Scientists from London’s Imperial College are using the new RT3 version of the Reliance Cool Muscle NEMA 23 integrated servo system to reproduce the sub-surface pressure changes created by lunar tides in laboratory research experiments directed at improving oil recovery.

The unique abilities of the RT3 version along with the support provided by Reliance allow the scientists to concentrate on the research without having to spend time controlling and verifying the test system.

The compact closed loop motor system has unique abilities to share I/Os, perform complex coordinated motion and use mathematical notation to perform motion. The onboard memory and logic banks along with the integrated tuners, vector drive, amplifiers, 32 bit RISC processor and 50,000 count magnetic encoder provide an intelligent motor which delivers cool running and smooth motion.

For this application, the motor moves extremely slowly and has been programmed to complete a 400mm long inverse cosine motion profile over a 12 hour 24 minute period using a 0.1″ leadscrew. Using this feature the scientists are able to replicate the lunar tides found in underground oil reservoirs for their experiments.