Because the sun gear in a hybrid unit is pre-aligned within the gearhead and not affixed to the motor shaft, these gearheads can be utilized in contouring applications like a glue-dispensing nozzle for affixing a windshield to an automobile. Motion of the nozzle as it comes after the seam between a windshield and its own window frame must be perfectly smooth; otherwise a ripple in velocity alters the bead diameter and causes messy glue app.

Smooth motion, this means the lack of torque and velocity variations (ripple), is essential in contouring applications. But, it really is difficult to regularly achieve smooth movement where the sun gear is installed on the engine shaft. A good slight misalignment in sunlight gear (electric motor shaft runout or coupling inaccuracies) could cause rough operation and noise.

Many servo controllers use software compensation, and their success depends upon knowing the lost motion of the entire system. This info is usually obtainable from the gearhead manufacturer.
Contouring applications usually involve end-effectors or tool-points that follow mathematically defined paths. Sealant and bonding devices, water and flame cutters, laser beam welders and cutters, movement controlled cameras, and CNC machine equipment are good examples.

Software compensation is achieved by commanding the motor to move beyond the apparently desired position by a quantity equal to the system’s dropped movement, thereby bringing the strain to the truly desired position. For instance, consider a servomotor, gearhead, and leadscrew mixture in a pick-andplace robot. If 100,000 encoder counts equals 1.0 in. of linear movement and the system has 0.1-in. dropped motion, then the controller tells the engine to go 110,000 encoder counts to obtain 1.0 in. of motion, hence compensating for the 0.1-in. lost motion.

Backlash is the excess space between two adjacent equipment teeth and its own engaging tooth; lost movement is the total looseness or motion at a servo gear reducer reducer’s output shaft when the insight shaft is fixed. Dropped motion includes backlash, plus losses from bearing looseness, tolerances and suits, and shaft and gear tooth compliance.
Servo controllers can be programmed to pay for backlash and dropped movement in planetary gearheads. This technique compensates for backlash even where an application requires accuracy better than the minimal backlash of the gearhead.