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. […]
Featured
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 […]
Medical Robotics: One Step Closer to Cyborgs?
We here at Motion Control Tips have been following developments in robotics and motion control, which are closely aligned fields, for quite a while. Mostly this has included coverage of industrial applications and the motors, controls, and software that enable it all. But in addition to industrial applications, there is some truly groundbreaking work happening […]
Educators Gain Access to Siemens PLM Software
Engineering companies have for a long time been taking a more active role in the engineering education process. In addition to the theory that is taught in engineering schools, these companies are supplementing theory with often times more practical knowledge that employers are looking for from engineering graduates. One company with a well-known reputation for […]
Engineering and the Arts
While placing engineering and the arts in the same sentence may still sound like an odd juxtaposition to some, for me it has always been the most natural alignment. Back in my college days I dabbled in drawing, which was different from the mandatory technical drawing classes that all engineering students had to take, but […]
