ASK AN ENGINEER- CAN YOU WALK ME THROUGH HOW TO SELECT THE CORRECT FESTO CLEANROOM ACTUATOR?

“Can you walk me through how you would select the correct Festo cleanroom actuator? The requirements are it must be pneumatic, have 1270mm stroke, be able to move 50lbs, have 10s cycle time or less, be ISO 6 Cleanroom rated, and be mounted horizontally.”

Spencer Strickler, Sales Engineer at Mechatronic Solutions:

“Knowing a majority of Festo actuators are rated to an ISO 7 or better made the initial search easy. In my mind, a simple ELGC-TB slide actuator would be the best fit as they are available in stroke lengths up to 2000mm, have bore sizes up to 80mm and are very cost effective. The only problem with this style actuator is it has not yet been tested and given an ISO classification.

Using the pneumatic sizing software, available in the Festo Quick Search tool, I was able to determine which line of actuators could meet the technical specification required. From there, I would work back and see which ones fit into the ISO 6 category. This brought me to the DGO cylinder which is a magnetically coupled linear drive.

This style actuator was the only kind that gave me the necessary stroke and ISO rating required for this project. However, I still had the issue of the weight and cycle time. I was able to determine, using the sizing software, that we could use this style actuator but would need to provide external guiding and end stops as well to prevent decoupling of the carriage and piston.”