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With the evolution of time, there is an increasing demand for goods transportation. Conventional trucks are no longer sufficient to meet the diverse cargo requirements of various businesses. As a result, trucks have gradually evolved into different styles, including insulated trucks designed for transporting low-temperature or frozen goods, liftgate trucks that can adjust their height to accommodate cargo variations, and wing opening compartments that facilitate side unloading using forklifts. Within these compartments, there are various additional features available for customization, such as refrigeration units to lower the internal temperature or liftgates for convenient manual loading and unloading. Among the commonly used additional features, the liftgate is the most prevalent. The liftgate allows for greater flexibility in choosing the types of cargo to be transported. Currently, hydraulic liftgates dominate the market. However, hydraulic cylinders used in such liftgates are heavy, require the installation of oil lines, and significantly reduce the payload capacity when installed on trucks. Therefore, this study aims to design an electric motor-driven liftgate that utilizes bearings and slide rails to ensure stability during operation. Moreover, due to the lighter weight of the motor compared to hydraulic cylinders, the payload capacity can be increased. Electric liftgates are expected to be a promising and popular choice in the future. This study investigates and discusses the use of electric power sources, particularly electric motors and electric cylinders. After thorough discussions and experiments, an electric motor was chosen as the final design option. A model was created for simulation and experimentation to determine the optimal mechanism configuration and motor selection. This enables the calculation of cost and efficiency differences between electric motors and hydraulic cylinders.
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