Mechanical & Motion Systems

Actuator Advancements Turn Heads at MD&M West

April 2, 2025

Harmonic Drive LLC engineers and manufactures precision servo actuators, gearheads and gear component sets.

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At MD&M West 2025, Henry Kim, a regional sales engineer at Harmonic Drive, demonstrated advancements in actuator design.

Kim said that Harmonic Drive supplies the component gears that go into robotic arm joints. He added that the company is shifting from supplying components to providing integrated solutions, including actuators with integrated motors and controllers.

Harmonic Drive developed actuators that have integrated a servo drive and controller built in, Kim explained, holding up a component featuring the harmonic drive gear, brushless motor, a dual encoder feedback and a servo drive.

This component was also showcased in a robotic arm display. “In this particular format and design, we designed it using CANopen wires,” he said. “CANopen only requires four wires for communications and power. In this little robotic arm demo, a typical servo drive solution for a robot arm would require 12 to 14 wires per axis of motor. With CANopen, we only require four. We really simplify the cable work.”
The CANopen standard, which was designed originally for motion-oriented machine control, is useful as it enables off-the-shelf interoperability between devices or nodes.

Another Communication Protocol

Harmonic Drive will also harness EtherCAT, a different communication protocol method, for its actuators. “EtherCAT is much more accepted in wider industries for PLC interface as well as general automation,” Kim noted.

In a nutshell: “This is what’s our latest and greatest in terms of promoting integrated servo actuators with harmonic drives and feedback systems, absolute dual encoder, using EtherCAT as our communication base,” he concluded. “And that is all for you today!”

Editor’s note: For more show coverage, be sure to check out our MD&M West 2025 content hub.

About the Author

Rehana Begg | Editor-in-Chief, Machine Design

As Machine Design’s content lead, Rehana Begg is tasked with elevating the voice of the design and multi-disciplinary engineer in the face of digital transformation and engineering innovation. Begg has more than 24 years of editorial experience and has spent the past decade in the trenches of industrial manufacturing, focusing on new technologies, manufacturing innovation and business. Her B2B career has taken her from corporate boardrooms to plant floors and underground mining stopes, covering everything from automation & IIoT, robotics, mechanical design and additive manufacturing to plant operations, maintenance, reliability and continuous improvement. Begg holds an MBA, a Master of Journalism degree, and a BA (Hons.) in Political Science. She is committed to lifelong learning and feeds her passion for innovation in publishing, transparent science and clear communication by attending relevant conferences and seminars/workshops.

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