A skipper motor comprising: a stator and a rotor; a plurality of N greater than two electromagnets mounted to the stator or to the rotor, each of the electromagnets comprising a core having at least one contact surface, wherein the at least one contact surface of any of the cores is rotatable about a same first axis of rotation with a same first radius of rotation into substantial congruence with at least a portion of the at least one contact surface of any other of the electromagnet cores; and a coupling of the rotor to the stator configured to enable rotation of the rotor and contact of the stator and rotor along at least one contact surface during operation of the motor.

A wobble plate drive system may include a stator having a central axis and a plurality of stator teeth disposed on an inner cylindrical surface. The system may further include a wobble plate having a wobble axis disposed at a non-zero angle relative to the central axis, an outer cylindrical surface, and an upper annular surface. A plurality of wobble teeth may be disposed on the outer cylindrical surface and a plurality of face teeth may be disposed on the upper annular surface. The system may further include an output gear having an output axis substantially aligned with the central axis and a lower annular surface. A plurality of output teeth may be disposed on the lower annular surface. The wobble plate may be configured to rotate, the plurality of wobble teeth may be configured to engage with the plurality of stator teeth, and the plurality of face teeth may be configured to engage with the plurality of output teeth as the wobble plate nutates around the stator.

A bearingless motor includes a rotor, a stator for applying support force and torque to the rotor, and a first displacement sensor and a second displacement sensor for detecting a radial position of the rotor. The stator includes a motor winding for generating a magnetic flux having p poles to produce the torque, and a support winding for generating a magnetic flux having p2 poles or two poles to produce the support force. The first displacement sensor and the second displacement sensor are disposed at positions axially different from each other.

A skipper motor comprising: a stator and a rotor; a plurality of N greater than two electromagnets mounted to the stator or to the rotor, each of the electromagnets comprising a core having at least one contact surface, wherein the at least one contact surface of any of the cores is rotatable about a same first axis of rotation with a same first radius of rotation into substantial congruence with at least a portion of the at least one contact surface of any other of the electromagnet cores; and a coupling of the rotor to the stator configured to enable rotation of the rotor and contact of the stator and rotor along at least one contact surface during operation of the motor.

A drive module for a cycloid drive includes a cycloid disc that can wobble eccentrically about a central axis and has a cycloid profile on the edge of the cycloid disc, the profile being in engagement with an outer support at a location. The cycloid disc further includes a central opening, at least three bearing holes, and an inner support comprising at least three webs, wherein the bearing holes receive the webs and couple the cycloid disc to the inner support. A direct drive is designed to act magnetically on the cycloid disc such that the cycloid disc interacts with a magnetic field of the direct drive and is brought into a wobbling motion in a translational manner via the magnetic field, wherein the output process of the drive module is carried out via the outer or inner support.

An electric motor has a stator mechanically coupled to the rotor by a nutating traction interface, such that during nutation of the rotor with respect to the stator a tilt axis of the rotor progresses about the axis of rotation of the output shaft. The rotor and a surface of the stator bound a dynamic gap across which a magnetic field is produced by electrical activation of the motor to generate a force between the rotor and the stator. The traction interface and the gap are arranged such that, in a plane containing the axis of rotation of the output shaft, the traction interface is angled with respect to the stator surface bounding the gap. The rotor is connected to the output shaft by a tiltable connection such as a gimbal.

Systems for generating electricity are described. The systems use a wobble plate motor to transform the energy of a fluid into rotation of a shaft, which in turn may be used to drive a generator. Embodiments of the wobble plate motors described herein have a shaft that is hollow and that provides a conduit for the fluid. As the wobble plate motor nutates, the shaft and other components of the fluid delivery assembly turn with the motion of the wobble plate.

A magnetic driver generates a magnetic field that rotates about an axis and induces nutation in a disc with an array of magnets (wobble plate). The magnetic driver can be a drive disc with an array of magnets and rotated by a drive motor, or can be electromagnetic coils sequentially energized, to provide the rotating magnetic field. The wobble plate nutates about the axis of the rotating magnetic field but is constrained from rotating about the axis. The wobble plate can be enclosed in a pump housing where nutation of the wobble plate causes pumping of a fluid to occur, such as in an implanted Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) or a Total Artificial Heart (TAH). Driven in reverse, an input pumping fluid may induce nutation of the wobble plate which in turn induces rotary motion of a drive disc that drives a generator or a motor/generator.