What types of motor should I use for a particular application?

Question

I want to create an amateur wire looping machine with Arduino, that has similar functionality than this machine. I don't need the automatic wire feeding as for my purposes this part can be done manually. I just want to automate the wire loop creation process, assuming that I already have straight wires.

I'm new to the world of motors, robotics, etc., so please be as descriptive as possible :)

From the video, I can tell that there are two motors:

1. Makes the initial wire bending
2. Spins to create the loop

The wire that I will be working with is galvanized steel of 11 gauge (2.0 - 2.5 mm diameter).

So what type of motors would be recommended for this application, taking into account:

• They need to be accurate in their positioning for repeat ability
• They need to have enough torque (specially the one that creates the loop itself) to work with this type of material
• They're as fast as (or close to) the ones in the video
• This is not going to be an industrial grade machine that will be running all the time
• Ideally, they need to be not that expensive.. I don't want to be bankrupt by the end of this project :)
• If links can be included for recommended products, it would be great.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Not enough info to go on to recommend a specific set of motors, but some info to steer you in the right direction. Without a schematic or set of plans to go on I can only suggest some ideas. So here it goes.

Figure out the required torque for bending and twisting the wire, as well as holding it in place while it twists. I would recommend servo motors, they are fast, strong, and can be dialed in pretty precisely using a microcontroller and a feedback loop.

Next consider the amount of weight the motors will be moving, include tooling and materials. Select your motors based on these calculations and add in 25% extra at a minimum just a margin of error in your calculations.

Is your system going to use DC or AC?

Look online for industrial servo motors. That should get you started. You have a lot of planning to do before you pick motors.