Member • May 26, 2011
Choosing electric motor for rotating platform
i want to build a solar tracker, which will have a platform, which will rotate in azimuth direction according to sun motion. The platform should have max tangential speed of 1.03 m/min (summer speed) and min tangential speed of 0.017 m/min (average speed). The platform will be put on wheels and the electric motor will be attached to the wheels. I will use 30cm diameter wheels for this application. For precision of 0.01 degrees, the wheel will have max 1.09 RPM and min 0.018 RPM. I have calculated the torque needed to accelerate the platform and also estimate the torque that needs to be overcomed due to friction. Basically, this is the total torque which i need to rotate the platform. My question is; how can i calculate the torque needed for the motor to drive the wheels? Can i just simply divide the total torque with the number of wheels used? The torque and RPM are needed to choose the suitable motor for the system. It would be also very helpful to me if you can suggest the supplier or which electric motor i should use for this application.
Thanks in advance