Hi all,

I am fresh mechanical design engineer. I have some questions regarding the electrical components and wiring issues in mechanical design:

(1) For an electromechanical system, how serious will motor influence the electronic components and wiring in terms of creating electromagnetic noise to electrical signal? What are the methods to reduce the noise?

(2) How will vibration and shock affect the life and performance of electronic components?

(3) In a robotic system involving rotating parts, what is the best arrangement for wiring to permit a wide range of motion?

Thanks a lot for your comments and advise. Any suggestion on further reference books and websites is much appreciated.

 

I'm a designer, and not an engineer, so with that caveat in place, here are my answers:
1. If you magnetically shield the motor, and electrically shield the electronics, the influence should be minimal. Capacitors can be used to shunt spikes of power to ground. There are several ready made noise suppressor components available for this problem.

2. The trick here is to either isolate the electronics from vibrations, or to pot them so that the vibrations have no effect. Potting has many advantages, but also a few key drawbacks. To my mind the main disadvantages are heat buildup, and the inability to repair at the component level. ..But the advantages in mechanical indestructibility and
environment-proofing are sometimes worth it.

3. Slip-rings are a great way to maintain contact on rotating parts.

 

Not my field either, but choosing brushless in preference to brushed motors can help reduce em interference at source, and there are specially designed cables that will give long fatigue lifetime under cyclicle flexion/torsion (Google "Igus Chainflex", for example).

Cheers

Andrew

 

Thanks Andrew and Stew for the inputs!