AC Motor – An electric motor that is driven by an alternating current, as opposed to a direct current.

Alternating Current – Electric charge that frequently reverse in direction (Opposite of direct current, with charge in only one direction).

Centrifugal Switch – The electric switch that controls the rotational speed of a shaft, operating off of the centrifugal force generated from the shaft itself.

Gear Ratio – The ratio at which the motor's speed is reduced by the gearhead. The speed at the output shaft is 1 Gear Ratio x the motor speed.

Inverter – The device that converts direct current to alternating current. Reverse of the Rectifier.

Induction Motor – Can be referred to as asynchronous motor; type of AC motor where electromagnetic induction supplies power to the rotor. Slip is required to produce torque.

No Load Speed – Typically lower than synchronous speed, it is the speed when the motor is not carrying a load.

Rated Speed – The speed of the motor at rated output power. Typically the most sought-after speed.

Rectifier – The device that converts alternating current to direct current within a motor. They can be utilized as a component in a power supply, or can detect radio signals. Typically rectifiers may consist of solid state diodes, mercury arc valves, or other substances. Reverse of the inverter.

Rectification – The process by which alternating current is converted to direct current by means of a rectifier within an AC Motor.

Split Phase Induction Motor - Motors that can generate more starting torque by using a centrifugal switch combined with a special startup winding.

Stall Torque – Given a particular voltage and frequency, the maximum torque in which the motor can run. Exceeding this amount will cause the motor to stall.

Starting Torque – The torque that instantly generated as the motor starts. The motor will not run if friction load exceeds torque.

Static Friction Torque – When a motor is stopped by a brake for example, it is the torque output needed to hold a load as the motor stops.

Synchronous Motor – Unlike the induction motor, it can produce torque at synchronous speed, without slip.

Synchronous Speed – Indicated by speed per minute, it is the intrinsic factor determined by number of poles and line frequency.

Variable Speed Drive – Equipment used to control electric power frequency supplied to an AC motor, in order to manage its rotational speed.

Armature – the component of the motor that produces power. It can be located on either the stator or the rotor.

Brush – mechanism that conducts current in between moving parts and stationary wires.

Brushed Compound Motor - a combination of the brushed shunt and brushed series wound motors by combining the characteristics of both.

Brushed Permanent Magnet Motor - contain permanent magnets inside, hence the name, which eliminates the need for external field current. This design yields a smaller, lighter, and energy efficient Brush Motor.

Brushed Separately Excited Motor - used for its high torque capability at low speeds which is achieved by separately generating a high stator field current and enough armature voltage to produce the required rotor torque current.

Brushed Series Wound Motor - speed varies automatically with the load, increasing as the load decreases.

Brushed Shunt Wound Motor - run at constant speed regardless of the load.

Commutator – mechanism which reverses the direction of current in certain electric motors.

Direct Current – electrical charge constantly flows in the same direction. As opposed to alternating current, where current periodically switches direction.

Electrical Power – electric circuits transferring electrical power at a given rate.

Overcurrent – can lead to damaging of equipment due to excessive heat produced within a motor. This occurs because a larger amount of electric current is produced through the conductor.

Rotor – rotating device in an electric motor which rotates about the motor generating torque among the rotor's axis.

Stator – the part of the Brush DC Motor that is stationary.

Torque – the ability of a force to rotate a given object about an axis or fulcrum.

Armature - A motor or generator, but may also mean the pole piece of a permanent magnet or electromagnet, or the moving iron part of a solenoid or relay. The other component is the field winding or field magnet. The role of the "field" component is simply to create a magnetic field (magnetic flux) for the armature to interact with, so this component can comprise either permanent magnets, or electromagnets formed by a conducting coil.

Accessory Shaft - The rear side shaft of the motor

Back EMF (Back ElectroMotive Force) - The voltage, or electromotive force, that pushes against the current which induces it

Commutator - A rotary electrical switch that periodically reverses the current direction between the rotor and the external circuit

Controller (Also referred to as a Driver) - An electrical circuit or other electronic component used to control another circuit or other component

Delta Configuration (or Pi) - The Delta Configuation gives low torque at low rpm. The resistance between any two points is a series-parallel combination of all three resistors. Therefore, the effective resistance of the circuit will be less than the values of the individual resistors involved. This can be very useful in situations where we want to be able to use larger resistance values than the circuit would normally require

Electric Motor - An Electric Motor is a type of engine, which uses electrical energy to produce mechanical energy

EMF (ElectroMotive Force) - EMF is the external work expended per unit of charge to produce an electric potential difference across two open-circuited terminals

Hall Effect Sensors - A Hall Effect Sensor is a transducer that varies its output voltage in response to changes in magnetic field. Hall sensors are used for proximity switching, positioning, speed detection, and current sensing applications

Inrunner - An Inrunner Motor is a type of Brushless DC Motor where their rotational core is contained within the motor's can, typically used in RC automotives and aircrafts

Outrunner - This type of Brushless DC Motor spins its outer shell around its windings, typically used in RC automotives and aircrafts

Rotor - The non-stationary part of an alternator or electric motor, operating with a stationary element called the stator

Stator - The Stator contains all the coils of wire which will have voltage induced in them as the magnets pass over them

Wye (Y or Star) Configuration - The Wye Configuration provides high torque at low rpm, but not as high top rpm. The resistance between any two of the three external connections will be the series combination of two of the three resistors

Absolute Encoder - provides the shaft position in a bit configuration and is able to maintain or provide absolute position even after instances of power loss/failure.

Accuracy – difference in distance between the theoretical and the actual position.

Cycles Per Revolution (CPR) - Cycles per revolution are the number of output pulses per complete revolution of the encoder disk

Encoder - is a sensor of mechanical motion that generates digital signals in response to motion.

Incremental Encoder - device that provides a train of pulses due in response to mechanical motion. The output of this encoder is in form of a squarewave.

Index - a separate output channel which provides a single pulse per shaft revolution. It can be used to establish a reference or marker for a starting position.

Interpolation - is the method of increasing the resolution of an encoder. This method allows for the encoder to produce a higher resolution output without increasing the overall size of the disk and encoder.

Pulses Per Revolution (PPR) - the total number of pulses produced per full revolution of the encoder shaft.

Quadrature Encoder - two output channels which are out of phase by 90 electrical degrees. From the phase difference, the direction of rotation can also be determined.

Resolution – number of line increments on a disk. Resolution for incremental encoders is often referred to as cycles per resolution and for absolute encoders it is in terms of bits.

Single Channel Encoder – has only one output channel and is used in speed applications.

Squarewave - a repetitive waveform corresponding to high and low signals.

Addendum – the height of the gear tooth above the pitch circle diameter.

Backlash – the angle the output shaft of the gearbox can move without the input shaft moving.

Base Circle – an imaginary circle used in involute gearing to generate the involutes that form the tooth profiles.

Bevel Gears – used for right-angle applications. There are two types of bevel gears which are straight and spiral.

Bore – the diameter of the hole in a sprocket, gear, bushing, etc.

Center distance – distance between the axes of two meshed gears.

Circular Thickness – the thickness of the tooth on the pitch circle.

Dedendum – the depth of the tooth below the diameter of the pitch circle.

Diametrical Pitch – the teeth per inch of the diameter of the pitch circle.

Differential Gear – a bevel gear which allows two shafts to rotate at a different speed.

Gear – a wheel with teeth that meshes with another wheel with teeth to translate motion.

Gear Center – the center of the pitch circle.

Gear Ratio – the ratio between the numbers of teeth of meshing gears.

Gear Train – two or more gears meshed by their teeth. A gear train generates power speed through the meshed gears rotating.

Helical Gear – a gear with the gear teeth cut at angles.

Line of Contact – the line or curve along which two tooth surfaces are tangent to each other.

Involute – the curve which describes a line which is unwound from the circumference of the gear.

Pinion – a small cogwheel which fits into a larger gear or track.

Pitch Circle – the curve of intersection of a pitch surface of revolution and a plane of rotation.

Pitch Diameter – the diameter of the pitch circle.

Pitch Radius – the radius of the pitch circle.

Planetary Gears – a system that consists of three main components: the sun gear, ring gear, and two or more planet gears. The sun gear is the located in the center, the ring gear is the outermost gear, and the planet gears are the gears surrounding the sun gear inside the ring gear.

Pressure Angle – the angle between the line of action and the normal to the surface of the tooth.

Spiral Bevel Gears – shafts which are perpendicular to each other and are used in right-angle applications.

Spur Gear – connect parallel shafts which have involute teeth that are parallel to the shaft.

Sun gear – a gearwheel that rotates around its own axis and has other gears (planet gears) that rotate around it.

Torsional Stiffness - the measure of the amount of torque that a radial shaft can sustain during its rotation in a mechanical system.

Working Depth – the max depth a tooth of one gear extends into the tooth gear of mating gear.

Worm Gear – a gear with one or more teeth with screwed threads.

Macro: Macro instructions are an advanced touch screen control method. Macro strengthens the functions of the touch screen, so it has the same logic and arithmetic operations as the PLC. The use of macros will enable the touch screen to implement many powerful functions that cannot be supported by regular components, perfecting the human-machine interface.

Recipe: A recipe activates data transmission of consecutive registers, and supports downloading data from the memory of the recipe card to the PLC, and vice versa.

LW: A local word register is a 32-bit register which has been declared within the scope of the program.

LB: A local bit register is just a 1-bit register which has been declared within the scope of the program.

RW: A recipe word register is a 32-bit register that will execute sequentially when activated.

TFT: A thin film transistor is an LCD that uses thin film transistors technology to improve image quality.

Detent Torque – is the holding torque when no current is flowing in the motor. The maximum torque which can be applied to the shaft of an unenergized step motor without causing continuous rotation. The minimal torque present in an unenergized motor. The detent torque of a step motor is typically about 1% of its static energized torque.

Driver (Step Motor) – often referred to as a translator or controller, drives a step motor based on pulses from a clock, pulse generator, or computer. Translates the train of pulses and applied power to the appropriate step motor windings.

Dynamic Torque – the torque developed by a motor while stepping at low rates.

Encoder – often called a pulse generator, is a feedback device for step motors. It consists of a disc, vane, or reflector attached to a step motor shaft to provide digital pulses, which are provided to a translator and /or counters. This provides positional information if fed into a counter. Speed information may be derived if the time between successive pulses is measured and decoded.

Holding Torque – the maximum torque that can be externally applied to the step motor shaft without causing continuous rotation when one or more phases of the motor are energized.

Inertia – is a measure of an object's resistance to a change in velocity.

Maximum Running Torque – the maximum torque load that the motor can drive without missing a step. This typically occurs when the windings are sequentially energized at approximately 5 pps.

Open-Loop – refers to a motion control system where no external sensors are used to provide position or velocity correction signals.

Permanent Magnet Step Motor – a step motor having permanent magnet poles.

Pole – the part of a magnetic circuit where a magnetic pole is generated either by a permanent magnet or by windings.

Pulse – an electrical signal or voltage of short duration, used in conveying intelligence.

Rated Torque – the torque-producing capacity of a motor at a given speed. This is the maximum torque the motor can deliver to a load and is usually specified with a torque/speed curve.

Resolution – the smallest positioning increment that can be achieved. It is frequently defined as the number of steps required for a motor's shaft to rotate one complete revolution. The reciprocal of the number of steps per revolution of the motor.

Rotor – the rotating part of the motor (the shaft may be included).

Stator – the stationary magnetic parts of the motor including the windings.

Step – movement of the rotor from one energized position to the next.

Step Angle – the nominal angle through which the shaft of a step motor turns between adjacent step positions. It depends upon the motor and driving sequence (mode of drive).

Step Increment – an indication of step or motion size. Usually this is specified in degrees for a rotary motor and inches or millimeters for a linear motor.

Step (Stepping, Stepper) Motor – a digital actuator, which operates from discrete pulses (input signals) and produces motion in discrete increments. May be rotary or linear increment.

Step Position – the angular position that the shaft of an unloaded step motor assumes when energized. The step position is not necessarily the same as the detent position.

Teeth – projections on both rotor and stator such that when aligned they produce a low reluctance magnetic path.

Torque – a force or couple tending to, or producing, rotation. Common step motor torque units are oz-in, N-m, or mNm.

Train Pulse – a series of spaced pulses.

Unifilar Winding – refers to the winding configuration of the step motor where each stator pole has one set of windings; the step motor will have only 4 lead wires. This winding configuration can only be driven from a bipolar driver.

Variable Reluctance Step Motor – a step motor having only soft iron poles.