Now more than ever, the ability to produce high performance goods in the USA is important to the country. ThinGap works hard to be a go-to source of USA designed and made standard and custom solutions for motor kits and has recently delivered high-performance motors to NASA and the Navy under seperate projects.

The delivery of motor kits to NASA and US Navy adds to ThinGap’s long list of Government customers, including DARPA, US Air Force, and JPL. Impressive collaborations with these Agencies speak to the high caliber nature of ThinGap’s products and services. “Our support of NASA and Navy demonstrates the impressive quality and ingenuity that make ThinGap products so special,” commented John Baumann, ThinGap’s CEO. “These advanced motor solutions are provided to our defense and aerospace partners, as well as ThinGap’s growing commercial-customer base.”

The benefit of ThinGap slotless and ironless motor designs is that they eliminate cogging torque. Their uniquely constructed phase windings produce a balanced phase amplitude and angle relationships between phases. In addition, due to these patented unique design features, ThinGap motors exhibit torque versus angle curves with good phase balance resulting in less than 1% harmonic distortion minimizing torque ripple.  ThinGap motors also produce linear torque output with current which ensures minimum torque ripple even at high load conditions. It doesn’t get any smoother than this!

The blue line indicates the type of torque ripple that will be induced as the motor is run with a sinusoidal motor driver.

Recently, MachineDesign released an article on the four biggest robotics trends and the need for miniature motors. The release of this article coincides nicely with the release of our newest LS series product: the LSI 25-10.

Compared to the larger gimbal motors produced by ThinGap, the LSI 25-10 is about the size of a men’s wedding band. Its small size makes it ideal for robots in the medical, warehousing, security and process automation fields. Using the industry trends identified in the article, we have analysed some of the key benefits of our LSI 25-10.

Trend 1: Mobility & Footprint

As stated, many robotics companies are working on unique challenges that require direct-drive motors that are “mobile, dexterous and compact.” As an example, smaller than a quarter, the LSI 25-10 is able to maximize power and torque density, making it ideal for multiple-jointed solutions.

Trend 2: Robustness & Extended Life

The article mentions robots in surgical applications as an example of why durability is such a crucial characteristic in miniature motors. The motors used in surgical robots must be able to withstand “repeated high-temperature and pressure cycles during the sterilization process.” Unlike many other small motors, the LSI 25-10 is able to endure exposure to harsh conditions in atypical environments.

Trend 3: Safety & Analytics

Safely and predictably, two of the most crucial characteristics needed in miniature motors, are required in applications such as robotic surgical systems, realistic flight simulators and even collaborative robots. ThinGap motors have already been used in these applications given that they address the need for a feedback loop in which the operation (or software controlled system) is able to detect resistance. ThinGap’s patented technology provides both drive and feedback, thereby eliminating the need for additional components and not introducing further distortions. The LS series motors have a torque-versus-angle curve of less than 1% harmonic distortion.

Trend 4: Autonomy & Multi-Axis Control

The demand for autonomous systems clearly continues to drive the need for the effective use of small, highly efficient motors paired with advanced sensors. In this way, the compact nature of ThinGap motors make them ideal for multi-axial armatures and robotics, combined with zero-cogging which equates to smooth motion, needed by optical sensors and high speed lasers, as used in LiDAR.

For more information on our LS series of spotless motors, check out our products page.

A recent industry analysis was published by Infiniti Research Limited detailing the expected size and growth rate of the global Brushless DC (BLDC) Motor market and it pointed to some impressive trends.

The industry research published by Infiniti Research in January 2020 predicts that the BLDC Motor Market will experience a dramatic growth of $38.8B between 2020 and 2024, which equates to an expected 13% CAGR during this forecast period.

It is no secret that electric motors have increased in popularity in recent years, case in point, the hugely successful emergence of electric vehicles, like the Tesla brand. While electric cars are a high-profile application, activity in the multi-billion dollar BLDC motor industry is much more pervasive due to trends toward direct drive motion, automation and the benefits of increased efficiency and sustainability offered by electric motors. Beyond traditional applications for electric motors, like the heavy industrial market, a wide range of emerging industries have taken interest in the many benefits of BLDC motors.

While BLDC motor applications and benefits are new to many, ThinGap has been operating on the forefront of the technology for the past two decades. ThinGap’s unique focus has been Slotless Motor kits, which are defined by having a stator that has a uniform wire-wrapped coil and avoids the use of teeth in the back-iron that a typical Slotted Motor would have. This proprietary approach of making slotless stators, coupled with optimized placement of permanent magnets on the rotor, results in a very high torque-to-weight ratio, zero cogging motion and large inner through-holes.

ThinGap has designed and manufactured BLDC motors for a wide range of applications, including aerospace, medical, and specialized industrial equipment. Having experienced an

impressive rate of growth over the last several years, ThinGap expects to far exceed any underlying expansion in the overall market for BLDC motors with its continued emphasis on targeted applications that benefit from smooth and precise motion, along with efficiency and weight optimization.

Click here to view the full industry report.

The use of airborne gimbals is becoming pervasive on both Maned-Aircraft and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). In addition to common uses in communication systems, they are emerging for use in security systems by law enforcement, for search and rescue, and to support severe weather and offshore missions by the Coast Guard. The use of gimbals has become an important part of Defense Agencies’ critical Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) objectives.  These state-of-the-art gimbals, or “balls” as they are often referred to, are packed with advance sensor payloads that include thermal imagers, high-precision cameras, air-to-ground communications and lasers for pointing, ranging and illuminating.

Multiaxial gimbals require high performance motors to directly drive their movements and to hold position. As airborne systems, high performance is defined by weight, torque capacity, smooth motion and a desirable form factor. ThinGap’s slotless LS Series motor kits address all of these critical needs.

ThinGap’s patented method for distributing motor phase coil wires with a very thin cross section eliminates traditional magnetic stator teeth resulting in a motor without cogging torque.  Cogging is an unwanted magnetic torque disturbance that most motors have. The main cause of cogging is related to stator winding patterns having to fit in the slots between the traditional iron teeth (or poles), thus the term slotless is used.  Slotless motors eliminate cogging torque and offer smooth motion that is critical to optical systems for precision aiming, point and zooming at long standoff distances, and otherwise smooth motion for precise scanning ThinGap motors also have torque versus angle curves with less than 1% harmonic distortion and phase balance making the motors create the smoothest motion available.

Using its proprietary design, very thin wire-wrapped stators and optimized permanent-magnet rotors, ThinGap provides motors with that can match the torque output of slotted motors while avoiding the cogging that plagues them…  Gimbal makers have an inherent need for high amount of torque, in some cases to quickly and precisely move in both azimuth and elevation, and in most cases, to stabilize the housing from high forces caused by drag from the speed in which the aircraft is flying and the leading edge location of the gimbal and its flat windows.

Finally, ring motors are the perfect form factor for gimbals with their round shape, direct drive mounting capability and empty center. ThinGap’s motor kits offer a very large through hole, usually 65% of more of the device’s outer diameter (OD), due to its efficient mechanical design and optimized components. This large through hole saves both weight and provides valuable space for housing electronics, pass through cabling, or other aspects of the payload.

ThinGap’s slotless motor kits are a perfect fit for Gimbal applications, airborne or otherwise. Even ground-based systems, vehicle mounted turrets, spacecraft imaging and security system’s Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTV) can all benefit.

A name is an important part of understanding what makes a company special. Be it a giant corporation or a small business, each name shows where the company came from or what the company does that allowed it to carve out a niche in an industry. ThinGap is no different and our name describes what makes our motors some of the best slotless DC motors on the market. It’s all about the thin gap

Not all slotless motors are created equally, production techniques and coil choice have a substantial effect on how much a motor weighs and how well it performs. Most slotless motors use pre-wound coils which are then pressed into the lamination stack. While these coils are easy to produce, they make the motor much heavier and reduce its overall effectiveness since there is so much space between the magnets due to the coil. ThinGap works around this problem by wrapping the wiring for the coil around the lamination stack in a lattice pattern. This reduces the weight and size of the coils, allowing for a more efficient motor. The reduced size of the coil also allows for the magnets to be placed closer together creating a much thinner gap. So next time you are looking into buying a slotless motor, ask yourself a question. How thin is the Gap?

ThinGap Renews ISO 9001:2015 Certification
Enhanced Quality System now supporting wider base of end-applications

Camarillo, CA (March 28, 2020) – ThinGap, Inc. announced that its ISO 9001:2015 certification has been renewed for another three years and will remain in effect until March 2023.  An audit and renewal of ThinGap’s certificate was completed by American Global Standards, LLC. ThinGap has also completed a comprehensive review of its Quality Manual and its standard quality and deliverables policy as part of its ongoing commitment to continuous improvement and building customer satisfaction.

Click here to view the full press release.

Product Release
ThinGap Sampling its Newest Motor, the LSI 75-30 “Tall”

Camarillo, CA (April 8, 2020) – ThinGap has announced the latest expansion to its LS Line of slotless motor kits with the addition of the taller version of its LSI 75 parts. The radius of all the LSI 75’s is about the size of a soda can’s rim and is now available in three different heights, a short 12 mm version (LSI 75-12), a tall version at 20 mm (LSI 75-20) and the newest addition, an extra tall 30 mm height (LSI 75-30).

Click here to view the full press release.

A ROTARY ACTUATOR?

 Pneumatics and hydraulics have been the mainstays of American industrial control systems from the start of our industrial revolution; but in the last 20 years, there’s a “new kid on the block”, Brushless Direct Current (BLDC) motors and their direct drive capability.

Perhaps, it’s not really all that new. Thomas Edison recognized the controllability of the direct current (D/C) electric motor compared to that of Tesla’s alternating current (A/C) synchronous concept. Unfortunately, the performance of the Brushless DC motor with early permanent magnets often fell short in many of the applications which were attempted. Today’s BLDC motors, with their digital electronics, meld into the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 with remarkable ease.  BLDC motors are a driving force behind the move to direct drive, compact systems and efficiency in terms of size, weight and power consumption.

The keyword in this whole discussion is “Brushless”.  Edison’s Bipolar D/C motor from the start of the 20^th Century had been the basis of design for 50 years. Its sparking wire-wrapped coils, the mechanical and electrical noise they generated, and the perpetual maintenance of worn down brushes and  glazed commutators relegated first-cut design D/C motors to intermittent duty service. Meanwhile, Tesla’s A/C approach won the continuous duty market.

Fast forward to today. The modern BLDC device can be much more that a simple motor; it is becoming a rotary actuator. Design iterations on BLDC actuators and enhancements in Permanent Magnets have allowed new capabilities which promote direct electrical coupling to IoT systems, eliminating cumbersome single purpose pneumatic and hydraulic controllers, or even pullies and long drive shafts in continuous duty service.

New BLDC actuators are also capable of being an integral part of smart system management control. Sensors on the actuator can feed data back to a conveniently located digital controller about speed, direction, and position. Needed corrections are then fed back to the controller maintaining the actuator. The inherent flexibility of electronic control has opened new uses for BLDC motor resulting in true integrated solutions.

Modern BLDC actuators offer designers an efficient and powerful digital device, not simply a mechanical one. Therefore, changing a motion parameter doesn’t require a mechanical adjustment, but merely a digital input. The integrated BLDC motor, through its control electronics, can be easily programmed to perform its required motions and even feedback to correct the inputs.

BLDC motor concepts open system design opportunities which can utilize the new direct drive motion capabilities. In contrast to the more dominant Slotted BLDC designs, where the stator is a toothed iron with wire wrappings around each tooth, whereby creating the areas of electronic-induced magnet flux, Slotless BLDC motors have a uniform coil wrapping architecture, whereby eliminating the teeth and related over concentration of wire wrappings.  This allows for smooth motion and eliminates the “cogging” associated with Slotted designs.  Add in other techniques whereby the airgap between the stator and permanent magnet-rotor is minimized and the placement techniques of the magnets is optimized, all these yield a much more compact, yet efficient and powerful design actuating solution.

ThinGap, Inc. (Camarillo, CA) is a pace setter in the design of system-integrated rotary actuators, frameless motor kits, if you prefer. ThinGap’s slotless architecture provides a high performance motor kit that OEM’s then integrate directly into their system, in contrast to simply bolting on a framed motor. ThinGap’s range of frameless motor solutions all provide high torque and low-inertia, with Zero-Cogging for smooth motion, while being lightweight with high efficiency, all within a low profile with a large through-hole.

Added aspects of ThinGap’s designs include ultra-low torque ripple when paired with a sinusoidal drive, 3-phase brushless, sinusoidal waveforms < 1% THD, high peak torque-to-continuous torque ratio, non-saturating structure allows high peak torque (typically > 4:1), a large clear apertures; the aforementioned frameless kit facilitates deep integration, in many cases space and MIL-STD qualified, optional rotor hubs for deeper integration, and are made in the USA.

Please contact use for additional information.  www.thingap.com or [email protected].