The 2013 edition of the Motion Control Handbook is the third edition of Design World’s annual motion control compendium. Since the first edition in 2011, we’ve revised sections including either adding new information or (as sometimes was the case) condensing a lot of information down into the really essential material. (You can view the digital […]
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SMMA Announces Call for Research into Motor Efficiency
The Electric Motor Education & Research Foundation (EMERF), a 501(c)(3), of SMMA – The Motor & Motion Association – will award a $15,000 grant to a university or research facility for developing pre-competitive research concepts on achieving improvements in power density while simultaneously increasing efficiency in small electric motors. The winning applicant will have initial […]
Bearings Help Smooth Cyclists’ Ride
So-called dropper seatposts for bicycles have been around for a long time. They’re designed to help riders make climbs as efficient as possible by being able to manually control the height of the bicycle seat. For a new dropper seatpost model, stem and seatpost manufacturer L.H. Thomson recently partnered with Saint-Gobain on the company’s new […]
Putting Cameras in the Loop
by Christian Fritz, Sr. Product Manager, Advanced Machine Control, National Instruments, Austin, Tx. For decades the adoption of machine vision technology has been a growing trend in the automation industry. Applications like quality inspection, robot guidance, pick-and-place operation and part sorting experienced a quantum leap in performance through the adoption of image acquisition and processing. […]
Fun at NIWeek
I saw something interesting as day two of NIWeek progressed: families, with small children wandering throughout the conference and exhibit halls. At first I thought it was a bit strange, but once I really began to explore the exhibit floor for myself, I understood why National Instruments invited families to attend the event. One of […]
A first-timer’s look at NIWeek
This is my first time at NI Week and the first word that comes to mind is “impressive.” Throughout the morning keynote presentations on Tuesday, you could really tell that the NI staff, from marketing to product managers and design engineers, truly love what they do here and enjoy making the products that will, in […]
Robotic Nightmare or Robotic Wonder?
A lot of folks may say that the last thing the world needs is a robotic spider, which makes the real thing look like a cute, huggable toy by comparison. But just when you thought you’d seen it all, along comes the not-so eensy weensy T8 from Robugtix, a robotic spider made with 3D printed parts. […]
The 4th and Fireworks
In the spirit of the 4th of July and fireworks, here’s a video clip of an amazing fireworks display in Dubai, ringing in the new year this past January 2013. The pyrotechnic engineering here is impressive, using the 2,722 ft-tall Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, as a kind of vertical stage. http://youtu.be/rJKfPuDiQsI
Kollmorgen and NI Announce Collaboration on Motion Control Offerings
Recently, National Instruments (NI) announced a new collaboration with Kollmorgen. The collaboration expands NI’s motion control offerings by adding access to Kollmorgen’s high-quality servo and drive systems which can be programmed with NI’s LabVIEW SoftMotion Module. According to National Instruments, engineers will be able to put together motion control systems more easily and will have […]
Hollow-bore Servo Motors
Servo motors come in many shapes and sizes, from small horsepower hobby motors to larger horsepower industrial motors. Most servo motors have the look and operation of a classical motor; that is, stator, rotor, and an output shaft which is connected to some other component to transmit motion. But not all applications have a need […]