Earlier this month, I spoke with Viet Le, Senior Sales Engineer, Oriental Motor at the MD&M East/ATX East show in New York City. The company was showing off its AZ series of closed-loop absolute mechanical encoder stepper motors—they feature low vibration and high efficiency, and you don’t even have to purchase a battery back-up or […]
Editor Blogs
Catching up with Beckhoff at ATXEast
I had a great chat with Beckhoff’s Daymon Thompson at last week’s ATX East trade show at New York’s Javits Center. The PC-based machine controls company features a range of processors, from an ARM processor all the way up to an industrial server with 36 cores and two terabytes of memory—possibly the biggest PLC on […]
The Reshoring Initiative launches National Reshoring Award
The Reshoring Initiative, in conjunction with the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA), invites companies that have successfully reshored parts or tooling made primarily by metal forming, fabricating or machining to apply for the first National Reshoring Award. There will be one award for buyers and one award for suppliers. To be eligible for the award, the […]
New series of high-power gearboxes from Dunkermotoren for AGVs and other applications
With applications needing designs with higher performance to deliver more dynamic motion profiles, there are more demands than ever put on gearbox technology. Plus the demands of the drive require more power in a smaller footprint — as in autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) and other applications, for example. Dunkermotoren meets these challenging criteria with new high-power gearboxes including the PLG 63 HP, […]
Genesis Robotics premieres LiveDrive actuator at Hannover Messe 2017
Canadian manufacturer Genesis Robotics unveiled LiveDrive — the first highly-controllable direct-drive robotic actuator that is three times faster and 100 times more precise than conventional actuators — at Hannover Messe 2017 in Germany on April 24th. Robotic actuators are the physical force behind robots, and make up approximately 30 percent of the cost. For more than 50 years […]
Curtiss-Wright introduces new CANbus rotary position sensor
Curtiss-Wright’s Industrial division has announced the launch of the NRH27C, a non-contact rotary position sensor which is suitable for use on specialty on- and off-highway vehicles utilizing CANbus communications. Developed by Curtiss-Wright’s legacy brand of Penny & Giles, the NRH27C extends the company’s recently-introduced NRH271 and NRH272 family and shares many similar features and benefits. These include […]
Industrial gear designs push the envelope with new materials and exacting manufacturing
The fundamental transmission of mechanical power hasn’t changed in several hundred years — and that includes industrial gear designs. “Coupled to most rotary electric motors is either a chain-sprocket drive, a belt-pulley drive, or a gear drive,” said Brian Dengel, general manager of KHK USA. “Each has its advantages and disadvantages, but none of them have […]
Emerging trends in conveyor design: Turnkey setups and higher throughputs
Demand for motion designs offering simplicity has touched conveyor applications in several ways. Recently we asked Kate Nadeau, engineer with mk North America, about this and other trends in material handling. Here’s what she had to say. We’re satisfying market demands (including those for turnkey solutions) with a variety of standard conveyors as well as […]
Motion controllers see major shifts in design thanks to IoT, online configuration, and more
We recently asked several industry experts about trends in the design and application of motion controllers to get an idea of where these precision command centers are changing approaches to design engineering. Then we published a much-abbreviated sampling of the enormous amount of insightful feedback Design World received. Below is the uncut commentary in its entirety. Enjoy […]
Trends in electric motors part two: Miniature designs on the rise for medical, mobile, and more
This is the second of a two-part series. Also read the first installment of this two-part series at Trends in electric motors 2017 part one: Market shifts towards smart solutions. Out of all industries changing motion design, medical technology is driving electric motor innovation hardest. FDA requirements on medical-device makers and their suppliers continue to include […]
