Innovations in motion control often times happen in a small, under-the-radar kind of way. Such is the case with Weiss North America and their HP70 Pick-and-Place direct-drive module, released in the U.S. earlier this year. A unique mechanical “knuckle” design produces motion in the vertical axis, eliminating the need for a separate motor or actuator […]
A Simpler Way to Change Phase Relationships of Drive Components
The Phas-Lok from Zero-Max simplifies changing the phase relationship of a drive component and the shaft. Designed to reduce system downtime, the devices eliminate the need to disconnect or remove drive components in order to reposition or re-synchronize the components. They provide an accurate, mechanical adjustment with a 24° range (±12°) and compensate for required […]
Adaptive systems squelch unwanted motion
Adaptive Systems motion control technology from Bosch Rexroth helps minimize unwanted movements directly at the drive level in industrial machinery, helping increase process throughput by up to 50 percent. It alleviates movements including oscillations, vibrations, sloshing and sway. Aimed at applications ranging from packaging and printing to material handling, machining and semiconductor manufacturing, the technology […]
New Family of Small, Flexible Robots from ABB
The ABB Robotics IRB 1200 is an entirely new family of small robots that features a compact footprint and a large work envelope, providing flexibility, ease of use and short cycle times to a wide range of material handling, machine tending and small parts assembly applications. The IRB 1200 is designed with no offset in […]
Companies Respond to IoT with New Products, Services
Manufacturers are continuing to design and introduce products and components aimed at the growing Internet of Things (IoT). Two recent announcements confirm the continued manufacturer interest and response Texas Instruments (TI) announced 46 new ultra-low-power MSP430 FRAM (ferroelectric RAM) microcontrollers (MCUs) with more memory, features and integration. TI’s MSP430FR69x MCUs are scalable up to 128 […]
AC motors tough enough for methane extraction
Equipment used in oil-rig, oil-field, environmental remediation and chemical processing applications encounter rugged conditions. Regenerative blowers, such as the ROTRON Chem-Tough Regenerative (Side Channel), use long-life AC induction motors to keep the blowers operating. The blowers use regenerative air technology to develop proper air pressures and vacuums without the higher energy and maintenance costs associated […]
The Power of Motion Control
This year’s Motion Control Handbook is the 4th edition of Design World’s annual motion control compendium. What you’ll find within is the same commitment to the basics of motion control as well as tips for selecting motion control components. We’ve tweaked a few things this year, including the look of the handbook itself. In addition, […]
National Instruments Poised to Capitalize on IoT Explosion
Hype or not, here it comes, the much ballyhooed Internet of Things (or IoT). Essentially the next phase in the evolution of the Internet, it is the envisioned future in which billions of devices (from computers to anything that has a computer embedded in it such as medical devices, refrigerators, your shoes, and so much […]
Costa Concordia Update
The Costa Concordia is back in the news again. Last fall, I posted about the enormous engineering effort to right the 1,000-foot long ship stranded off the coast of Isola del Giglio on the western Italian coast. Almost a year later, the next phase of the operation has begun; towing the righted ship to a […]
Japanese R&D Firm Develops Energy-efficient Motors
i-Motor Co., Ltd. of Kyoto, Japan has developed a new variable flux brushless permanent magnet (PM) motor currently undergoing testing at the nationally recognized test laboratories Advanced Energy’s test facilities. i-Motor is a subsidiary of T.N.G. Technologies, a research and development company working on products that enhance energy efficiency. The new Type 5 variable flux […]