A people mover works its drive hard and repetitively - pull away, run a short distance, brake into the next platform, wait, and repeat - in all weathers and on whatever gradient the route follows. Axis supplies one part of that: the linear motor that drives the vehicle, plus an optional permanent-magnet brake to help slow it. The vehicle, the track, the controls and the running of the service sit with you or your integrator. You set the duty the motor must meet; we design, size, simulate and supply the motor to it.
Thrust that does not rely on grip
A linear motor is an ordinary electric motor unrolled flat: instead of spinning, its powered part - the primary - sets up a magnetic field that travels along a metal reaction plate and pulls the vehicle with it. Because that force is made across the air gap, not through the wheels, wet, icy or greasy surfaces do not cut it the way they cut wheel grip. A gradient is no different: the motor gives much the same thrust uphill as on the flat, so a route can follow steeper gradients than a grip-dependent drive would in poor conditions.
Set by the current, smooth and repeatable
The size of the pull is set electrically rather than by a mechanical drive-train, so acceleration and braking can be shaped to whatever the route asks - a gentle pull-away and a measured approach to each stop - and held to that shape run after run. With no gears, clutch or friction drive between motor and vehicle, there is little to jerk, slip or wear. Because the work is stop-heavy, the motor is sized to the whole pattern rather than a single peak: give us the route profile and we size and simulate against it. Your controls decide when and how hard; the motor follows.
Two ways to build it
A key choice is where the primary sits: on the vehicle, or built into the track. Both work well; they place the hardware differently, so which suits you depends on route length, stop spacing and fleet size. That choice sits with the wider system design; Axis sizes the motor either way to the duty you give us.
Motor on the vehicle
The primary rides on the vehicle, and a plain reaction plate runs the length of the route. This needs the fewest motors, but the plate has to run along every metre of track - which tends to suit shorter routes or larger fleets.
Motor in the track
The primary is built into the track, and the vehicle carries only a plain reaction plate. This keeps the vehicles light and simple, but the whole length of track has to be powered - which tends to favour busier routes running many vehicles.
Braking, and what holds the vehicle still
The motor can brake as well as drive: the same thrust, reversed, slows the vehicle without friction. Where more braking is wanted, Axis also makes a permanent-magnet brake - a contactless option that slows a moving reaction plate with magnets alone, with no pads to wear or fade. Its effect is strongest at speed and falls to nothing at a standstill, so it cannot hold a stationary vehicle on its own. Holding a stopped vehicle - at a platform or on a gradient - is the job of a separate holding brake, which belongs to the wider system, not to what Axis supplies.
Related
Specifying the drive for a people-mover?
Send us the duty - speeds, stop spacing, gradients and how often it runs - and we will size, simulate and supply the motor, with a permanent-magnet brake to match if you need one.
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