I have a unique situation and would appreciate any insight offered. We are developing a full simulation of pedaling a recumbent vehicle to be used for fitness and rehabilitation. This includes VR and a 6DOF motion platform but where we are putting in most of our work right now is the pedaling and steering simulation. We currently use smart servo motors (with gearheads) in torque mode and a custom control board that our software is communicating with as a plugin to a game engine. It works great except it is expensive and requires a lot of design compromise to have a robust enough drivetrain from the pedals to the gearhead.
The idea of trying out small or micro hydraulic motors has come up but none of us have any experience. Before we go out and start talking to potential vendors I'd like to get up to speed.
Question 1: Does it seem feasible to have a small motor, say about 5cm dia X 20cm length capable of resisting counter rotation up to 30nm?
Question 2: I assume we'd use some sort of servo control for the valves, what kind of response time are we looking at?
Question 3: What are the leading companies in the field that I should be considering contact with?
Thanks in advance, Dave
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