is an even integer.

4. The electric motor of claim 3 , wherein the second profile is described by n cycles of said trigonometric function.

5. The electric motor of claim 4 , wherein n equals 4.

6. The electric motor of claim 5 , wherein said trigonometric function is a sine function.

7. The electric motor of claim 6 , wherein the first profile is shifted in phase relative to the second profile by

π

2

⁢

n

radians.

8. The electric motor of claim 2 , wherein the first profile follows a curve that is continuous over 360 degrees and that has a first derivative that is continuous over 360 degrees.

9. The electric motor of claim 2 , wherein each of the first and second profiles has a period of

360

n

degrees and each of the first and second torques has a period of

180

n

degrees, and wherein n is an even integer.

10. The electric motor of claim 9 wherein n equals 4.

11. The electric motor of claim 6 , wherein the first and second profiles are aligned in phase and wherein the first and second linear actuators are shifted in orientation relative to each other by

π

2

⁢

n

radians.

12. The electric motor of claim 2 , wherein the first and second cam surfaces are separate surfaces.

13. The electric motor of claim 2 , wherein the first and second cam surfaces are the same surface.

14. The electric motor of claim 2 , wherein:

a first derivative of the first profile is represented by ψ(n c ·θ);

a first derivative of the second profile is represented by ψ(n c ·θ+Δ);

a force generated by the first actuator is represented by F c (n c ·θ):

a force generated by the second actuator is represented by F c (n c ·θ+Δ); and

wherein θ is an angle of rotation of the shaft, n c is an even integer representing a number of cycles of the first and second profiles over a complete rotation of the shaft, Δ is a phase shift between the first and second profiles, and

wherein F c (n c ·θ)·Ψ(n c ·θ)+F c (n c ·θ+Δ)·Ψ(n c ·θ+Δ) is constant as a function of θ.