Integrated Motion Systems - 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.”

Conveyors with direct-drive motors offer key advantages to Pa. facility

November 11, 2018 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

American Axle Manufacturing (AAM) is increasing the functionality of its St. Mary’s, Pa. manufacturing operations with conveyors sporting advanced drive technology. Small yet powerful direct-drive motors from Electric Torque Machines actuate Dorner conveyors that move small parts around the AAM facility.

AAM designs, engineers, validates, and manufactures an array of driveline, metal-forming, powertrain, and casting technologies — and is known for manufacturing large components such as axles and differentials. However, the AAM St. Mary’s facility manufactures many of the small and lightweight parts that go into AAM drivetrains. Transporting these parts from station to station and within workcells requires small and precise conveyors. The challenge is that the compactness of such conveyors is degraded by the bulk of traditional gearmotors. That’s what prompted AAM to specify conveyors driven by Dorner’s Universal Drive offerings — with direct-drive motors from Electric Torque Machines at their core.

Dorner Conveyor and Electric Torque Machines helped improve the material handling setup inside the Pennsylvania facility of American Axle Manufacturing.

The direct-drive motors have high continuous torque density (particularly at lower operating speeds) to eliminate the need for a bulky gearbox. Integrated into Dorner’s 2200 Universal Drive — which includes the motor, configurable motor mount, and controller — they reduce the conveyor-drive size by nearly 70% while boosting functionality and maintaining required output torque.

“We chose Dorner’s Universal Drive for its unique motor,” said AAM facilities engineer Michael Vandervort. “The motor is smaller and lighter than traditional ac motors … and can run in designated working areas unguarded, because the motor runs cool. In contrast, traditional ac motors are too hot to touch.”

ETM’s direct-drive motor imparts advanced functions to simplify automated tasks.

Vandervort also cited the wide speed and torque ranges of the Dorner Universal Drive as key benefits. “The drive lets us use the conveyors for applications such as slow pass-under vision tasks; heavy accumulation tasks; and high-speed part transfers.”

The on-conveyor inspection function is especially challenging. “At our facility, we use a lot of small conveyors to move light loads. Electric Torque Machines developed motor tuning functions to help stabilize our vision imaging on pass-under applications with very low torque requirements. We really appreciate ETM working with us and developing solutions for our specific needs,” Vandervort added.

“It was energizing to work with industry leader AAM — and encouraging to see the industry ready to adopt new technologies. AAM’s application illustrates the advantages of direct-drive motors,” added ETM V.P. of engineering Scott Reynolds.

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.

Chip-level connectivity and design sees synergies for motion and robotics

November 2, 2018 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

In a recent interview with Brendan O’Dowd, general manager for industrial automation at Analog Devices, we got the chance to hear about new devices — even to the chip level — that allow better integration of robotics into motion designs and machines for automation.

Eitel • Design World: We cover motion control as it relates to motors, power transmission, and automation. What new developments in these areas do you consider most significant?

O’Dowd • Analog Devices: Our company has been around for 50 years. For some time, we’ve investigated the systems into which our parts go … to create better solutions for these designs. For example, sometimes engineers asked us to reduce power consumption. Usually there was something specific prompting the question — such as thermal dissipation being an issue. We learned that it’s not always the posed question needing addressing — but something related to it. So we began using technology and our silicon experience to solve problems in new ways.

On connected motion and servos and drives, several parts are involved in the sequencing. There’s the processor — the system brains — and the PWMs driving the signal … as well as the isolated gate drivers (IGBTs) … and the measurement of the currents returning — for a complete control-loop algorithm. We’ve worked to optimize many of these.

But from a system point of view, communications have become more critical — and deterministic Ethernet is increasingly a part of these communications. Even in factory control and process automation where 4-to-20 mA and fieldbuses have reigned for a long time, Industrial Ethernet is coming to the floor … in an array of standards.

Eitel • Design World: Our industry sees a lot of proprietary standards — all good for certain things — but not always able to work together.

O’Dowd • Analog Devices: They’ve been successful … but now as we need higher speeds, there’s migration towards unified standards — with the TSN collection of standards currently leading. In fact, nine or 10 different IEEE standards are part of that TSN bundle. They cover things such as ingress policing (for the prevention of traffic overload conditions on a network) and other network functions. We expect TSN standards to supersede most existing industrial Ethernet protocols.

Eitel • Design World: But it’s unlikely that those invested in existing industrial Ethernet networks will abandon what they use … and those networks’ unique benefits — especially for real-time functionality.

O’Dowd • Analog Devices: Yes — and with the growing tide of robots and especially cobots, real-time functionality is absolutely critical. So we’ve invested in multi-protocol solutions … because it’s okay if you’re Siemens, Rockwell, or Beckhoff with all your equipment the one standard you sponsored — but many smaller players must deal with these different standards. For them, it means unless they’re designing for an all-Siemens factory or an all-Beckhoff factory, they must support multiple standards.

Eitel • Design World: What kinds of products support all major protocols?

O’Dowd • Analog Devices: Some of our Ethernet switch ICs have built-in TSN features to support several IEEE TSN standards. We aim to offer compatible updates to next-generation TSN as those standards are finalized. As any latency-controlled Ethernet standard, TSN standards allow synchronization of the Media Access Control (MAC) physical interface on different boards at different parts of the system.

For a drive, motor, or robot, actual motion is controlled by PWM output. The time synchronization then has to make its way through the communications stack and through the motion-control stack and out to the PWM output — to drive the actual gate drivers to time the motor. So many view TSN from the Ethernet point of view — and focus on getting that synchronization down to the boards … a significant problem itself. But they leave the rest of the problem to individual designers.

That’s why we bring motor-control and motion-control signal-change domain expertise to our Ethernet work. We aim to deliver system solutions, and not just pieces of silicon.

The key point is when a semiconductor supplier can apply domain expertise to silicon design, it is possible to solve wider system-level problems.

Eitel • Design World: How does that relate to robots and the new wave of cobots in automation?

O’Dowd • Analog Devices: The latter are about sensing and understanding the environment … with many offerings today being very much in the analog domain. But using technologies borrowed from other fields — such as radar and LiDAR from automotive, for example— will come to expand the array of system-level domains in robotics. People often ask why we’re acting more as system suppliers and not acting as a traditional component supplier. Well, it’s because we’re working to be relevant at higher levels — by leveraging our domain-level expertise and newer expertise in robots, motor control, condition monitoring, and Ethernet.

Eitel • Design World: Just to be clear for engineers who don’t usually think of design work at the chip level — would you explain what you mean by domain in this context?

O’Dowd • Analog Devices: Sure. There are IC technology silos — for A-to-D converters, performance amplifiers, processors, and power supplies, for example. We also have experience silos for automotive, motor control, and process control. Some we developed internally from work with customers on applications. Some we’ve hired into the team — for example, in robotics and motor control design — to get views that are different from a silicon designer’s view.

The challenge is that silicon designers think in terms of what they know — transistors and fab processes and so forth — whereas motor-control designers think in terms of PWMs, and current feedback, and control loops. So having them work together for weeks, months, and years spurs richer conversations and solutions that wouldn’t have been created otherwise. That’s what constitutes domain-level design.

The fido5200 REM switch (one version of the fido5000 series) supports industrial Ethernet protocols such as EtherCAT.

Eitel • Design World: You’ve been gracious in not mentioning specific Analog Devices products for such flexible functionality. But may I ask what those are?

O’Dowd • Analog Devices: Our single piece of silicon — the fido5000 REM Switch IC — is configurable with a binary download we supply.

That means engineers can setup for an EtherCAT version of a field instrument … or a PROFINET version … or Ethernet IP version … and it’s the same hardware, just with a different binary download. With less designing and debugging, that in turn reduces time to market and models in inventory … and boosts assurance that what gets shipped to the end user will be the right version, as it’s just a software image.

In this way, the fido5000 REM Switch IC is a flexible part — with TSN protocols ready to go and pin-for-pin replacement compatibility.

Eitel • Design World: Many proprietary offerings provide real-time functionality. Does your new offering adhere to IEEE standards for that?

O’Dowd • Analog Devices: Our Deterministic Ethernet Technology Group (DET) director Jordan Woods also represents us on the standards bodies — so we can sell standards-ready silicon from day one. Even when standards aren’t finalized, we have customers evaluating our ICs’ functionalities to deliver on what’s coming.

Eitel • Design World: What in the motion and robotics markets are driving innovation?

O’Dowd • Analog Devices: Motor control and robotics are driving the need for higher bandwidth. Some in factory automation resist the idea of needing GbE — accepting 100 Mb as enough. But they’ll need higher bandwidth in the future. Even in residential homes, the number of Internet-connected things has risen dramatically. Factories are no different — and high-bandwidth items such as cameras and radar (for time-of-flight measurement and positioning, for example) are leading the charge. Such technologies are key to knowing where people are around a robot, for example. Having a work cell’s cameras execute auto recognition on workpieces … or artificial intelligence — these too demand big bandwidth.

What’s more, some design engineers are frustrated with accommodating lots of standards.

These two things are driving the trend towards standard TSN. So I predict the big players will continue to support legacy equipment with proprietary standards — even while next-generation standards are still being worked out. Rest assured we’ll be there to support the latest solutions.

Eitel • Design World: Do you offer software for configuring your chips?

O’Dowd • Analog Devices: We sell preconfigured chips — and supply the binary … already certified with the standards body — so the chips are ultimately pre-certified to EtherCAT or PROFINET or to the applicable standard. That minimizes work for the engineer. But higher-level software — that lets engineers configure networks — that’s not something we offer yet. At the moment these offerings are tied to more integrated designs.

Eitel • Design World: On the topic of more connectivity between motor-driven machine axes and robotics — what’s particularly innovative here?

O’Dowd • Analog Devices: We’ve supplied lots of I/O for PLC-based control … analog out and in … digital out and in. We see such controls moving to higher data rates as well — and I think TSN standards will become very prevalent here. But at Ethernet IP becomes standard in the factory everywhere — and not just in parts — it will replace some 4-to-20 mA and fieldbus connections. So while motor controls and drives will spur higher bandwidth, maybe not factory automation but certainly process control — including oil and gas and pharmaceutical industries — will increase use of lower bandwidth over longer distances.

Eitel • Design World: Another area of interest is network security.

O’Dowd • Analog Devices: Standard approaches to using PCs and IT infrastructure with firewalls and certificates doesn’t work well at the factory level. After all, firewalls between machines could quickly bring down production. So configuration and setup must be well engineered. Our security company subsidiary Sypris Solutions works on this for us.

Eitel • Design World: How does this relate to another connectivity-enabled function — that of condition-based machine health monitoring?

O’Dowd • Analog Devices: We’ve been doing MEMs vibration sensors for 25 or 30 years … with most airbags in the world controlled with our MEM sensors, for example … and first-generation Nintendo Wii consoles as well. With our motion and vibration-sensing expertise, now we’ve begun exploring ways to use MEM sensors in motor control … as a lot of information can be gained from monitoring motors over time to understand their states — as bearings wear or loads begin to have issues, for example. We’ve all heard stories of that one guy who can hear problems or lay his hands on a machine to detect issues — or skillfully use probes for measuring various characteristics.

In short, there is now a way to have this level of monitoring using technology rather than a highly skilled “machine whisperer” …

What are chain-on-edge conveyors and where are they used?

October 18, 2018 By Danielle Collins Leave a Comment

Conveyors are the backbone of many factories, moving parts and materials through assembly or processing stations via chains, rollers, belts, or pallets. Most conveyor designs hold the part stationary, in a given orientation, as it moves down the line. And in many processes, maintaining a fixed orientation is important — when a part is being inspected, for example, or being delivered to a robot for assembly. But when the application calls for the part to change orientation between one station and the next, or even to rotate as it’s being conveyed, a chain-on-edge conveyor is often the best option.

Chain-on-edge conveyors allow parts to rotate as they’re conveyed.

Spindles attached to the chain allow products to rotate as they’re conveyed.
Image credit: BGK Finishing Systems

A chain-on-edge (COE) conveyor is essentially a single-strand chain conveyor that has been turned 90 degrees, so that it runs on its side. The chain-on-edge design typically uses a roller chain that runs in a channel and is supported by plates. The chain flexes along the horizontal axis, allowing this style of conveyor to make horizontal turns. Vertical curves (height changes) are also possible with the chain-on-edge design, but the curves must be gradual. These turning capabilities make chain-on-edge conveyors much more versatile than traditional chain conveyors.

The key to product rotation in a chain-on-edge conveyor is the use of spindles attached to the chain. The spindles can be designed to rotate freely, to rotate and stop at preset positions (90 and 180 degrees, for example), or to stop at custom positions. Stationary spindles are also an option, and are often used for smaller parts that need to be transported with access to all sides, but not necessarily rotated, during transport.

Chain-on-edge conveyors are sometimes referred to as “spindle conveyors.”

Although their unique feature is the ability to rotate parts during transport, chain-on-edge conveyors are also used for transporting heavy loads that don’t rotate, but that require full access to the outer sides and top of the part. In these applications, the load is carried on a truck, or cart, attached to the chain. For large or asymmetrical loads, the chain is accompanied by external tracks, or outriggers, that help support and guide the load.

A chain-on-edge conveyor with outrigger tracks to help support and guide the load.
Image credit: Central Conveyor

Rider plates attach to the chain, and pusher dogs — mechanical latch-type devices that engage and disengage with the trucks — attach to the rider plates. In some chain-on-edge designs, pusher dogs can be used to facilitate product accumulation or transfer from one chain to another.

Mechanical latches, referred to as “pusher dogs,” engage and disengage with transport trucks and can allow products to accumulate or transfer from one chain to another.
Image credit: Jervis B. Webb Company

Applications that call for a product to rotate during transport including painting, coating, curing, cleaning, baking and drying. These applications are found extensively in the automotive industry, but virtually any product with an outer surface that has been painted, coated, or cured has likely been transported by a chain-on-edge conveyor.

When used in painting and coating applications, chain-on-edge conveyors are typically enclosed in a protective housing with a covering that prevents contamination of the chain and internal components.
Image credit: Precision Conveyor Coating Technologies, Inc.

Feature image credit: Precision Conveyor Coating Technologies, Inc.

Allied Motion debuts electric power steering system

October 12, 2018 By Miles Budimir Leave a Comment

Allied Motion Technologies has introduced the electric power steering (EPS) series for steer-by-wire warehouse vehicles, autonomous AGVs, and similar material transport vehicles needing a robust electric steering solution.

The EPS series is a compact, fully integrated motor, gearbox, controller, and optional output pinion. It’s available in 3 frame sizes and 16 models to cover virtually any electric steering requirement in applications from small pallet lifters to AGVs/AGCs to multi-ton reach trucks.

The EPS series also offers an optional patent-pending feature – the Turning Wheel Absolute Position Control, which allows the controller to know the absolute position of the turning wheel without the need of external sensors. Combined with Allied’s patent-pending SWS steering wheel position sensor for manually-operated vehicles, the EPS series offers a complete electric steer-by-wire solution for material transport vehicles.

Features of the Allied Motion EPS series include:

24, 36, or 48 Vdc battery operation (72 to 80 Vdc optional)
EN13849 approved
Customizable mounting flange, output shaft, and output gear
Can be used in cold storage environments with temperature down to -35°C
Optional tiller arm
Optional Turning Wheel Absolute Position Control
CAN communication for control and diagnostics

For more information, visit www.alliedmotion.com.

New drum motor and new hygienic solutions from Interroll at PackEXPO 2018

October 10, 2018 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

The Interroll Group, the leading global provider of material flow solutions, will introduce new products and solutions to the Americas region at PackEXPO at McCormick Place in Chicago from October 15 to 17, 2018 (Booth E 10300). One of the highlights will be the new generation of drum motors, which Interroll is now expanding with more diameter options.

Interroll will debut the DM0113 and the DM0138—the latest addition to its range of drum motors. The new generation of drives offers an impressive range of benefits: Stronger shafts and ball bearings ensure a particularly long service life and the extremely stable design for the planetary gear allows high torques to be transferred with low levels of operating noise. All the drum motors in the new generation comply with the requirements of IP69K, the highest degree of hygiene protection, meaning that they are significantly quicker and easier to clean in comparison to traditional gear motors. Local manufacturing ensures that delivery times of the new drum motors will be kept at a minimum.

Customers seeking to upgrade their so-called blue belt conveyors will be offered exclusive new equipment: Interroll invested into new polyureethane coating equipment for producing Interroll Premium Hygienic shells for driving homogenous belts in Wilmington, USA. This solution is unique in the market.

Another highlight will be a Modular Conveyor Platform (MCP) Loop display. The MCP is ideally suited to demonstrate the ease of use and flexibility of automatic order-picking systems. The highly versatile Interroll conveyor platform has proven to be the suitable choice — as it can be adapted to the most diverse specific needs of clients and users alike.

Furthermore, it is possible to use the platform as a basis for retrofitting systems for the flow of materials in a particularly quick and practical manner. The modules, most of which come pre-assembled, made the system easy to install. The MCP is controlled by Interroll MultiControl, the new network interface card for PROFINET, EtherNet/IP and EtherCAT. With help of the MultiControl, sensors and RollerDrive are directly integrated in to the field bus level.

October 1st — Conveyor manufacturer mk North America celebrates 30 years

October 1, 2018 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

Leading conveyor system designer and manufacturer mk North America is celebrating 30 years in business. Check out the company’s new video detailing the company’s products and services to commemorate the occasion.

As the U.S. subsidiary of the German machine builder Maschinenbau Kitz, mk began in 1988 when Andreas Tietje established the U.S. location in Simsbury, Conn. At first, the manufacturer was called mk Automation Engineering and focused on T-slot aluminum extrusion and the myriad systems that can be made from such engineered product … including conveyors. The latter have become a large part of the business over the years.

In 1996, mk moved to 105 Highland Park Dr. in Bloomfield, Conn. where it’s now based. In May 2010, the company changed its name to mk North America, Inc. and in 2012 purchased the building on an adjacent lot to add more space to support a growing product line.

With rapid growth continuing and demand increasing from manufacturers, mk North America then joined its facilities in 2013 and introduced a product series — including the CleanMove stainless steel conveyors.

By 2014 mk North America had branded the VersaMove pallet conveyors — which it had been making since the 1990s. Even today, VersaMove pallet conveyors help companies worldwide meet productivity, sanitation, and project requirements in an array of industries.

Today, mk North America continues to offer its solutions worldwide including aluminum and stainless conveyors, pallet handling systems and extruded aluminum framing that provide unsurpassed variety, maximum flexibility and easy integration for machine builders, systems integrators and manufacturing companies around the globe.

“mk stands behind the promise of delivering a better product and a better solution by offering exceptional customer support from concept to completion and beyond,” commented Andreas Haussmann, President.

“At mk North America we believe that our people make the difference. It’s their ingenuity, their passion and their dedication that makes mk stand out as the leading manufacturer of standard and custom material handling solutions.”

For more information, visit www.mknorthamerica.com.

Located in Bloomfield, Connecticut, mk North America, Inc. designs and manufacturers conveyor and material-handling systems. The company’s original Aluminum Framing System continues to serve as the base technology in all of the new solutions mk brings to market which today includes 20 different Aluminum Conveyors, VersaMove pallet-handling system, CleanMove stainless steel conveyors, as well as the Aluminum Framing.

Advanced manufacturing and materials have made an highly efficient traction drive possible

September 14, 2018 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

Rolling Motion Industries (RMI) has released two high-efficiency traction drives — the MAR-17-1-2.1 Traction Drive and the MAR-23-1-2.1 Traction Drive. These are 1-Way traction drives with only six moving parts and use an engineered traction fluid with a coefficient of friction of just 0.1 to 0.12. These traction drives typically last three times longer than conventional gearboxes and with no metal to metal contact these high efficiency drives generate up to 72% less heat after 24 hours of continuous operation, Additionally they create up to 38% lower dB at 3000 rpm (less than a home refrigerator) than conventional gearboxes. Even though there’s no metal to metal contact there’s no slippage or lost motion between the input and output shafts.

The MAR17-1-2.1 Traction Drive is designed for speeds to 3,600 rpm with 10 to 20 in/lb of torque, and the MAR-23-1-2.1 Traction Drive is rated for 3,600 rpm with 20 to 30 in/lb of torque. Operating at temperatures that are lower than a motor’s, with low vibration, and no torque losses from 10 to 3,000 rpm, these traction drives permit a motor to operate at peak efficiency. Applications for these 1-Way traction drives which can operate in explosive environments (ie. zone 1 and 21) include: Pumps, blowers, fans, turbo and super chargers, conveyers, HVAC systems, medical applications, and other power transmission and motion applications.

These revolutionary drives are available with an optional overriding clutch. Incorporating standard NEMA mounting dimensions, these drives can be easily integrated into new and existing applications.

In 1993 John Pawloski and his brother Ray took over the family business, Jewelers Machinist Co. They realized they needed to switch from outdated conventional thread grinders to CNC thread grinders. As a result, Jewelers Machinist Co is a source of some of the most complex thread grinding in the industry. The concept for the RMI traction drive came from John in 2007. Working in that high precision industry aided John in the development of the RMI Traction Drive.

In the years that followed, the design of the individual components and formula of the engineered traction fluid were finalized, testing was completed, a patent granted, and production begun. The RMI Traction Drive is one of the most efficient ways to transmit power from one point to another. Using rolling motion, RMI is able to transfer power at various ratios with minimal energy loss. Tested against V-belt, direct drive, chain, and gearbox setups, RMI Traction Drives offer energy saving benefits through true efficiency rating percentages up to 98%. The high efficiency of the traction drive allows electric motors to run at their peak efficiency ranges.

There are many applications where it can be used from automotive to industrial to medical. The RMI traction drive can be used in the electric vehicle market and precision applications. Offering benefits such as low backlash and no back driving, it set a new standard for high efficiency.

For more information, call (860)846-0530, email info@RMIDrive.com, or visit RMIDrive.com.