New missile programs often have multi-year design cycles, and many suppliers are now looking for partners that can help them dramatically reduce development time.

Frameless motors for precise actuation of control fins, sensor gimbals and other motion-critical subsystems must be designed to deliver the optimum torque and speed for each application; fit within an extremely confined installation envelope; and operate with absolute reliability despite the shocks, vibration and temperatures encountered in flight.

How can you meet these motion challenges on an accelerated design, development and production schedule? With many decades serving aerospace and defense customers, Kollmorgen has what it takes to help you launch a superior missile program on your timeline — or even faster than you may think is possible.

Here are three ways we can help you achieve a successful prototype and accelerate your time to market through a collaborative partnership between our engineers and yours.

For missile fin actuation systems, your starting point is to determine the desired flight characteristics within the missile’s typical operating environment. Based on an understanding of the required speed and torque specifications, motion engineers can determine the motor’s base electromagnetic rotor and stator topology.

Once this topology has been defined, our analysis and optimization tools allow for rapid evaluation of the concept without the need to order materials, wait for deliveries and build iterative prototypes. Our advanced tools help ensure that you arrive at the ideal design — embodied in a working final prototype — much faster than would otherwise be possible.

Missiles often require several iterations throughout the design process. Through modular design of control actuator systems (CAS), you gain the ability to optimize a particular motor or a particular electromagnetic control set to meet the requirements of any specific missile size and design. We can collaborate with you to bring prototypes to the field for testing faster, greatly accelerating the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of your project.

After completing the prototyping and EMD phases, defense firms often wait until they have a contract in hand, but the contract may depend on the length of time required to test the design and provide assurance that it’s ready to be deployed in the field. Testing for shock and vibration, salt spray, humidity, thermal shock and other environmental conditions is done through a UL Certified lab.

​Kollmorgen delivers motors that are ready to pass these tests and helps ensure the testing is performed in a timely manner. We provide confidence that your motion solution will work reliably in the necessary environments, minimizing any risk of production delays due to avoidable design reiterations and retesting.

 

This article came from the Kollmorgen Blog in Motion