150 Years Old and Still Building Motors for Space Robots
Magmotor Technologies has been making custom electric motors since 1876. Now it plans to triple its workforce and revenue, with robotics leading the charge.
Key points
- Magmotor Technologies, founded in 1876 in Lebanon, New Hampshire, is planning an expansion it says will triple both revenue and headcount.
- The company's brush motors, a type of motor that uses physical carbon contacts to deliver power, have been used in NASA rovers and BattleBots robots.
- Magmotor's smallest motors measure roughly 1.5 by 2 inches; its largest weigh up to 65 pounds and spin at up to 6,000 rpm.
- Most manufacturing currently happens in China, but the company wants to bring some production back to the United States.
- Magmotor is considering adding AC motors and brushless designs to a lineup built almost entirely on brush motors for decades.
A motor company that started making equipment the year Custer made his last stand is now building hardware for space robots. Magmotor Technologies, based in Worcester, Massachusetts, turns 150 this year, and it isn't slowing down.
The company began in 1876 under the name Kendrick and Davis, quietly turning out custom fan motors in Lebanon, New Hampshire. In its 102nd year, Herbert Peterson bought the business, renamed it K&D Magmotor, and moved it to Worcester. The name has since shortened to Magmotor Technologies, but the core product philosophy hasn't shifted much.
What does Magmotor actually make?
Magmotor specialises in brush motors, which use small physical carbon contacts called brushes to transfer electrical current and make the motor spin. Many competitors have moved to brushless motors, swapping those contacts for electronics. Magmotor has largely stayed put: NASA and the wider space industry tend to favour brush motors for their durability in punishing environments, and that preference shapes the order book.
The motors turn up in NASA rovers, BattleBots competition machines, ship-cleaning robots built by an Italian firm, elevators and electric lawnmowers. They range from tiny units about 1.5 by 2 inches to units weighing 65 pounds, all using neodymium magnets, an unusually strong rare-earth magnet, to extract more power from a compact frame. Almost none sit on a shelf: the bulk of the business is fully custom work designed around a specific customer's requirement.
Robotics is becoming a bigger part of that picture. Our coverage of the JOY robot heading to the space station in 2027 shows how demanding the power and reliability requirements for space robotics can be, which is exactly the territory Magmotor has occupied for decades.
What is the company planning next?
Magmotor says the expansion will triple both income and headcount. Production manager Jamie Willigar, who has been with the company 21 years, says the plan includes hiring a new generation of workers who'll learn directly from veterans with 25-plus years on the floor before those veterans retire.
The company also wants to bring at least some manufacturing back to the United States. Most production currently sits with Chinese partners, an arrangement that dates to the late 1990s, when China received most-favoured-nation trade status. All design work and final assembly still happen in Worcester.
On the product side, Magmotor is considering re-entering the AC motor market and building more brushless motors. Senior mechanical design engineer Scott Cerra acknowledges the shift takes time and new engineering work. Brush motors won't disappear.
"At Magmotor, it is really not just about modernisation or pushing the newest technology," Cerra said. "For us, it is more about being present and truly supporting the customers' needs for the long term."
What does this mean for smaller customers?
This matters if you run a small operation. Magmotor says it works with husband-and-wife businesses the same way it works with large industrial firms. It recently re-engineered a replacement motor for a customer whose original supplier had stopped supporting an older product, getting their system running again without forcing a full redesign.
Willigar says Magmotor is also stocking more off-the-shelf motors that can ship immediately. That's a direct response to the supply-chain disruptions that have plagued manufacturers since the pandemic. For any business whose equipment depends on a specialised motor, knowing a backup exists before something fails is worth more than most people realise until it's too late.
