AC Servo Motors

AC Servo motors are not considered a specific class of motor but refer to motors used in a closed-loop system. They consist of a rotary or lineal actuator, supplied by alternating current, which allows for precise control of the angular or lineal position, velocity and acceleration. The motor is coupled to a sensor which provides feedback about positioning. AC Servo motors are regarded as a high-performance alternative to stepper motors. There are a variety of AC Servo motors with changes in their basic design. An AC Servo motor can be used with an absolute rotary encoder to determine its position when the power is turned on. Incremental rotary encoders are simpler, cheaper and are able to reach faster speeds. Integrated Servo motors contain the motor, driver, encoded and associated electronics in one single package. AC Servo motors have a number of applications. They are primarily used in industry. As they are efficient at precise position control, they are used in machine tools, metal-cutting machinery like lathes as well as in automated manufacturing systems. Control programming can be stored on computers so they are also used in robotics and CNC ( Computer Numerical Control) machinery.