page_title: Sawyer motor
hierarchical_section_title: Sawyer motor
caption_attribution_description: English: This image is a close-up view of the flat, planar surface of a 2-dimensional linear motor (Sawyer motor) used for motion control applications. This surface is known as a platen. The surface contains small steel cylinders arranged in a grid pattern with the gaps filled with an epoxy resin such that the overall surface is flat to within one-thousandth of an inch. Each circle has a diameter of approximately .25 millimeters An air bearing separates the platen surface from the controlled induction-coil motor unit which moves on top of this surface. The grid allows a full range of finely-controlled motion in two dimensions. The vertical object shown is the tip of a depth gauge, used to measure the deviation of the steel surface from the epoxy surface.
context_page_description: A Sawyer motor or planar motor is a type of linear electric motor with a forcer capable of moving in two dimensions, riding on a stator which is a large flat—or nearly flat—plate. Sawyer motors have been used in positioning stages and pen plotters.
  This class of motors is named for Bruce Sawyer, who invented it in 1968.
  The US-patent was submitted 1966 and granted 1968.
context_section_description: A Sawyer motor or planar motor is a type of linear electric motor with a forcer capable of moving in two dimensions, riding on a stator which is a large flat—or nearly flat—plate. Sawyer motors have been used in positioning stages and pen plotters.
  This class of motors is named for Bruce Sawyer, who invented it in 1968.
  The US-patent was submitted 1966 and granted 1968.
caption: Close-up of the flat passive conductor surface of a motion control Sawyer motor
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