Four Questions to Consider When Choosing a Vibrating Motor for Your Invention
If you are inventing something and you want it to be able to vibrate, you will need to purchase a vibrating motor. There are many different types of vibrating motors as well as many characteristics you need to consider. Here are some questions to think about as you look for the perfect motor:
1. How are you going to balance power and size?
The more powerful your vibrating motor is, the more noticeable its vibrations will be to the user. Generally, larger motors tend to be more powerful than smaller motors. When creating a product, you need to balance your power wishes with your space constraints. To that end, you may want to order more than one type of vibrating motor when you are making your prototype so you can experiment until you find the perfect balance.
2. Do you want the vibrating motor to alert or provide haptic feedback?
In some cases, you may just need your invention to use vibrating to alert the user of something. For example, a cell phone may vibrate to alert someone that they have a call. However, in other cases, you may want the vibrating motor to provide haptic (touch-based) feedback to the user. For example, some cell phone apps use a phone's vibrating motor to turn text messages into morse code.
If you only want haptic feedback rather than just an alert, you may need a motor that is capable of multiple speeds or patterns of vibration, or you may need to find a way to integrate more than one vibrating motor into your design.
3. Do you need to encapsulate the motor?
If you want your motor to be waterproof or if you need to protect it from hot elements in your device, you may want to encapsulate it. Vibrating motor manufacturers can use injection moulding to protect your motors. They can use a range of plastics depending on your unique needs.
4. Do you need a custom motor?
When you are looking at the various features of vibrating motors, you may not see what you want. If that happens, don't worry. You may be able to order a custom motor. Manufacturers can customise a range of things from lead lengths to connectors, but in many cases, manufacturers may require you to order a minimum number of motors before they are willing to customise them for you. In other words, some manufacturers may not be willing to customise just one motor.
Want to learn more about which type of vibrating motor is right for your project? Contact a vibrating motor specialist, like one from VSS - Vibration Systems & Solutions (Australia).
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