Special Motor Design
Control Engineering Asia, March 2008
By Thomas Fladerer, Siemens, and Dieter Seifert, Univ of Applied Sciences
Many requirements cannot be met by standard solutions. In such cases, motors need to be specially matched using electrical designs different than standard designs.

The 10 most-common Mistakes Made When Sizing Pneumatic Rodless Actuators
Machine Design, March 2008
By Cory Danks, TOLOMATIC
Rodless cylinders both support loads and supply guidance, eliminating the need for other load-bearing elements and reducing costs, size, and design time. Here’s what to watch for.

Variable amplitude vibrator provides tighter control
Intech, March 2008
Dry material usually feeds into a reactor, blender, or kiln by means of a conveyor belt. One parameter, which may be important depending upon the design philosophy used, is the natural or resonant frequency. The designer’s task is to provide uniformity so the conveyor speed can be relatively stable.

Electric actuators explained
Motion System Design, February 2008
What are the most important aspects of electric actuation that system designers need to be aware of? What happens when things go wrong? Experts from Exlar, THK, Bimba and Tolomatic answer these questions.

Reliable torque
Plant Services, February 2008
Article takes a close look at electric motor failure to examine the stresses on the motor, the most common failure modes and some of the causes of those failure modes. Then, it covers ways to either mitigate the failure or to detect an incipient failure.

Browse these and more articles and white papers on the Motion Control, Motors & Drives portal.

Gearmotor Sizing Guide
By Bison Gear
One would think that sizing is simply a matter of examining the torques and output speeds listed for gearmotors and selecting those whose ratings fall within your requirements. But that’s simply where you begin. After making the “first cut” from the formulas provided here, it is prudent to test a sample under actual operating conditions.

Alpha & WITTENSTEIN publishes motion control catalog
Catalog includes the latest technical data, application examples and overview of motion control products.

Latest Version of EMC2 Available for free download
EMC2 is a software system for computer control of machine tools such as milling machines, cutting machines, robots, hexapods, etc. EMC2 is free software released under the terms of the GNU GPL (General Public License). EMC2 is a descendent of the original EMC software, which is in the Public Domain.

Rockwell Automation publishes white paper on transformerless drive technology
By Rockwell Automation
“Maximize Efficiency, Space & Weight Savings with Medium-Voltage Transformerless Drive Configuration” paper explains the business value of transformerless drive technology.

SME publishes 2008 publications catalog
Downloadable catalog features more than 370 books, DVDs, study packages and CD-ROM products for purchase.

Browse these and more resources and literature on the Motion Control, Motors & Drives portal.

Automated Production Line Presses On Regardless
Process and Control Today, March 2008
The Barr & Paatz automated workcell designed and built for W T Henley in the UK has been running round-the-clock, five days a week since 1993, with the utmost reliability. The entire installation was recently lifted, lock, stock and robots, by one of the country’s biggest mobile cranes, and transported by low-loader to its new home in Belvedere, Kent, where it carries on producing electrical cut-outs, exactly as before.

Drives protect potatoes
Control Engineering Europe
March 2008
Industrial variable speed drives from Mitsubishi Electric are helping to ensure that consumers have fresh potatoes throughout the year.

Drives up productivity for tobacco industry
Control Engineering Europe
February 2008
A new cigarette making machine, capable of producing 8,000 cigarettes per minute, has been developed by Molins. The machine is driven by servo technology from Lenze with L-force servo drives and synchronous servo motors.

Actuators Ensure Precision
Assembly, February 2008
MacGregor Welding Systems manufactures micro-resistance and pulsed micro-arc equipment. Recently, the company designed and built a fully automated machine to produce miniature sensor modules using a network of pneumatic and electrical actuators supplied by Festo.

A Machine Renaissance
Control Design, March 2008
By Joe Morrissey, Conflex
Conflex, a builder of shrink-wrapping machines, substantially redesigned each machine in its product line and converted to Beckhoff’s DIN-rail-mounted embedded PC and IEC 61131-3-compliant automation and motion control software.

Browse these and more application stories on the Motion Control, Motors & Drives portal.

WAGO offers free Industrial Control Seminars
Three-day Industrial Control Seminars focusing on the latest in control technology will be held in Germantown, WI.

Understanding Motion Control Systems - AIT Training Course MCS110
3-Day Course - This practical course introduces engineering concepts of motors and drives that can be easily understood by both engineers and technicians unfamiliar with the technology and not accustomed to complex theory and mathematics.

Basic Electrical Circuits and Controls - AIT Training Course ECM110
This 4-day course covers the basics needed to understand, troubleshoot, and maintain most machine components and control circuits that exist in today’s complex industrial automation systems.

How to keep improvement continuous
Process and Control Today, March 2008
The Manufacturing Institute’s Accelerated Route to Lean Manufacturing program has provided hundreds of UK manufacturers with a rapid path to implementing and sustaining lean business improvement. Delegates learn the tools and techniques from high achieving lean manufacturing practitioners – applying their knowledge to tackling challenges and changing the culture at their own factory.

Make2Pack Training Session at Packaging Automation Forum
May 19-20, 2008 Chicago, IL
OMAC will provide a half day training session for attendees on May 19 at 1:00 p.m. The session will include a Make2Pack Workshop and a Hands-on Connect-and-Pack Demonstration.

Browse these and more training and seminar opportunities on Motion Control, Motors & Drives portal.

• Interroll introduces 24 Vdc EC110 RollerDrive
• Parker Releases Aries servo drive motion controller
• AMS announces mSTEP-407 microstep positioning system
• Sprint Electric introduces PLA to replace PLCs or PCs
• SKF releases Jaeger SJ series linear actuators
• Parker enhances Compax3 Servo Drive
• AMETEK announces MAE HN series hybrid stepper motors
• B&R introduces 8KS liquid-cooled motors

Browse these and more Product Announcements on the Motion Control, Motors & Drives portal.

Search Products by keyword, category, manufacturer or release date.

Bison Gear makes it onto CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News "Hard Times, Good Jobs" series featured growth at Bison Gear.

AMETEK acquires Motion Control Group  
AMETEK acquired MCG, a manufacturer of customized motors and motion control solutions for the medical, life sciences, industrial automation, semiconductor and aviation markets.

Aleithe named VP and general manager for ABB LV Drives
Aleithe will be responsible for the continued growth and strategic business development of low voltage drives in the U.S. market.

Ron Bullock named Chairman, Illinois Manufacturers' Assn
The Illinois Manufacturers' Association (IMA) named Ron Bullock its Chairman until 2010. Bullock is the owner and Chairman of Bison Gear & Engineering Corp. of St. Charles, Illinois.

Frost & Sullivan says market for Electric Drives rising in European Food & Beverage Industry  
Frost & Sullivan says the Electric Drives Market in the European Food & Beverage Industry was $260.4 million in 2006 and will reach $413.8 million in 2013.

Browse these and more company and organizational news on the Motion Control, Motors & Drives portal.

ABB to supply System 800xA for Australian waste processing plant
ABB will supply the complete hardware, engineering and commissioning of the control system, as well as drives, analyzers, instruments and Profibus field devices.

Automation Shines at Grote Industries: Robot Case Study
Robotics On Line, January 2008
By Mary Kay Morel, Motoman Inc.
High demand by major automotive OEMs and aftermarket suppliers for the company’s head and tail lamps, dome lights, emergency lighting, flashers, and LED marker lamps and other products led Grote to implement robotic assembly to improve productivity.

ABB to supply automation for pulp and paper mill in Australia
ABB will supply $50 million worth of power and automation systems for a new paperboard production line at the Visy Tumut mill in New South Wales, Australia.

Weigh feeder uses A-B switches, terminal blocks and drives
Schenck AccuRate gravimetric feeders use Bulletin 800 F-series switches, terminal blocks and Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 4 variable frequency drives.

Siemens supplies two Gearless Mill Drives for mine in Venezuela
The drives improve the efficiency of grinding copper ore. The two drives are worth EUR 20 million and will enter service in 2009.

ABB Automation World 2008
April 29, 2008 Houston, TX
Customer event for automation users in engineering, mill, plant and general management. Attendees participate in informative technical sessions presented by their peers and ABB technical experts and visit the event's hands-on exhibit.

PTDA Canadian Conference
May 29-31, 2008 Whistler, BC
Devoted to Canadian industry networking and trends, the conference is a must-attend event for distributors and manufacturers in the power transmission/motion control (PT/MC) industry.

Automatica 2008
June 10-13, 2008 Munich, Germany
Displays the latest in robots, assembly and handling technology, machine vision and associated technologies in five trade fair halls.

2008 Siemens Automation Summit
July 23 -25, 2008 Chicago, IL
The 2008 Siemens Automation Summit has presentations from industry experts and analysts, and customer case histories which detail the benefits of Siemens products.

International Manufacturing Technology Show
September 8-13, 2008 Chicago, IL
The largest and longest running manufacturing technology trade show in the United States, IMTS is ranked among the largest trade shows in the world.. IMTS attracts over 90,000 visitors from every level of industry and over 40 countries.

Add an event to our calendar.

Rick Zabel
Vice President, Publisher
Automation.com

View our Privacy Policy

For editorial inquiries, please contact Rick Zabel
For advertising inquiries, please contact Karen Olson or see our Media Kit.