The French micromotor manufacturer SilMach received a major award at CES 2024. These devices, based on silicon, are lighter and more powerful than other batteries, and can be used in many sectors.
The CES in Las Vegas is the global high mass for all new technologies. The show, which took place from January 9 to 12, 2024 (and which Numerama had the chance to attend), was an opportunity for many brands to stand out with their innovations. Whether with transparent screens, this year’s big trend, anti-cold soles, a seat cushion for gaming, or even an intelligent electric motorcycle, all the companies tried to stand out at the show.
One of them was particularly successful. The French company SilMach received the Innovation Awards, one of the highest awards granted by the CES, for its electrostatic silicon micromotors. A technology that promises to revolutionize many sectors, from watchmaking to medical and aeronautics.
Lightweight and compact micromotors
“ SilMach’s hybrid MEMS micromotors are the first motors designed for electronics », Indicates the CES on the page dedicated to the presentation of the product. These engines present themselves as electronic components that can be soldered directly onto printed circuits and thus offer designers the possibility of integrating a mechanical function into an electronic product. »
SilMach gives more details about its award-winning motors on its site. “ These are silicon devices in the form of electrodes equipped with inter-digital combs which, when electrically powered, are animated by an alternating movement generated by electrostatic forces whose intensity depends on the voltage applied to the electrodes. The step-by-step movement induced with each electrical pulse results in a kinematic chain in rotation, in translation, or presenting a more complex movement. »
More simply, ” interdigitated silicon combs are subjected to voltage pulses which cause them to move away from each other before coming back to nest. This back-and-forth motion activates a silicon gear, tooth by tooth, to produce a step-by-step rotational motion. », summarizes Usine Nouvelle.
Concretely, the electrostatic operation of these micromotors means that they are “25% more energy efficient than a conventional motor », indicates Usine Nouvelle, and that they are also lighter. Thus, these engines could have numerous applications in very different sectors. SilMach has already developed a silicon core for watchmaking, which has been fitted to certain watches for several years.
But it’s not just watchmaking that interests SilMach: the company explains that its micromotors were developed in response to “ motorization needs of nomadic systems », such as watches, but also connected objects. Motors are thus capable of animating all kinds of mechanisms, even “ in very constrained environments. » These particularities open up possible applications in the medical sector, but also in that of defense and aeronautics.
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