Motor assembly
A motor assembly is presented. A motor assembly can include at least one motor; a memory to store calibrated parameters related to the at least one motor; and electronics coupled to the memory, the at least one motor, the electronics including interfaces to couple with a clamping device and a system to control the operation of the at least one motor. The calibrated parameters are determined for the at least one motor with a procedure that includes performing an initial calibration of the at least one motor; wearing in the at least one motor; performing a final calibration of the at least one motor; and storing calibration data in the memory. In some embodiments, the at least one motor can include a clamping motor and/or a firing motor. In some embodiments, lifetime parameters are stored in the memory.
1. A method of calibrating a motor in a motor assembly, comprising:
acquiring an assembled motor assembly, the motor assembly including the motor, a memory to store predetermined calibrated parameters of the motor, and electronics coupled to the memory and the motor, the electronics including interfaces to couple with a clamping device and a system, external to the motor assembly, to control operation of the motor, the electronics being configured to:
retrieve the predetermined calibrated parameters from the memory;
provide the predetermined calibrated parameters to the external system; and
receive control signals for driving the motor from the external system, the control signals being based on the predetermined calibrated parameters;
performing a final calibration of the motor; and
storing calibration data in the memory of the motor assembly;
wherein the predetermined calibrated parameters comprise a motor speed versus no load current relationship for the motor determined by a procedure including:
acquiring no-load data for the motor; and
fitting a function to the no-load data to determine the motor speed versus no load current relationship.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the calibration data includes a motor speed versus no-load current relationship I NL and a torque constant K T .
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein performing the final calibration includes
acquiring no-load data for the motor;
fitting a function to the no-load data to determine I NL ;
acquiring torque loading data for the motor; and
determining the torque constant K T from the torque loading data.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein I NL is a function of motor speed and direction.
5. The method of claim 3 , further including fitting a linear piecewise function to approximate the function.
6. The method of claim 1 , further including wearing in the motor prior to performing the final calibration.
7. The method of claim 1 , further including performing an initial calibration of the motor prior to wearing in the motor.
8. The method of claim 1 , further including storing lifetime data in the memory of the motor assembly.
9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the lifetime data includes a motor assembly lifetime.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the motor is a clamping motor.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the motor is a firing motor.
12. A motor assembly, comprising:
at least one motor;
a memory to store predetermined calibrated parameters of the at least one motor; and
electronics coupled to the memory and the at least one motor, the electronics including interfaces to couple with a clamping device and a system, external to the motor assembly, to control operation of the at least one motor, the electronics being configured to:
retrieve the predetermined calibrated parameters from the memory;
provide the predetermined calibrated parameters to the external system; and
receive control signals for driving the motor from the external system, the control signals being based on the predetermined calibrated parameters;
wherein the predetermined calibrated parameters comprise a motor speed versus no load current relationship for the at least one motor determined by a procedure including:
acquiring no-load data for the at least one motor; and
fitting a function to the no-load data to determine the motor speed versus no load current relationship.
13. The motor assembly of claim 12 , further including wearing in the at least one motor prior to performing a final calibration.
14. The motor assembly of claim 13 , further including performing an initial calibration of the at least one motor prior to wearing in the at least one motor.
15. The motor assembly of claim 14 , wherein the performing the procedure further includes:
acquiring torque loading data for the at least one motor; and
determining a torque constant K T from the torque loading data.
16. The motor assembly of claim 14 , wherein the memory also stores lifetime data.
17. The motor assembly of claim 16 , wherein the lifetime data includes a motor assembly lifetime.
18. The motor assembly of claim 14 , wherein the at least one motor includes a clamping motor.
19. The motor assembly of claim 14 , wherein the at least one motor includes a firing motor.