A rotary actuator for space missions

Abstract

A new rotary actuator is reported that consists of a motor functionally integrated with the transmission of a ring gear in a single element which is driven by the rotating magnetic vector in the stator. Because the number of teeth on the ring gear is different from that on the fixed ground gear, the ring gear rotates at a fraction of a revolution and simultaneously rotates the output gear in one eccentric cycle in the opposite direction. The advantages of the design are that only two bearings are required on a low speed output shaft.