Alternative Actuator Choices?

Hey All,

So I have been trying forever to find a decent actuator method that will fit in small, awkward spaces for a company project that I am working on.

So far I have looked into linear servos, stepper motors, dc motors, pneumatic cylinders/soft actuators and hydraulics and I have some Nitinol current activated "muscle wire" coming in the post for me to try.

I have had no luck so far as the company's requirements are pretty unrealistic, my question, before I label this unfeasible is:
Does anyone know of any alternative actuator types that I haven't mentioned yet?

I don't want to give up, so I want to try all possibilities before I do.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

Thanks for your reply.

Power input is 12VDC and I need around 40nm if I use a radial motor which gives you an idea of magnitude, the mounting space changes because it needs to be fixed in different non-uniform spaces (hence why it is awkward) so I couldn't really quantify it at the moment, but power density is crucial. Any ideas for alternative actuators that might meet these needs? (Sorry this is a bit vague, I can't give too much away).

 

Sorry, I don't think I was coherent enough, what I am trying to do is completely arbitrary. I am just looking for suggestions for different types of actuator other than the obvious steppers, servos, hydraulic cylinders etc. that I haven't thought of yet. Sorry if I did not make that clear.

Thank you.

 

Thanks for your replies.

"Minder" A motorized linear actuator was one of my first prototypes actually but it lacked speed so I am looking at alternatives. I have looked into air but problems occur due to the compress-ability of air and system complexity when I need to implement air pumps and valves.

"Alec_t" distance I am looking at 200mm max and must actuate the full length in a second. (I am looking into both angular and linear solutions).

"Colin Mitchell" My project has nothing to do with sailing, although I know where you are coming from

Thanks again..

 

You were not explicit enough in your comment, sorry, I did not understand.

I realize it is a large request hence why I started the thread, I am only looking to get some ideas into different actuator types that I could look into using.

I will look into electric winches which I presume is what you meant as I thought you were talking about manual winches at first. My vague knowledge of boats tells me that they have 12v batteries so it might do the job as my system will work on 12v which I stated previously.

Thank you.

 

Oh, that's interesting, I thought you were saying that air is preferable to oil when you mentioned "air over oil" but it is an actual method, excellent that might actually meet my requirements.

Thank you for clarifying, that could help a lot.