Voice coil motors are a great choice when you need quick and highly accurate linear or circular controlled motion over small to medium distances. They're a good alternative to traditional servomotors because they operate hysteresis-free, cog-free and nearly friction-free. That's why voice coil motors are used in many demanding applications. For example, in many medical devices, servos must run cog (jerk)-free as well as hysteresis-free. Some voice coil motors today feature a "smart" voice coil actuator, which employs a position feedback sensor, providing exacting control over position, velocity, reciprocation, force and acceleration. This is useful in valve controls, steering of beams, and x/y/z-axis servo controls.

Other applications where you will find voice coil motors include control mechanisms of surgical and therapeutic devices, packaging, inspection, manufacturing, circuit board assembly, machine tools, scanning microscopy, and even in optical focusing systems. When searching for a voice coil motors provider, consider the following:

1. Find linear voice coil motors.

2. Find rotary voice coil motors.

3. Get voice coil motors built the way you need them for your specific task.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Choose linear voice coil motors from a company's voice coil motors list of products

There are linear voice coil motors available that cover a wide range of sizes, force, speed, and accuracy.

I recommend: Group Six carries both moving-coil and moving magnet voice coil motors. California Linear Devices has a line of linear voice coil motors with 40G of acceleration, 1,180 pounds of force and up to a 20-inch stroke.

For rotary motion control, use rotary voice coil motors

When you have an application that requires precise angular positioning control, consider a rotary voice coil motor. For example, you might need to have a custom voice coil motor driven stage fabricated for a particular application. They are ideal for high speed operation, extreme accuracy and high acceleration/deceleration.

I recommend: Airex carries rotary voice coil motors ranging in size from 1 inch to 18 inches in diameter. Custom Motors has smaller rotary voice coil motors, ranging in size from 40 mm to 180 mm in diameter.

Have voice coil motors built to your specifications

When you can't find a voice coil motor with exactly the specifications you are looking for, seek the services of a manufacturer to build it for you.

I recommend: Moticont designs and manufactures voice coil motors, in a range of sizes and styles from miniature to more than 5 inches (130 mm) stroke. Armel Industrial Systems also designs manufactures voice coil motors to your specifications.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  To save money while making sure to buy a voice coil motor that meets all of the requirements of your application, you need to match the voice coil motors information and specs against the following requirements of the application: force, payload weight, acceleration, travel time, travel distance, force or acceleration duty cycle, velocity, to operate open or closed loop, bearings required or not, ambient conditions and available power source.