DC Actuator force control

I would like to control the force of a DC linear actuator.
Iwas thinking about using a DC current transduce to get analog to PLC, But how can I control the force?

Is there an easier, cost efective way to control the force of a DC actuator?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciatted.

Controlling force is difficult

vmatz said:

I would like to control the force of a DC linear actuator.
Iwas thinking about using a DC current transduce to get analog to PLC, But how can I control the force?

Is there an easier, cost efective way to control the force of a DC actuator?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciatted.

Click to expand...

You have the right idea but it will be hard to do in a PLC because it doesn't respond fast enough to respond to changes in opposing force. One must always remember Newton's third law of motion.

Some amplifiers can be converted to output a current as a function of the control voltage. The torque or force will be roughly proportional to the PLC's control output. This is open loop control but it may be good enough for many applications.