Good site for small motors?

[Souper man]

What are some good sites for some small motors? The voltage must be below 12 and the amp rating doesnt matter. Thanks

 

[HarveyH42]

What kind of motors?

http://www.sciplus.com/category.cfm?subsection=18
Menu on the left gives you various motor options to look at...

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category/400/Motors.html

http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/departments.asp?dept=1103

**broken link removed**

http://www.mpja.com/departments.asp?dept=377

That's about half the surplus sites, the more reasonably priced ones... Need more?

 

[dknguyen]

Your local hobby shop has the widest range of highest performance of <12V motors at the lowest price. Getting motors never seems to be the problem......it's usually where you can find a gearbox and the wheels/gears that can mount onto them.

 

[Marks256]

Try jameco's robot store:

**broken link removed**

You seem to like robotics, so this site may be just for you. I will admit, the prices are a bit high, but jameco is great.

 

[Robot builder 101]

Good thing I found this thread before I made my own! I require some standard DC motors for a robotic arm.

 

[Marks256]

For a robotic arm i would suggest stepper motors. Standard DC motors do not have enough accuracy to be used as an arm. Correct me if i am wrong, but the whole point of a robotic arm is precision, right?

 

[dknguyen]

For a robotic arm i would suggest stepper motors. Standard DC motors do not have enough accuracy to be used as an arm. Correct me if i am wrong, but the whole point of a robotic arm is precision, right?

If you energize a stepper but hold it in place, it won't move but and without feedback all you can assume in your control system is that it did. Either way, you need feedback, in which case a DC motor probably wins since you can probably find a gearbox more easily and move in smaller increments than a stepper.

 

[Marks256]

If you energize a stepper but hold it in place, it won't move but and without feedback all you can assume in your control system is that it did. Either way, you need feedback, in which case a DC motor probably wins since you can probably find a gearbox more easily and move in smaller increments than a stepper.

Every robotic arm i have seen have had heavy duty stepper motors in them (with gears, of course).

 

[dknguyen]

I've never seen one that uses steppers before. Either way, doesn't really matter since you need feedback on both and if you need feedback on both, you need a computer, and if you have a computer you can hold position with either.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Every robotic arm i have seen have had heavy duty stepper motors in them (with gears, of course).

Like 'dknguyen' I've never seen one with steppers either, you need positional feedback so you know where the arm is, a stepper is useless for that.

 

[Robot builder 101]

Well, it was going to be controlled manually with switches, with extremes only. Its not a true robotic arm, but more-so of a robotic hand, with each finger controlled individually. I consulted with some people assisting me, and they want to go with DC motors, due to their ease of operation. Thanks

 

[jpanhalt]

Like 'dknguyen' I've never seen one with steppers either, you need positional feedback so you know where the arm is, a stepper is useless for that.

That seems odd to me. I am not sure of the type of robot the OP is making; however, in my experience with DIY CNC and professional robotics at work, the positioners are mostly stepper motors. Most of the professional robotic arms have feedback. The feedback is either directly off the motor shaft or is optical at the moved object. The home DIY often lack feedback.

The steppers certainly allow fine adjustment, particularly with gear or belt drives.

Edit: Oops. Just noticed the OP was not asking about robotics per se. That was a subsequent post. As for small motors, there are many surplus sites, such as:

https://www.allelectronics.com/
**broken link removed**
https://www.surpluscenter.com/electric.asp

John