System and method for conserving power in an optical autochanger

A method for conserving power in a robotic arm device responsive to a motion command and controlled by a servo loop having a motor, a motor driver, and a motor encoder, comprising the steps of:

• (a) monitoring an idle time since a last motion command;
• (b) positioning the robotic arm to a stow position when said idle time exceeds a predetermined power shut down time;
• and
• (c) opening the servo loop to disable the motor and the motor driver after the robotic arm has reached said stow position thus conserving power while the robotic arm is in said stow position.

An autochanger for handling storage media comprising:

• a carousel for storing a plurality of storage media;
• a robotic arm device for retrieving the storage media from said carousel, wherein mid robotic arm is responsive to a motion command and controlled by a servo loop having a motor, a motor driver, and a motor encoder;
• and
• a power conservation module for opening the servo loop to disable said motor if a motion command is not received in a predetermined mount of time thereby conserving power.