In any partnership, communication is critical to success. When engineers or designers can accurately communicate their goals, their suppliers can provide the best guidance and advice. Like most industries, motion control has its jargon and buzzwords. Some are used interchangeably leading to ambiguity and possible confusion. Backlash and stiffness are both important but have different impact, and those differences deserve attention.
Backlash is a characteristic of a mechanical drive system; clearances among the elements create slop when stationary and dead play during reversals. Stiffness is a property of a mechanism or component. Stiffness is simply the resistance to deformation or deflection when loaded.
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