An actuator is a mechanical device for moving or controlling a mechanism or system.
Examples and applications
Examples include:
- Mechanics - plasma actuators, pneumatic actuators, electric actuators, motors, hydraulic cylinders, linear actuators, etc. A pneumatic actuator converts energy (in the form of Compressed air, typically into motion Actuators are used for the automation of industrial valves and can be found in all kinds of technical process plants they are used in wastewater treatment plants Power A Hydraulic cylinder (also called a linear Hydraulic motor) is a mechanical Actuator that is used to give a linear Force through a linear stroke A linear actuator is a device that develops force and motion from an available energy source in a Linear manner as opposed to rotationally like an electric motor
- Human - Muscles
- Biology - Actuator domains found in P, F and V type ATPases
- In engineering, actuators are frequently used as mechanisms to introduce motion, or to clamp an object so as to prevent motion. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus Muscle (from Latin musculus, diminutive of mus "mouse" is contractile tissue of the body and is derived from the Foundations of modern biology There are five unifying principles Engineering is the Discipline and Profession of applying technical and scientific Knowledge and In electronic engineering, actuators ACTT, are a subdivision of transducers. A transducer is a device usually electrical, electronic, Electro-mechanical, Electromagnetic, Photonic, or Photovoltaic They are devices which transform an input signal (mainly an electrical signal) into motion. In Physics, motion means a constant change in the location of a body Specific examples are Electrical motors, pneumatic actuators, hydraulic pistons, relays, comb drive, piezoelectric actuators, thermal bimorphs, Digital Micromirror Devices and electroactive polymers. An electric motor uses Electrical energy to produce Mechanical energy. A pneumatic actuator converts energy (in the form of Compressed air, typically into motion For the mechanical technology see Hydraulic machinery and Hydraulic cylinder Hydraulics is a topic of science and Engineering A piston is a component of Reciprocating engines Pumps and Gas compressors It is located in a cylinder and is made gas-tight by Piston A relay is an electrical Switch that opens and closes under the control of another Electrical circuit. Comb-drives are Linear motors that utilise Electrostatic forces that act between two metal combs Piezoelectricity is the ability of some materials (notably Crystals and certain Ceramics including bone to generate an Electric potential in response to A thermal column (or thermal) is a column of rising Air in the lower altitudes of the Earth's atmosphere. A Digital Micromirror Device, or DMD is an Optical Semiconductor that is the core of DLP projection Technology, and was Electroactive Polymers or EAPs are Polymers whose shape is modified when a Voltage is applied to them
- Motors are mostly used when circular motions are needed, but can also be used for linear applications by transforming circular to linear motion with a bolt and screw transducer. A transducer is a device usually electrical, electronic, Electro-mechanical, Electromagnetic, Photonic, or Photovoltaic On the other hand, some actuators are intrinsically linear, such as piezoelectric actuators.
- In virtual instrumentation actuators and sensors are the hardware complements of virtual instruments. Virtual Instrumentation is the use of customizable software and modular measurement hardware to create user-defined measurement systems called Virtual instruments Traditional A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an instrument Computer programs of virtual instruments use actuators to act upon real world objects.
Magnetic Actuator
See also
- Actuator arm
- Actuator magnet
- Electric actuator
- Muscle
- Switch
- Telepresence
- Haptic
- Wax thermostatic elements
- Microactuator
- End effector
References
This article about an engineering topic is a stub. A hard disk drive ( HDD) commonly referred to as a hard drive, hard disk, or fixed disk drive, is a Non-volatile storage device Actuators are used for the automation of industrial valves and can be found in all kinds of technical process plants they are used in wastewater treatment plants Power Muscle (from Latin musculus, diminutive of mus "mouse" is contractile tissue of the body and is derived from the A switch is a mechanical device used to connect and disconnect an electric Circuit at will See also Presence (telepresence Telepresence refers to a set of Technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present to give the appearance A microactuator is a Microscopic Servomechanism that supplies and transmits a measured amount of energy for the operation of another mechanism or system Other usein Computer Graphics an end effector is the position and orientation of the last joint in a chain of joints In robotics an end effector is the device Engineering is the Discipline and Profession of applying technical and scientific Knowledge and You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic