Industry News - Motion Control Tips

Strain-wave gearing core to one exoskeleton for logistics-plant work

November 13, 2018 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

Consider a specific example of how strain-wave gearing gets used — in the German Bionic Systems Cray X exoskeleton. This 7.9-kg design assists plant personnel with manual handling of tools and heavy goods while reducing lower-back compression pressure. The exoskeleton joints use strain-wave gearing to reduce their brushless motors’ high rpm for an output of low rotational speed with high torque.

On a related note, at 2018 Consumer Electronics Show harmonic-gearing manufacturer Harmonic Drive exhibited with a team from suitX, designer of the Phoenix walking-assist exoskeleton … which also uses strain-wave gearing.

Exoskeletons are most useful where human work cannot be fully replaced by robotics — in industrial production for automotive, logistics, or and healthcare industries. BIS Research predicts that the market for wearable robotics could grow to U.S. $4.65 billion by 2026.

The Cray X has a battery life of about eight hours give its wearer 15 kg of assist. Worn like a backpack, the Cray X extends down the legs and straps to the user’s thighs. Battery-driven electric motors at the joints then help the user with lifting or (in another mode) stand up straight with a constant vertical force (for core support) after bending down for a task. The Cray X begins actuation when an armband tracking forearm-muscle tension sends feedback to a processor indicating that on object is being lifted. Then the exoskeleton’s strain-wave-gearing-fitted motors go into action.

Production Cray X models are now available for order. “After testing with several industrial companies, we made the first models available. Now, scaling production and further technological development are top priorities for us,” said German Bionic Systems CEO Peter Heiligensetzer.

Heiligensetzer predicts his company’s technology will help trim healthcare costs and (in manufacturing and logistics settings) raise productivity levels. “This technology could solve pressing societal issues now — a time of broad demographic shifts and reported shortages of skilled workers … and exoskeletons may also help workplaces avoid age discrimination.”

Finalists announced for Motion Control category of LEAP Awards

November 9, 2018 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

Finalists were announced on Friday, November 2nd for the inaugural LEAP Awards Motion Control Category. The competition was scored by a panel of independent engineering judges. The judges below were responsible for the Motion Control category.

Dan Jones • President | Incremotion Associates

Dan Jones started as a production worker at a motor company in the late 1950s, balancing ac squirrel cage rotors and pressing shafts into rotors. He earned his BSEE from Hofstra University in 1965 and a Master’s in Math from Adelphi University in 1969. He has more than 50 years’ experience as a motor design engineer, manager, chief engineer, marketing director, vice president of marketing, and consultant.

Jones is experienced in custom motion marketing activities, surveys and strategic planning meetings and is a Life member of IEEE. He employs SPEED and MotorCAD for the design of all types of linear, radial, flux, and axial flux machines, PM brushless, switched reluctance and induction machines. Jones is the author of more than 250 seminars, papers and technical articles on a wide range of motion control subjects. He was project manager for the design and development of six specialty DC motors used on the two Mars Viking Landers in 1976.

Karl H. Schultz • President | Schultz Associates

Karl Schultz is the President of Schultz Associates, specializing in manufacturing and technical management consulting in the electric motor industry. He is also considered an expert in implementing lean/world class business processes.

Schultz is an experienced hands-on manufacturing management consultant who has had both line and staff positions in the electric motor industry. He was the division Director of Manufacturing Engineering for Emerson Electric for 10 years, supporting four plants in the U.S. and Mexico. He was then the Business Director of Manufacturing Engineering at GE Motors for three years. Consulting has taken him worldwide in many various successful projects. He has more than 25 years in the electric motor industry.

Schultz holds a BSME in Machine Design from Western Michigan University. He was a member of the Electrical Manufacturing and Coil Winding Association, serving as the VP and a Board member. He is a senior member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and a past member of the Society of Automotive Engineers. He has received numerous awards such as Best Industry award (General Signal), Most Valuable Player award (BMI), performance awards (GE Corporate & Motors), and others. He is an adjunct instructor at the Oregon Institute of Technology – Wilsonville … teaching junior and senior level management courses such as Lean/6 Sigma and Organizational Behavior.

Tom Solon | RH Murphy Co. Inc.

Tom Solon has a diverse engineering background in roles as both an OEM and supplier, spanning many industries, from housewares and consumer products, to semiconductor manufacturing and medical equipment technology. A recognized authority in linear motion products, plastics, and semiconductor handling, Tom has authored numerous articles and technical papers.

Tom earned his BSME in Machine Design and BA in Economics from Brown University and is a licensed Professional Engineer. He devotes much of his free time to public education as a school board member and technical education advisory board member.

Michael Torres • Chief Avionics Support Equipment Engineer | Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Div. Point Mugu

Michael Torres’ technical expertise is the design, development, and testing of advanced avionics (flyable electronics) that meet speed, size, weight, and power requirements of these systems. He focuses on the development of software mathematical algorithms to facilitate design solutions that meet these requirements.

Torres has developed and patented automated test systems for avionic systems and their test equipment. He holds nine Navy patents and is an expert in the development of manufacturing fixtures that simply the manufacturing of components, reducing the manpower requirements and producing better and more repeatable results.

Torres holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering specializing in Electronic Warfare from the Naval Post Graduate School, a Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of California at Santa Barbara, and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from UCLA.

Below are descriptions of the Motion Control finalists. The overall winner of the Industrial Automation category will be announced at an awards dinner on December 11th in Costa Mesa, Calif.

ElectroCraft • RPX and LRPX

The ElectroCraft RPX and LRPX family of brushless DC motors and integrated gear motors are designed to optimize motion applications across markets where high torque is needed from a quiet, small, but powerful motor form factor. The RPX is powerful, energy efficient, highly controllable, and durable. It is a powerhouse of a motor that offers more torque density than other BLDC motors in relation to its small size. The RPX family offers a broad range of options from the RPX22, a 22-mm diameter motor that offers 25.2 oz.in of torque, to the RPX52, offering a whopping 184 oz-in. torque from a 52-mm diameter motor that is only 57 mm in length.

For even more demanding high torque applications, ElectroCraft presents the LRPX family which offer an integrated planetary gearbox optimized to work with the multi-pole RPX technology. While traditional BLDC motors spin too fast to work effectively with traditional gearboxes, the LRPX is designed for peak operation at relatively low BLDC speed that pairs perfectly with the integrated gearbox. The integrated LRPX gearmotor is also quiet due to its construction and relatively low speed of operation. Learn more at this deep link on electrocraft.com.

GAM Enterprises • Zero backlash gearbox

The GPL Series is a zero-backlash planetary gearbox. It has a high ratio helical spur input driving a conical spur gear planetary stage. A unique, patented mechanism on the conical planet gears continuously presses the planet gears into the ring gear to maintain zero backlash for the lifetime of the gearbox.

High torsional rigidity results in < 0.6 arc-min. of lost motion at start up. The GPL comes in seven sizes with either a solid flanged output (GPL-F) or a hollow flanged output (GPL-H). The GPL-H uses five planet gears to achieve a through hole for feeding power or air lines to the output. The GPL has a high torque density of 58-73 Nm/kg for high performance in a small gearbox. The gearbox is rated for a fully-loaded life of 20,000 operating hours.

Haydon Kerk Motion Solutions • 15-mm Linear Actuator

The Haydon Kerk Motion Solutions LE15 can-stack actuator offers precision linear motion in a compact and powerful package with the ease of use of a stepper motor. The base of the actuator is a 15mm diameter can-stack style stepper motor with integrated precision lead screw. The construction of the motor is such that it can sustain axial loads not typically seen with standard rotary motors, and still achieve industry leading power density for a can-stack style motor. The lead screw is offered in a 2 mm diameter with several lead options. For increased efficiency and life Kerkote TFE low friction coating is applied to the lead screw. The ZBM anti-backlash lead nut compensates for wear and backlash to provide a high degree of bidirectional linear precision. The result is a highly compact precision linear actuator.

A common trend is a need to reduce overall package size while maintaining a certain level of force output within a linear motion application. There are several drivers for this, but generally the need is the same, facilitating precise linear motion in smaller spaces. The manufacturer has addressed this need by miniaturizing an existing can-stack actuator line and its radially compensated line of lead nuts. The result is the world’s smallest commercially available linear actuator with the world’s smallest commercially available anti-backlash nut.

The LE15 linear actuator is a great choice for linear motion applications where space is at a premium and precise motion control is required. In addition to having high force density compared to other similarly sized products such as piezoelectric motors, the LE15 actuator is low cost and simple to use. Typical applications include medical equipment, semiconductor handling, valve control, optics focusing, X-Y tables, handheld instruments, and many more. In addition to standard configurations, Haydon Kerk Motion Solutions can, and often will customize the design of the actuators to meet specific application requirements.

The LE15 linear actuator is an enabling technology, without it some products would never make it to market. Often miniaturization of motion components comes at a high cost which can kill a project or product budget before the design gets off the ground.

Kinitics Automation • KLA05 Linear Actuator

The KLA05 Linear Actuator is a shape memory alloy-based actuator that uses proprietary Bundled Wire technology to deliver high force and actuation speed in a small package. The product is the first commercially available linear actuator using shape memory alloy to provide precise linear motion without the use of motors and requires only electrical power to operate. This breakthrough product allows users to upgrade and improve existing systems, while also enabling the automation and control of processes that were previously unfeasible using conventional equipment.

The new Kinitics KLA05 Linear Actuator provides forces up to 650 N (146 lbf) and strokes up to 6.7 mm, can be easily configured to supply a pushing or pulling force, and fits in a variety of applications. Position control is possible through the addition of a linear sensor while force control is possible through use of a strain gauge. Due to its use of shape memory alloy and Kinitics’ proprietary Bundled Wire technology, the KLA05 Linear Actuator offers a number of features and benefits that distinguish it from other types of actuators, including: positional accuracy of ±5 µm; requires minimal infrastructure to operate; and has only one moving part and no backlash.

Built inside a frame that conforms to the ISO 21287 standard, the KLA05 is compatible with a wide variety of rod-end attachments and mounting brackets. The frame features industry-standard 5 mm T-slots that permit easy mounting of proximity switches and non-contact position sensors. The product is both watertight and dustproof, making it suitable for use in harsh environments, and can be powered with standard 120 VAC power or sub-50 VDC power which can be delivered through flying leads or SJOOW cable hook-up.

Lin Engineering • Miniature Hybrid Step Motor

Lin Engineering’s new PT106 Hybrid Step Motor measures just 16 mm (0.63 in.) in width. In the past, this frame size was only possible to achieve with a less accurate, and less powerful permanent magnet (PM) motor. PT106 offers all of the benefits of a hybrid stepper, and none of the drawbacks of a PM motor. PT106 outperforms PM motors in all metrics: it’s more powerful, more accurate, offers higher speeds, and wider dynamic torque range.

The PT106 is able to achieve up to 2.1 oz-in of holding torque without the aid of a gearbox, which is 70% more holding torque of the closest competing design, or 4x more torque than a conventional PM motor of similar size. When paired with the manufacturer’s gearbox, the motor is capable of producing up to 8 oz-in of holding torque.

maxon precision motors • Exoskeleton Joint Actuator

The global Exoskeleton market is growing in both market share and technological developments at a rapid rate each year. Maxon motor worked with several global customers to design and develop brushless DC motor solutions for use in robotic limbs. The Exoskeleton joint actuator is for use in hip and knee exoskeletons. A complete joint actuation unit includes a pancake brushless DC motor (EC90 flat) with inertia optimized rotor, an

Internal high-resolution 4096 MILE Encoder, a planetary gearhead with absolute encoder and an EPOS4 position controller with CAN and RS232interface. Fitting the 17bit SSI absolute encoder directly at the joint rotation to a degree will negate the effect of gearhead backlash … giving designers increased positioning accuracy. The unit will deliver54Nm of continuous torque and 120Nm on a 20% duty cycle. The system can be operated on supplies between 10 and 50V DC and the actuation speed is up to 22 rpm. The wide variety of different operating modes provides high flexibility in testing and optimizing of the entire exoskeleton system.

AMETEK • Windjammer Pro Brushless Blowers

The Windjammer PRO solves many customer issues related to temperature. The unique cooling design allows customer to run the blower fast resulting in increased performance. The blower also had a new bearing protection design to enhance the life of the blower. It Also has a decreased sound level due to the redesign in cooling. From the manufacturer:

Currently, we have several units sent to customers globally. We initially began design work after hearing about the problems listed above. Once we developed our first prototype, we were able to then work with a few select customers to test and understand the nuances of their products and how to adapt our new design to meet customer needs. We are still developing new designs to fit all of the needs of our customers. These designs are evolutions of the original Windjammer PRO and can be used in the same manner as the original.

To design this new blower, we used 3D printing and modeling for testing out our new designs. This helped us to reduce the amount of raw materials needed and find the right design to meet our customer needs. We also did several tests before our product was released to our beta customers.

End users are seeing value in drop-in replacements to their current blower model, a decrease in the number of SKUs purchased because the manufacturer can tune these blowers to work with generally accepted voltages around the world. There are also several electronic enhancements that allow the customer to easily have the blower retuned on site while still in their product.

Oriental Motor USA • Battery-Free Multi-Rotation Absolute Mechanical Encoder

In recent years, greater accuracy, better reliability, and safety are demanded of motors, especially motors used in critical positioning applications. Such systems typically utilize servo motors with encoder feedback along with battery backup, allowing it to perform closed loop absolute control. From these requirements, a battery-free, multi-rotation absolute mechanical encoder was developed. The AlphaStep AZ Series, a closed loop system, adopted this type of sensor and is currently on the market today.

Applied Motion Products customizes integrated motor for better package handling on conveyor

November 8, 2018 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

Integrated STM/SWM stepper motors from Applied Motion Products help save space, wiring, and cost on advanced conveyors.

For one conveyor handling packages of various configurations, the integrated steppers form part of an assembly to position as rapidly as the analog control updates target position — every 4 msec. Here, the motors also address changing requirements for sorting, alignment, and singulation.

Combining a motor, drive, and control, STM/SWM motors are capable of automatic stall detection and prevention … and include an encoder for feedback on motor position.

Q Programmer motion control software on the STM/SWM integrated stepper-motor controls simplifies configuration to specific conveyor requirements. In addition, EtherNet/IP communications replace noisy analog signals … and eliminate the need to run long signal wires from as many as 100 motors to a central PLC. That lets even the most advanced conveyors coordinate high-speed maneuvers with precision.

For more information, visit applied-motion.com/products or fill out this contact form.

Applied Motion Products specializes in high-precision, cost-effective motion control products including stepper and servo motors, drives, controllers, gearheads, and power supplies. The company serves a diverse industrial and OEM customer base with both standard and customized products. With in-depth motor and control expertise, Applied Motion Products works with customers from initial concept and design through finished product and production to provide the best motion control solutions to a range of markets.

Most efficient vehicle in the world uses brushless motor in drivetrain

November 8, 2018 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

One little hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle holds the Guinness world record for the most efficient vehicle … and uses a slotless brushless 60L-H-175-A from Koford Motors to drive its rear power wheel. This year, the tiny car from the Duke Electric Vehicles team beat the 12,600-mpg efficiency of the PAC CAR 2, in turn designed by a student team at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Zürich, Switzerland.

The Duke vehicle’s conversion of chemical energy (stored in hydrogen gas) to mechanical energy is maximally efficient.

According to Patrick Grady (president of the Duke Electric Vehicles team until he graduated this year) their fuel-cell vehicle Maxwell (in its final World Record iteration) has a 15-mph design speed and 40.8 W of total power (sourced from hydrogen chemical energy). During redesign based of a Maxwell predecessor, the team saw that with a nominal fuel-cell efficiency of 58% average electrical energy from the fuel cell (used by the motor) couldn’t exceed 23.6 W. With a motor and drivetrain efficiency of 87% or so, mechanical power dissipation couldn’t exceed 20.6 W.

The Duke team used the 23-W target extensively to make quick decisions on what components to swap for better.

“For Maxwell prototypes, our Teensy 3.2 microcontroller of choice drew about 300 mW when powered from 5 V … so had we used the Teensy in the final Maxwell design, we would’ve lost 1.3% efficiency just powering the microcontroller,” explained Grady.

Another key to ensuring efficiency was calculating the average power level and then optimizing the fuel-cell system for top efficiency there. But average motor load over a representative race is 23 W … and the Duke team’s original design used a motor most efficient at 80 W.

Yet another wrinkle: To maintain speed during races, the driver cycles the motor on and off. So to allow this mode of operation, the team considered a few system architectures:

No load levelling — with the motor controller directly connected to fuel-cell output with no energy storage between the two

Passive load levelling — with a large supercapacitor bank connected to the fuel-cell output

Active load levelling — with a custom DC/DC converter between fuel cell and supercapacitor bank for total fuel-cell control

Fuel cells are more efficient under constant load than dynamic load. This fact (and how a larger fuel-cell stack to output 80 W has higher leakage and auxiliary losses than a stack sized for 23 W) meant the Duke team needed something to modulate draw from motor off stack.

The first approach would’ve required the fuel cell to supply full motor power … and optimization around 80-W motor power instead of the car’s nominal 23 W. Making matters worse, such a design would’ve necessitated “optimization” for 0-W conditions — requiring low gas leakage and latent current draw in such situations. So the team vetoed this design.

The second method was one the Duke team used on their Gemini car — for a 2018 Shell Eco-Marathon race. This setup employs a dc/dc converter to actively control power with software to stepup fuel-cell voltage to higher supercapacitor and motor voltage. The configurable converter drew constant power from the fuel cell and into a supercapacitor bank for efficiency. This entirely decoupled the fuel cell from the motor and was the theoretically cleanest option. But in the 2018 Eco-Marathon, the Duke team only got 96% efficiency from the converter. Plus it (and associated software and hardware) introduced complexity and design issues.

So for Maxwell’s world-record run, the Duke team employed passive load levelling. Here, a supercapacitor bank connects in parallel to the fuel cell and motor controller. The fuel cell continuously trickles power into the supercapacitors … and then motor discharges the bank in high-power bursts. Supercapacitor size was chosen to hold voltage and power draw off the fuel cell constant over a lap. The supercapacitors added about 2 kg to the vehicle weight, but their simplicity made the car design more robust — and losses from the dynamics of the fuel cell were smaller than the losses from dc/dc converter to boot.

Shown here is the energy flow on Maxwell’s powertrain.

More specifically, supercapacitors run at better than 99% efficiency (with losses from internal resistance) … and that of Maxwell vehicle’s supercapacitor bank is only about 10 mOhm — far lower than that of comparable lithium-ion solutions.

Shown here is Maxwell’s 1200F supercapacitors next to a lithium polymer (LiPo) unit of comparable capacity.

Electric motors do their part maintaining the car’s efficiency

Critical to Maxwell’s efficiency is having an efficient electric motor that’s also light and reconfigurable to myriad input voltages.

“Few motor manufacturers list their motors’ theoretical efficiency, and still fewer have measured dyno results. Unfortunately, most vendors focus on optimizing power density or cost … so we struggled to find resources focused on efficiency,” said Grady. “Our team ultimately chose Koford Motors to power Maxwell. Their data sheets very helpful and their motors highly efficient — with dyno results to quantify that efficiency.”

More specifically, the team picked a Koford 60L-H-175-A motor — with a peak efficiency of about 92% and well-suited sizewise for Maxwell.

Shown here (black, in background) is a Koford 60L-H-175-A motor with a sprocket to engage a chain — which ultimately propels the power wheel on the world’s most efficient vehicle.

Paired to the brushless motor is a chain transmission — to transfer power from the motor shaft to Maxwell’s rear wheel. On the final record-setting Maxwell powertrain, a #25 chain runs on a 14T sprocket coupled to the Koford motor …and then a 120T sprocket drives a freewheel on Maxwell’s rear wheel. The chain transmission let the Duke team easily change gear ratios to let the motor run at peak efficiency … which was helpful, as the motor and drive are most efficient at 100% duty cycle (near top speed).

The Duke students built an inertial dynamometer to measure the efficiency of purchased motors themselves. Results partially masked in red here cover inaccurate results due to an incorrectly programmed motor controller misreporting low-speed efficiency. True efficiency curves are flatter … and the high speed results shown here are more accurate. The students got their efficiency results after the chain transmission (which taxes peak efficiency by 3 to 4%).

Direct-drive option? Not for this efficient design

The Duke team considered using a direct-drive hub motor in Maxwell, as such motors are theoretically more efficient than electric motors connected to power-transmission components. But the team only found hub motors that were heavy, poorly documented, or designed for low-cost electric bikes.

Maxwell’s motor controller uses Hall-sensor feedback for simple block commutation. The team tried out a blended Hall and back-EMF commutation for more accurate timing but found its implementation didn’t match the performance of classic Hall commutation.

To save power, Maxwell was programmed to shut off most electrical systems when the motor wasn’t running. The car’s driver was given just a button control the motor — not the more standard throttle potentiometer. Upon depression, the button triggers a wake-up sequence and throttles the motor at constant current. Removing the driver’s throttle control boosts consistency and performance by keeping the electric motor running near its optimal point.

Visit this blog deep link on duke-ev.org for more information from Patrick Grady about the Maxwell fuel-cell vehicle — and on challenges related to getting top performance out of Maxwell’s off-the-shelf Horizon H-100 PEM fuel cell. At the blog, Grady also explains the advanced analysis the team performed on various racetracks to pick one that would give Maxwell the best odds of beating the world record for vehicle efficiency.

Finalists announced for Industrial Automation category in inaugural LEAP Awards

November 8, 2018 By Miles Budimir Leave a Comment

Eight finalists were announced on Friday November 2^nd for the inaugural LEAP Awards’ Industrial Automation Category. The competition was scored by a panel of independent technical/engineering-oriented judges. The four judges below were responsible for the Industrial Automation category:

Bonnie Baker
Consultant
ATW, LLC

Bonnie Baker is the author of six books, including A Baker’s Dozen: Real Analog Solutions for Digital Designers. Baker holds a Master’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Arizona and has authored more than 500 technical publications including magazine articles, app notes, seminar sessions, data sheets, and a few patents. She is also a frequent presenter at technical conferences and shows.

She has been involved with analog and digital systems for more than 30 years. Baker started as a manufacturing product engineer, supporting analog products at Burr-Brown. From there, she moved up to IC design, analog division strategic marketer, and then corporate applications engineering manager. In 1998, she joined Microchip Technology. This expanded her background to not only include analog applications, but microcontroller solutions as well.

Bradford L. Goldense
President
Goldense Group Inc.

Bradford L. Goldense is a subject matter expert in the management and processes of product development, innovation and performance measurement. He has authored or been cited in more than 300 articles and books and holds nearly 150 registered copyrights.

Brad was a faculty member of the Graduate Engineering School Executive Program at The Gordon Institute of Tufts University for 19 years. He is internationally recognized and has consulted with more than 200 of the Fortune 1000 in 500 manufacturing locations around the world. GGI has helped many companies to increase their stock price by improving R&D innovation and execution, and by improving communications of prowess to the marketplace and investor community.

He previously held positions at Texas Instruments, Price Waterhouse, Knight & Associates, Index Group, and a family engineering business before founding GGI. Brad has a BSCE from Brown University and an MBA from Cornell’s Johnson School. He holds four professional certifications: New Product Development Professional by the Product Development and Management Association, Certified Manufacturing Engineer by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Certified Computer Professional by the Institute for Certification of Computer Professionals and Certified in Production and Inventory Management by the American Production and Inventory Control Society.

Brad was a founding member of the Society of Concurrent Engineering and founder of the Society of Concurrent Product Development which he ran until 2006. He retired from the board in 2012. His non-profit corporation lives on, with appreciated support and funding from 3M.

Thomas E. Manley
Engineering Manager
Feedall Automation

Thomas Manley is Manager of Engineering at Feedall Automation, where he directs and designs the machine orders that come through the engineering department. He is also a part-time engineering instructor at Lakeland Community College and is the designer of 14 U.S. Patents for various companies that he has worked for.

Manley has worked with high-profile companies such as Harley-Davidson, American Axle, Meritor, Caterpillar, and Ford Motor Company, among others. He helps companies and engineers implement automation systems into their plant, while adhering to their desired budget and goals.

Karl H. Schultz
President
Schultz Associates

Schultz holds a BSME in Machine Design from Western Michigan University. He was a member of the Electrical Manufacturing and Coil Winding Association, serving as the VP and a Board member. He is a senior member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and a past member of the Society of Automotive Engineers. He has received numerous awards such as Best Industry award (General Signal), Most Valuable Player award (BMI), performance awards (GE Corporate & Motors), and others. He is an adjunct instructor at the Oregon Institute of Technology – Wilsonville, teaching junior and senior level management courses such as Lean/6 Sigma and Organizational Behavior.

Below are descriptions of the eight finalists. The overall winner of the Industrial Automation category will be announced at an awards dinner on December 11th in Costa Mesa, Calif.

Cognex
DataMan 470

DataMan 470 series fixed-mount barcode readers solve complex, high-throughput manufacturing and logistics applications with ease. DataMan 470’s multi-core processing power, imaging technology, high-resolution sensor, advanced decoding algorithms, and simple setup delivers maximum coverage, speed, and ease-of-use.

Littelfuse
MP8000 Bluetooth Enabled Motor Protection Relay

The MP8000 Bluetooth Enabled Motor Protection Relay is a new category of product designed to enhance worker safety while allowing for faster, easier control and troubleshooting of machines. The first fully-programmable motor overload relay to offer integrated Bluetooth capabilities, the MP8000 relay enables maintenance personnel to communicate with the relay from up to 30 feet away using an app on an iPhone® or Android™ smartphone or tablet computer. A worker can set up the relay, view real-time data and troubleshoot fault codes while the panel door remains closed to prevent potential electrical shock and arc-flash hazards.

Bluetooth® communication provides several conveniences that improve productivity. Workers save time by leaving their PPE (personal protective equipment) in their locker. Motors are easier to troubleshoot when workers can stand nearby the motor, instead of next to the relay located at a distance up to 30 feet away. If the relay is located in an outdoor cabinet, workers can interact with it while remaining warm and dry in their vehicles during inclement weather.

Once a smartphone is securely paired with the relay, a worker can easily monitor system status in real time, set up the relay, adjust its settings, and review its fault history. Instead of turning knobs and scrolling through menus on a small display, workers can use a smartphone interface to interact with the relay. The app is intuitive and requires no training to use.

Omnify Software
Omnify Empower / 6 River’s Robot Chuck

Chuck is a warehouse robot built from the same technology and sensors as autonomous vehicles. Omnify Empower, a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Software, was instrumental in developing 6 River’s Robot Chuck. The Chuck Robot, using machine learning and artificial intelligence, leads associates through their work zones to help them minimize walking, stay on task and work more efficiently.

Chuck integrates with Warehouse Management Systems so it can be used in all put-away, picking, counting, replenishment and sorting tasks. Chuck keeps warehouse employees on task by guiding them through the facility through each step of the packaging process. It can glide around the room and also has a touchscreen to help workers locate items. Chuck uses sensors to help detect worker productivity. It’s also been designed to help with employee training.

6 River isn’t worried about eliminating humans and instead believes there is an opportunity to help industries that have a “massive labor shortage” for warehouse suppliers. There aren’t enough people to fill the jobs.

The 6 River System robots offer an intuitive design and guide workers to the correct locations and step them through the picking process at a granular level. The robots can clearly increase worker productivity and picking accuracy. 6 River Systems offering can increase units per hour per employee by 200 to 300 percent. Pricing runs at about $250,000 for 8 robots in the first year and maintenance costs of about $50,000 a year thereafter. 6 River Systems currently has 20 customer sites with a total of more than 200 robots in use. It is the company’s end of year goal to have 600 Chuck robots in use across 40 sites.

Omron Automation Americas
CIP Safety Controller

Omron’s new CIP Safety Controller (part of the NX controller series) is the world’s first to supply two popular safety networking protocols: CIP Safety, which is widely used among industrial robot manufacturers, and Safety over EtherCAT, a protocol that ensures a high-speed response.

CIP Safety is one of the most widely used safety networking protocols because it enables various nodes in the system – such as PLCs, I/O blocks, light curtains and interlock switches – to communicate with one another. Since it’s both network- and media-independent, it allows safety and standard control devices to reside on a single network. This eliminates the need for a purpose-built safety network and enables the sort of flexibility that manufacturers strive for in the face of more globalized, high-mix production needs.

The new controller will be a welcome solution for any manufacturers seeking to implement the CIP Safety protocol in order to have an alternative to the traditional purpose-built safety network. It is also designed to assist manufacturers in need of a thoroughly scalable safety system that provides direct node-to-node communication and those who are looking for a way to simplify their safety program design.

Parker Hannifin
Universal Pneumatic Valve Manifold

An industry leading product offering wide flow ranges and design versatility, the H Series ISO pneumatic valve family is intended to make the machine designer’s job easier.

An improved modular manifold provides the opportunity to mix ISO 5599 / 15407 02, 01, 1 and 2 valve sizes on one common manifold without expensive and bulky transition blocks. The ability to mix sizes allows for right sizing each valve to its specific flow and pressure requirement instead of sizing all valves to the largest requirement, thus reducing cost and space on the machine.

Designers may easily zone supply or pilot pressures, allowing for a mix of different pressures/vacuums on one valve manifold instead of requiring separate manifolds, reducing machine footprints.

Main and pilot supply/exhaust may be added anywhere in the valve manifold creating zone and pressure isolation for quick exhaust of a “safety zone”.

The subsequent cost savings are considerable: right-sizing a manifold with 10 valves can yield a 28% savings ($2,361 down to $1,704) or more depending on specific application.

The new H-Series valve family incorporates a P2H (Parker-to-H-Series) IO-Link network node allowing for an easy means of connecting the H-Series valve to a low-cost IO-Link network. The P2H IO-Link Node also features a convenient 7/8 power in and out connection for auxiliary power—a first for an IO-Link enabled valve device. Thanks to the P2H network node, machine builders can save up to 40% on total system and installation cost versus Ethernet wiring.

Protolabs
Farmbot – humanity’s first open-source CNC farming machine

FarmBot is humanity’s first open-source CNC farming machine. Using open-source technology, home gardeners can assemble the software and hardware to oversee and customize their own garden. FarmBot hardware employs linear guides in the X, Y, and Z direction to allow for tooling such as seed injector, watering nozzles, sensors, and weed removal tools to move with precision. Through the use of a phone or laptop application, it can accurately plant a variety of crops all in the same area at the same time. The game-like interface allows the grower to customize and build an entire growing season – with built-in regimens for taking care of each plant throughout its entire life by scheduling sequences to run when the plant reaches certain maturity.

At the core of the system is a single board computer, a programmable microcontroller, various motors, and rotary encoders. The aluminum frame combined with the electronics enables FarmBot to automate everything from planting seeds to watering plants on an individual basis.

Schneider Electric
EcoStruxure Augmented Operator Advisor

EcoStruxure Augmented Operator Advisor, an innovative augmented reality software that superimposes real-time data and virtual objects onto cabinets or machines, giving operators and technicians immediate access to relevant information.

The benefits of leveraging this state-of-the-art AR technology in the field or the plant include, but are not limited to:

Reduced downtime. Operators can open the electrical cabinet doors virtually with no need to shut down operations.
Speeding up operation and maintenance. Technicians can find information faster, with immediate access in the field to real-time data, user manuals, instructions, diagrams, etc.
Reduced human errors. Locates the right equipment and guides operators step-by-step to complete maintenance procedures.

EcoStruxure Augmented Operator Advisor’s interface gives direct access to information like labels, process variables, SQL database, machine documentation, electrical diagrams, web pages, instructions, notes, and instructional videos.

The plug-and-play architecture works on tablets (currently iOS®, and Android™ with Windows® versions in the works), and uses a Windows-based PC as the server platform. The server receives the data to share with the tablet from multiple sources, such as PLCs, SQL databases, and OPC UA servers for example. To ensure flexible integration into any user’s existing system, the software is compatible with servers and components from any vendor.

Serapid
Telescopic Jib

Telescopic jibs for intervention in confined environments are a powerful and economical solution for demanding jobs. SERAPID has recently designed a new telescopic jib for the nuclear market. It’s an actuator consisting of a specific rigid chain, which can be deployed over several meters without being supported, and thus ensure control operations or small mechanical work in confined environments such as tanks, containers or cells.

This new product is very compact, can be easily introduced by reduced access (manhole, coring, hatch, etc.) and is especially useful for dismantling work. With a simple and robust design, this telescopic arm will be a powerful and economical tool for everyday use.

It’s composed of stainless steel, titanium and plastic. Features include a maximum payload of 45 kg, a maximum extended length of 5 m, and speed of 30 mm/sec. The pitch of the chain is 60 mm and the deflexion at the end of the chain is 70 mm for 10 kg at 2 m or 500 mm for 10 kg at 5 m.

ACS Motion Control SPiiPlus library for MATLAB enhances application development

November 7, 2018 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

ACS Motion Control has created a MATLAB library that enables users to develop sophisticated applications with advanced diagnostics capabilities directly with ACS control systems. The MATLAB library communicates with ACS’ motion controllers, allowing users to implement custom motion profiles, learning control algorithms, a custom FRF measurements, advanced monitoring systems, and much more.

The SPiiPlus Library for MATLAB allows users to experiment with algorithms to improve motion control performance for their application. It can provide design support at each stage of the development process, from modeling to deployment through automatic code generation.

“The SPiiPlus Library for MATLAB offers expanded flexibility and capability for motion control engineers. The library allows users to employ powerful MATLAB features to design, test and refine their motion control application. This enables a more robust and higher performance motion control system while reducing time to market,” said Jason Goerges, General Manager at ACS Motion Control.

The new library Supports MathWorks MATLAB R2011a (v.7.12) and later, as well as Microsoft Windows operating systems starting from Windows 7.

The SPiiPlus MMI is now officially MATLAB enabled and ACS is a member of the MathWorks Connections Program, defined as MathWorks Partner. For more information, visit acsmotioncontrol.com/spiiplusnt-inside or email sales@acsmotioncontrol.com.

A manufacturer of advanced multi-axis motion controllers, machine controllers and integrated control modules, ACS provides standard and custom products that combine power and precision to deliver flexible, economical, user-friendly motion and machine control solutions. Established in 1985, ACS’ headquarters are located in Israel and its North American headquarters resides in Bloomington, MN. ACS also has facilities in Germany, South Korea and China, and distributors worldwide that deliver dependable customer service and product support. ACS is an ISO9001 certified manufacturing facility, demonstrating its continuous commitment to providing customers with reliable devices that are thoroughly tested with the latest available techniques.

Jim Halverson and Sandy Sullivan to lead PTDA in 2019

November 6, 2018 By Paul Heney Leave a Comment

The Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA) elected its 2019 Board of Directors and Manufacturer Council at the annual business meeting during the recent PTDA Industry Summit in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Jim Halverson, manager power products, Van Meter Inc. (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) will become PTDA’s president in 2019. Halverson has been active in PTDA since 2009 when he joined the Membership Committee and subsequently served as its chair. Jim has served on the PTDA Board of Directors since 2014.

Following his election, Halverson said, “Accepting the nomination to serve as President of PTDA was a proud and humbling experience. The focus for 2019 will not change; we will continue to work with the PTDA staff and dedicated volunteers on the execution of our strategic plan, ensuring our continued success.”

Joining Halverson on the 2019 PTDA Board of Directors will be:

· First Vice President Brian Davis, executive vice president/COO, B & D Industrial (Norcross, Ga.)
· Second Vice President JP Bouchard, vice president, General Bearing Service Inc. (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
· Treasurer Mike McLain, vice president, Allied Bearing & Supply, Inc. (Harahan, La.)
· Immediate Past President Jim Williams, vice president purchasing & supplier relations, Motion Industries Inc. (Birmingham)
· Manufacturer Council Chair Sandy Sullivan, national accounts director, Nidec Motor Corporation/U.S. Motors (St. Louis)
· Manufacturer Council Vice Chair Jeffrey W. Moore, senior vice president mechanical power transmission, ABB Motors and Mechanical Inc.(Greenville, S.C.)
· PTDA Foundation President Brian Short, global strategic account manager, Regal Power Transmission Solutions (Florence, Ky.)
· EPTDA President Zoltan Arkovics, managing director, BDI Europe LTD (Budapest, Hungary)

Directors:

· Michael Cinquemani, president and CEO, Master Power Transmission, Inc. (Greenville, S.C.)
· Jeff Cloud, president, IBT Solutions (Merriam, Kan.)
· Cameron DeBorde, business development, Bearing Distributors, Inc. (Columbia, S.C.)
· Steven W. DuComb, operations manager, W.C. DuComb Co., Inc. (Detroit)
· Bill Shepard, VP, BDI (Cleveland)
· Tom Weihsmann, SVP & GM, Kaman Industrial Technologies Corp. (Bloomfield, Conn.)

Sandy Sullivan, national accounts director, Nidec Motor Corporation/U.S. Motors (St. Louis) assumes the duties of the PTDA Manufacturer Council chair in 2019. Sullivan has been active in PTDA governance since 2010 when she joined the Industry Relations Committee. Since then, Sandy has served on several committees and task forces and chaired the Communications Committee. She joined the Manufacturer Council in 2015.

“I am honored to lead the Manufacturer Council in 2019. PTDA has been an excellent way for me to learn more about the PT industry and network with U.S. Motor distributors. During my term I would like to continue promoting the PTDA Women in the Industry group to both distributors and manufacturers,” Sullivan said.

Joining Sullivan on the Manufacturer Council for 2019 will be:

· Manufacturer Council Vice Chair Jeffrey W. Moore, SVP mechanical power transmission, ABB Motors and Mechanical Inc.(Greenville, S.C.)
· Immediate Past Chair Chris Curran, president, Climax Metal Products Company (Mentor, Ohio) and vice president, industrial business development, RBC Bearings (Oxford, Conn.)

Council Members:

· Tammy Balogh, VP human resources, Flexco (Downers Grove, Ill.)
· Andrew A.O. Brown, VP, Whittet-Higgins Company (Providence, R.I.)
· Chester Collier, SVP, Walter Service Technologies (Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada)
· Randy Disharoon, national accounts director, Rexnord Industries, LLC (Milwaukee)
· Maxine Gomez, new business development sales representative, Belden Universal (Hillside, Ill.)
· Michael Nisenbaum, director industrial sales & marketing, Carlisle Belts by Timken (Franklin, Tenn.)
· Jos Sueters, VP, Tsubaki of Canada Limited (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada)

The Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA) is the leading global association for the industrial power transmission/motion control (PT/MC) distribution channel. Headquartered in Chicago, PTDA represents power transmission/motion control distribution firms that generate more than $16 billion in sales and span over 2,500 locations. PTDA members also include manufacturers that supply the PT/MC industry.

PTDA
ptda.org

Motion sensors at core of home-therapy tool to retrain brains

November 1, 2018 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

Now, a wearable device called the FitMi from Flint Rehab is helping people with neurologic injuries (from strokes and other brain injuries) improve their strength and dexterity. FitMi contains two wireless pucks and a therapy app that picks exercises tailored to the patient’s stage of recovery. As he or she improves, the FitMi exercises and difficulty levels increase to optimize recovery.

Each FitMi puck contains a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, a three-axis magnetometer, and a microcontroller.

The FitMi uses motion sensors to track arms, core, and legs while the patient performs exercises to strengthen muscles. Feedback is in real-time to allow machine learning and self-customizing algorithms to determine optimal challenge points for the patient. Stored data can be used by patients to track progress.

Each FitMi puck contains a three-axis accelerometer; a three-axis gyroscope; a three-axis magnetometer; a load cell and battery; a microcontroller; and an external four-pin electrical connector. Pucks are made of colorful heavy-duty plastic with a non-slip rubber pad on the bottom to prevent slipping during exercise. Puck top and bottom connect through a load cell (much like those found in bathroom scales) to detect compression force or loading. Data from each puck’s sensor array wirelessly transmits via a multi-band protocol to a USB dongle, which in turn connects to any PC or Mac without syncing or pairing … even if there are multiple units in close proximity. Pucks also come with custom charging stations to allow users to plug and unplug them with only one hand.

FitMi Pucks also include an onboard LED for visual feedback and a vibrating motor for haptic feedback.

Allied Electronics & Automation breaks ground on new 220,000 square foot warehouse addition

October 16, 2018 By Miles Budimir Leave a Comment

Allied Electronics & Automation is expanding its warehouse to 520,000 square feet from its current 300,000-square-foot distribution center. The new addition will be built alongside the current warehouse in Fort Worth, Texas. When the addition opens in mid-2020, Allied will have the capacity to house more than 500,000 stocked products, up from 170,000 today.

“Allied is preparing for the future by developing our warehouse today,” said VP of Business Operations Scott Jayes. “We pushed our automation partner KNAPP to give us a state-of-the-art facility. Our expanded warehouse will include advanced technology that will cement our position as a true benchmark in the distribution industry.”

The new warehouse will make room for an additional 26 receiving stations and employ the latest automated order, storage, and retrieval shuttle system (OSR) for high-density storage. A GTP (Goods-to-Person) pick system, including robotics for repetitive tasks, and the addition of a matrix RFID pocket sortation and consolidation system, will enable pick-to-line process capabilities to enhance customer service. A new automated packing capability, designed to improve presentation while reducing packaging, material waste, and shipping costs, sits alongside an extended shipping sortation system.

Allied broke ground at an employee ceremony in early September and unveiled the new expansion plans to suppliers at the company’s recent EXPO 2018, its bi-annual trade show and sales meeting in Fort Worth. The facility is expected to be completed by July 2020.

For more information, visit www.alliedelec.com.

Control Techniques announces new servo drive

October 15, 2018 By Danielle Collins Leave a Comment

Control Techniques, part of the Nidec group of companies, has revealed its new generation of advanced servo drive technologies.

The new Digitax HD servo series delivers ultimate motor control performance and flexibility from a uniquely compact package. Targeting high axis count automation systems, Digitax HD provides all of the benefits of a modular system with a common DC bus, with standalone drive flexibility. The drives’ wide power range provides 6.2 – 451.4 lb-in (0.7 – 51 Nm) with 3x peak torque (1.5 A – 16 A and 48 A peak).

The new series is focused on high overload, pulse duty applications but also provides continuous servo control, plus induction motor control, and is initially available with two functionality levels. The new Digitax HD servo solutions launched in the Americas on October 15 at Pack Expo.

Digitax M753 is designed as an optimized amplifier for high performance centralized control with EtherCAT integrated on-board and simple rotary switches for fast network address assignment. Alternatively, the flexible Digitax M751 base option allows design engineers to add up to two option modules from the existing Unidrive M range, such as PROFINET, Ethernet/IP, or an IEC61131 high performance motion controller for decentralized machine control.

Minimum size

For both single and multi-axis configurations, the Digitax HD series offers industry-leading compactness – the M753 EtherCAT variant is just 1.6 inch (40 mm) wide – that is 5 axes across the width of a piece of paper or 7 axes across if you turn it to landscape. The drive is also designed to fit within 8 inch deep (200 mm) enclosures.

Digitax HD is the most compact 400V servo drive available in the world

Its patented Ultraflow™ system allows machine builders to further reduce cabinet size by up to 50 percent through expelling heat from the drive directly outside the enclosure. This approach offers the further benefit of enabling drives to be stacked without the need for a large air channel between them.

Maximum performance

High dynamic applications will benefit immensely from Digitax HD’s 300 percent peak performance pulse-duty overload capabilities, along with its 62 μs current loop and 16 kHz switching frequency. Its flexible speed and position feedback interface supports a wide range of feedback technologies, from robust resolvers to the latest single cable digital encoder technologies.

Quick and easy installation

Digitax HD boasts a wealth of features and accessories designed to make installation and commissioning as easy as possible. Features include easy-access pluggable connectors and a dedicated multi-axis paralleling kit for rapid installation; integrated braking resistor and electronic motor name plate for faster setup; and quick commissioning using the Unidrive M Connect PC tool or an optional SD card. Machine Control Studio provides a flexible and intuitive IEC61131 environment for programming automation and motion control features.

Flexibility

The Digitax HD servo series flexibly adapts to your architecture of choice, be it centralized motion control, distributed intelligence, or any combination of the two. Support for all main industrial field-buses guarantees easy integration into any production line.

Complementary motor line-up

Working in tandem with the Digitax HD series, delivering class-leading performance with a wide torque range, up to 750 lb-in (85 Nm) with 3x peak, rated speeds from 1,000 to 6,000 rpm, several inertia levels, and a broad selection of feedback options, Unimotor hd offers the perfect fit for high dynamic applications.

Control Techniques