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Powerlink motion control network supports unique winding machine
Process & Control Today, October 2008
Powerlink is helping the Swiss company Carbo-Link create carbon fibre components for applications such as rigging for racing yachts. The company used a Powerlink compatible controller and drives from Baldor to build a machine that winds carbon fibres to form lightweight yet ultra-strong tubes or rods up to 14 metres in length.
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Research improves servo dynamics
Control Engineering Europe, October 2008
The University of Manchester, UK, demonstrated servo systems with improved dynamics through research led by Dr Nigel Schofield, of the Power Conversion Group, using a Sensor Technology torque transducer.
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Corcoran Concrete cuts conveyor maintenance with Baldor gearboxes
- 11/12/08
In a sand quarry, bearings were failing as often as three times a year, and the gearboxes typically lasted only 12 months. Corcoran switched to Dodge gearboxes.
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Research improves servo dynamics
Control Engineering Europe, October 2008
The University of Manchester, UK, demonstrated servo systems with improved dynamics through research led by Dr Nigel Schofield, of the Power Conversion Group, using a Sensor Technology torque transducer.
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Powerlink motion control network supports unique winding machine
Process & Control Today, October 2008
Powerlink is helping the Swiss company Carbo-Link create carbon fibre components for applications such as rigging for racing yachts. The company used a Powerlink compatible controller and drives from Baldor to build a machine that winds carbon fibres to form lightweight yet ultra-strong tubes or rods up to 14 metres in length.
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Improved control cuts injection moulding energy costs by over 30%
Design Product Automation, October 2008
Controls based on a variable speed drive from ABB have cut the energy consumption by one third on an injection moulding machine at McKechnie Automotive and Engineered Plastics in Pickering, UK.
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Automation and Ethernet Combine for 3D Disney Attraction
Control Engineering, October 2008
Disney’s new 3D “Toy Story Midway Mania” ride uses a Simatic S7 315 PLC with centralized I/O for vehicle control. Communication between the onboard and wayside computers is handled over Ethernet via Profinet cabling and protocol using Scalance X208 switches.
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More Precision, Faster Setup for Die Grinding Machine
Control Engineering, October 2008
By Karl Rapp, Bosch Rexroth
Pride Engineering of Minneapolis, MN, developed the Model 30 Air Bearing Grinder, a five-axis air bearing carbide die grinder using a Bosch Rexroth IndraMotion MTX CNC controller and drive platform.
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Solutions Engineering builds motor test station
- 08/28/08
Solutions Engineering in the UK is able to test the performance of its motors, having built a test station around a TorqSense piezo electric torque transducer.
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Baldor motion control system automates woodworking process
- 08/27/08
By using dual sanding belts and a swinging work holder controlled by a combination of linear and rotary servo motor axes, this machine replaces a manually-actuated sanding process at Martin Guitar.
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KONE installs E-Save technology on escalator motors in Las Vegas
- 08/19/08
E-Save Technology monitors the load on an electric motor and reduces the amount of power consumed by the motor when it is lightly loaded.
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Ford Mustang Assembly Employs CC-Link Network
IEN, July 2008
The AutoAlliance facility in Flat Rock, MI makes extensive use of CC-Link networking. CC-Link-controlled conveyors move car bodies through the numerous welding, assembly, and painting stations. The motors that power the conveyors throughout the facility are controlled by Mitsubishi VFD Drives, communicating via CC-Link.
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Motion Controller Accelerates NASCAR
Control Engineering, August 2008
By Peter Nachtwey, Delta Computer Systems
Automotive test rig manufacturer sets out to improve NASCAR’s standard chassis test stand with improved dynamic capabilities and reduced maintenance.
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NUM provides customized CNC platform for integrated aluminum processing line
- 08/04/08
A single Axium CNC platform from NUM controls the entire machining centre, including the 10 motion axes on the robot heads plus various sensors and actuators.
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Robotic dog carries loads faithfully
Eureka Magazine, July 2008
Boston Dynamics in the USA has developed an autonomous robotic dog for carrying loads over rough terrain. Able to run at 4mph, climb slopes up to 35 degrees, walk across rubble and carry a 154kg load, BigDog is powered by a petrol engine that pumps fluid into a hydraulic actuation system.
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Dr Who Controlled by Trio Motion MC206X starter kit
Process & Control Today, July 2008
Windmill Studios provide exhibitions of props, costumes, monsters and creatures from the hit BBC TV show Dr Who, including animated, life-sized models of the TARDIS and other gadgets, plus monsters and villains such as the Daleks, Cybermen and the Slitheen. To automate the Daleks, Windmill used the Trio Motion MC206X motion control starter kit.
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Sprint Electric 200XLV linear DC drive goes under water
- 07/25/08
Sonomatic uses the Sprint Electric 200XLV low voltage linear DC drive to improve the accuracy of their Nautilus scanner, a diver-deployed automated ultrasonic system that can operate in depths of up to 250 metres.
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Retrofits Relieve Competitive Pressure
Automation World, July 2008
By James R. Koelsch
Davis-Standard, a builder of blow-molding machinery in Somerville, N.J., had to upgrade controls on winders. Rather than ripping out their old winders and spending between $1 million and $3 million for each new one, they brought their 20-year-old machines up to modern specifications for less than $30,000 with controls from Bosch.
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Pumping power
South Africa Instrumentation & Control, July 2008
In most pump systems, the installed capacity of the pump and motor exceeds the normal operating requirements of the load. Pump efficiency can be improved with a variable speed drive.
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VFDs Speed Up Wastewater Processing
Control, July 2008
By John O’Reilly and John Rowe, Schneider Electric
Combining closed-loop control with variable frequency drives for oxygen basin agitators makes for faster processing with lower energy consumption.
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Mikron builds assembly system for Mega Pumps
- 06/24/08
Mikron helped Mega Pumps develop assembly, checking and testing systems that work within the tolerances and with minimum of scrap and rejection.
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Conveyor Maximizes Space Usage, Efficiency
Assembly, June 2008
Ophthonix Inc. (Vista, CA) manufactures iZon high-resolution eyeglass lenses. Central to the manufacturing system is a modular, pallet-based VarioFlow conveyor system from Bosch Rexroth, which carries the lenses to the workstations comprising the production process.
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Integrator Uses Simulation to Close Design Loop
Control Design, June 2008
Maverick Technologies uses software emulation to help identify potential control problems upfront, shorten the machine’s start-up time, and provide a good platform for operator training.
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How to Control a 27-km-long Machine
- 06/23/08
Machine Design, May 2008
By Nipun Mathur, National Instruments
The largest machine in the world, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), covers parts of France and Switzerland and will cost a staggering $3.5 billion U.S. to design and build. The real difficulty is synchronizing collimators that can be 13 km away from each other with jaws that are synchronized to within 100 µsec and move with accuracies of ±10 µm.
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Quinn Glass uses Siemens Automation & Drives technology
Process & Control Today, June 2008
The glass container manufacturing plant at Elton, UK, has 13 production lines, and the filling hall has five lines. In total there are more than 7,500 I/O plus more than 10,000 more from Variable Speed Drives and Medium and Low-Voltage equipment that are integrated into the system via Profibus-DP.
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EMX turns to Sensor Technology for TorqSense
Control Engineering Europe, June 2008
EMX developed and tested the motor-generator for Lotus Engineering’s EVE (Efficient, Viable, Environmental) Hybrid. EMX worked with a test house to design a simple yet effective test rig. Its engineers specified a TorqSense torque sensor from Sensor Technology.
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Adroit heads south to manage water system
Control Engineering Europe, June 2008
The six major pump stations at the Adroit SCADA system have PLC controlled MC panels. The telemetry RTU is connected to the PLC via a serial interface using Modbus protocol and provides the ability to monitor all the inputs as well as providing the facility for remote modifications of certain measuring and controlling parameters within the PLC.
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Siemens retrofit boosts efficiency at Corus
Control Engineering Europe, June 2008
Nine Siemens drives, including five on heat treatment furnace roller tables, and four on a roller table and tempering furnace, were installed at Corus’ Clydebridge works in Scotland with a 30 per cent increase in throughput.
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Emerson automates world's largest pulp mill
- 06/18/08
The PlantWeb solution includes DeltaV, 3300 FOUNDATION fieldbus, Profibus DP and DeviceNet devices, MCCs, PLCs, Modbus, Fisher valves with Fisher FIELDVUE digital valve controllers, and AMS Suite.
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Giving Chocolate its Crunch
Control Engineering, June 2008
By Mike Jamieson, Rockwell Automation
Mars Austria uses an integrated control environment to monitor the exact status of all system components — such as servo drives, I/O, and HMIs—in its new control system in a chocolate plant.
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PCs Cover Coating System Control
Control Engineering, June 2008
By Norm Hardy, Semicore
To automate its vacuum coating and etching systems, Semicore installed an HMI and control package based on Beckhoff's C6330 industrial PCs, CP7802 control panels, TwinCAT automation software, distributed I/O networked over Ethernet TCP/IP via bus couplers, Ethernet switches, motors, and servo drives.
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Off-the-Shelf PLC Optimizes Motion Control Functionality
Control Engineering, June 2008
By Matthias Erhardt, Siemens SEA
A PLC handles control functionality with built-in integration of parison control, synchronized camming of blow pins with carriages, linear positioning of shuttles, and 30 zones of heat control.
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Auto Plant Modernization Features Controls Refit
Control Engineering, June 2008
By K.K. Mitra, Rockwell Automation
To save money equipping the new facility, Tata Motors purchased an existing automotive manufacturing plant in Australia and relocated it to India. Rockwell upgraded the control system to Allen-Bradley SLC 500 controllers to automate auxiliary functions and processes, such as material feeder lines, fixture controls, gantry systems, and disc systems.
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Moeller Electric punches lollipop sticks
Process & Control Today, May 2008
ks for the best ice lollipops are still made from wood. Karl Otto Knauf, chose PLCs, motor drives and the SmartWire panel wiring system from Moeller Electric to control its latest stick-punching machine.
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Saving Energy at the Swimming Pool with VFDs
Control, May 2008
By Paul Miller
The Veterans Memorial Pool in South Windsor, CT, uses ABB VFDs to control four large pumps. They got a dramatic reduction in energy costs and the pumps produce far less noise.
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Ken Mills ups recycling efficiency
Control Engineering Europe, May 2008
Nordic Recycling installed Ken Mills processing machinery at its materials recovery facility (MRF) in Tilbury, UK. 50 gearboxes from Nord Drivesystems power the materials handling system. Helical bevel gears, claimed to provide efficiency in excess of 95 per cent, were selected for the application.
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Performance Demands Spur Motor Advances
Control Design, May 2008
By Don Talend
Examples from plastic extruder and industrial compressor builders demonstrate how recent changes in motor design and their enclosures are meeting the demand for ever-higher efficiency.
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Kiln of the Castle
Control Engineering Europe, May 2008
Castle Cement in the UK brought ‘Kiln 4’ at its Padeswood works in North Wales, into operation with speed control from ABB industrial drives. ABB installed two 300 kW drives in master-follower arrangement.
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Lotus hybrid blooms
Process & Control Today, April 2008
The torque-current characteristics of a combined motor-generator developed for a Lotus-based hybrid car have been comprehensively mapped by a TorqSense digital torque sensor.
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Top scientists spin to win
Process & Control Today, April 2008
A piezo-controlled pressure regulating valve from Hoerbiger-Origa is helping chemists and physicists examine matter at atomic and subatomic level by controlling rotational speed in a nuclear magnetic resonance chamber built at Bruker BioSpin in Rheinstetten, Germany.
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Gearboxes help machine builder increase life of materials recovery facilities
Process and Control Today, April 2008
50 gearboxes from Nord Drivesystems helped Ken Mills Engineering build advanced processing machinery employed in a highly efficient new materials recovery facility operated by Nordic Recycling Limited in the UK.
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Air motors in the food processing industry
Process and Control Today, March 2008
During food preparation using machines, hygiene is just as important as efficiency. Air motors are ideally suited for use within the food processing industry because of their adaptability to moisture prone conditions.
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Keeping Robots In-Line – Someone Has To Do It
By Advantech
Robots only do what they are told to do. What happens when they forget or get out of line? Here, a PC monitors ABB robots to ensure integrity and accuracy of the procedures input into robot diagnostics.
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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.
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Robotics speeds up machining process
Process and Control Today, March 2008
A Denso 4-axis machine-tending robot loads and unloads components from pallets and holds them while sensors, which measure height and diameter, check their quality. MSP Ltd, a precision turned parts manufacturer, increased its production by 15% on a single shift.
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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.
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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.
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Finns drive for smart buildings
Control Engineering Europe
January 2008
A local government building in the Finnish city of Tampere has networked variable speed fan drives into its heating and ventilating system during a major refit of the 40-year-old building.
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Collision Sensors
Machine Design, February 2008
By Charles Bates
Collision sensors detect when robot arms encounter obstructions. One shop incorporated a RAD Ultimatic Collision sensor as a compliance device with a signal to determine how much the robot needed to adjust its positioning in response to Grinding wheel wear.
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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.
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Hands Across the Water
Control Design, March 2008
Trumpf uses Tele-Diagnostics to fix 90% of its machine problems. Sensors embedded in each machine allow technicians to diagnose remotely. Data is transmitted by an analog phone line using the software package PCAnyWhere and through the Internet via WebEx, provided that the customer’s machine has Internet access that is not blocked by a firewall.
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Milking Robot Uses Ethernet for Data
Control Design, March 2008
Dutch company Lely Industries’ Astronaut robotic milking system uses sensor technologies and integrated data management to create a total dairy farm management solution. Westermo’s SDW 550 Ethernet switches are used for real-time data communication management between the peripherals and the central supervision PC.
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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.
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NI software and hardware controls particle accelerator
Using LabVIEW software with R Series reconfigurable PXI I/O hardware, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) developed a motion control system capable of intercepting misguided or unstable particle beams.
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Moving Coil Actuators test Diesel Injectors
- 02/07/08
SMAC Moving Coil Actuators help SPE, a manufacturer of diesel injectors, to reduce emissions by using an actuator to determine the spring characteristics in their injectors.
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DL205 Performs in Theatrics
By T.J. Johns
The University of Arizona School of Theater Arts uses motors, computers and Automation Direct’s DL205 I/O to change scenes rapidly. The set has six hydraulic lifts, a rising "throne wall," seven telescoping metal trees and two steel doors hanging from the ceiling, all of which move independently to various positions.
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Connecting SmartMotors to Ethernet networks
Industrial Embedded Systems, January 2008
By Rahul Shah, Lantronix
Connecting an embedded device server to an Animatics SmartMotor provided all the networking hardware and software required to connect the motor to an Ethernet network or the Internet.
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Robots Insert LEDs into Automotive Raised Stoplights
Robotics On Line, January 2008
By Wolfgang Jeutter, Manz Automation
Hella Hueck KG, a German supplier of car electronics and automotive lighting, uses Manz OCP-1 (4-axis robot and 3-axis clinch tool) cell and magazine loading and unloading devices. The PCBs are automatically moved into the machine cell, where pre-inserted resistors are measured.
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Baldor PowerLink system controls tube-bending production cell
- 01/24/08
The Ethernet-compatible Powerlink system controls four axes of motion, plus the I/O needed for the continuous operation of the process.
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WEG Supplies Automation For World’s Second Largest Crane
Process & Control Today, January 2008
WEG supplied transformers, MV motors, and MV frequency inverters to automate the second largest overhead crane in the world, at the Usiminas steel plant in Brazil. The crane provides a 260-ton lifting capacity while transporting molten steel at speeds of up to 8 metres per minute.
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Fabricator of Large Parts Moves to Wenzel CMM
American Machinist, December 2007
Webco Manufacturing replaced a remanufactured CM it had recently acquired with a new Wenzel 12.30.10. The CMM has a measuring range of 1200 mm (X axis) (47.24 in.) by 3000 mm (Y axis) (118.11 in.) by 1000 mm (Z axis) (39.37 in.) with a standard accuracy, using a Renishaw TP200 Probe, of U3 2.6+L300.
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Robots Pay for Themselves in Seven Months
Assembly, January 2008
Keihin IPT Mfg manufactures automotive air and fuel-line components. It upgraded the line it uses to add heat inserts and collars to plastic intake manifolds by installing a series of five HP20, six-axis robots from Motoman. The five robots were able to pay for themselves in just seven months.
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Pittman gearmotors help TUG robot make hospital rounds
- 12/19/07
TUG robotic indoor transport system navigates autonomously to help eliminate repetitive and mundane tasks, reduce costs, and improve staff productivity.
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Sensor Technology's TorqSense sensor checks gearboxes
- 12/17/07
Centa Transmissions uses TorqSense to guarantee that the precision gearboxes it supplies to the nuclear industry will never fail prematurely.
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PLC functionality provides application flexibility
Plant Engineering, October 2007
By Jack Smith, Managing Editor
International Harvester uses PLCs to control the automated machines that place aluminum rivets on sheeting to be attached to the semi cab frames. The truck manufacturer required speed, product quality, part consistency and a system that was easy to use.
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Controls Ease Startup
Control Engineering, September 2007
Systems integrator Drivex Inc., Livermore, CA, used Siemens Simatic WinCC to replace an automation and control system. Drivex builds web tension controls for the pharmaceutical, converting, and vacuum coating industries.
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Automated Coil Centering Relies On Double-Act
Process and Control Today, September 2007
By John Houston
The HepcoMotion profile driven unit (PDU2) belt driven linear transmission is used on Conwy Dolgarrog Aluminium’s four-high cold mill process line, a finishing rolling mill consisting of four rollers. The coil centering system comprises the DAPDU2 actuator that spans the width of the in-going side of the mill, two reflecting lasers mounted on each carriage, and two pull wire encoders.
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Machine controls optimize cell performance
American Machinist, September 2007
Smith’s Machine, Cottondale, Ala., supplies machined parts to the Mercedes Benz U.S. International facility in Tuscaloosa County, Ala. It has specialized work cells that contain DMG Twin mill-turn centers fed by robotic parts handlers. All machine motions are handled by Siemens Sinumerik 840D CNCs.
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All My Best Ideas are Stolen
Control Engineering, September 2007
By C.G. Masi, Control Engineering
The best way to improve your control engineering efforts is to copy tips and techniques from others. Here are four motion control examples to get you started.
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Grinder cuts cycle times to the bone
American Machinist, September 2007
Corin Group used milling operations to produce rasps that took four hours per part. Then, the company installed an Anca TX7+ precision CNC grinder with UGS NXCAM for post processing output and Cimulator3D for verification. The company saw its production time drop to under one hour.
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Just the facts, ma'am (About Belts)
Motion System Design, September 2007
By Eric W. Steele, Optibelt Corp.
Belt drive performance can be compromised in several ways. Most often, trouble arises when misguided assumptions are made about belts, their structure, or their application. But knowing the facts can help you extend belt life and boost their power potential.
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Leisurely linear actuation
Motion System Design, September 2007
Controlling motion at extremely slow speeds is a new technology, primarily in the nanotech world. But with these tips and tactics, achieving slow motion is a walk in the park.
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Mechatronics Meets Kinetic Architecture for Arizona Cardinals Stadium
Design News, August 2007
At Cardinals Stadium Uni-Systems engineers devised a patented cable-driven system for safely transporting the roof panels along a sloped path. Key elements in the system include: ABB ACS800 drives, ProfiBus, GE Fanuc VersaMax I/O and Series 9030 PLCs, and Turck proximity switches and encoders.
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Custom Submersible Motor Assembly Makes Waves
Control Engineering, August 2007
By Rick Halstead, Empire Magnetics
One of Empire’s custom motor gearbox assemblies made its way into show business as an unnoticed yet essential co-star in “O” by Cirque du Soleil at Bellagio in Las Vegas, NV.
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Motion Control Meets Medical Imaging
Control Engineering, August 2007
By Kevin Steele, Bosch Rexroth
Medical imaging OEMs are turning to motion control platforms that help control costs, streamline production, and deliver high-quality clinical images.
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Paper mill combines ac and dc drives to reach upgrade goals
Control Engineering, August 2007
By Jeremy Nighan, ABB, Low Voltage Drives
A paper mill decided to rebuild its slitter-rewinder, and incorporate the latest technology. The goal was to improve roll quality, increase machine speed, and eliminate costly shutdowns.
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Should We Switch to Servos?
Control Design, August 2007
In this installment of The Answer column, a reader learns that to achieve accurate positioning using steppers in machine centers they now need to operate more slowly, but are there advantages in changing to AC servos?
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Safe, Quick Jam Clearing
- 08/05/07
Control Engineering, July 2007
By Mark Nehrkorn, Omron STI Machine Services
Hasko Machines set out to develop a machine control system for wood cutting that would maintain speed while incorporating safeguards and circuits that meet ANSI/ASSE Z244.1-2003.
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Pharmaceutical Packaging Get Flexible with Motion Control
Motion Control OnLine, August 2007
By Kristin Lewotsky, contributing editor
Motion control is helping pharmaceutical manufacturers remain competitive while dealing with a tough marketplace, a challenging regulatory environment and the ongoing threat of piracy.
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Encoder Track Design Improves Position Control
- 08/05/07
DesignWorld, July 2007
by Tom Wyatt, HEIDENHAIN Corporation
Your choice of position encoders influences such important motor properties as positioning accuracy, speed stability, and bandwidth for drive command-signal response and disturbance rejection, as well as power loss and size.
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Packaging Application: Box Taper
- 08/05/07
By Bison Gear
In the packaging industry, applications for gearmotors can be found in equipment used to automate the assembly, filling, and closing of cardboard boxes. One of these applications is a machine used to automatically close the top and tape it shut.
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Keeping Metal on the Move
Process and Control Today, July 2007
By John Houston, Editor
A transport system needed to be robust enough not only to carry the products, weighing eight tonnes each, but also the two tonne carriages that support the products as they are moved between stations. Engineers at SCM Materials Handling used equipment from Bosch Rexroth.
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Equipped for the Future
Control Engineering, June 2007
When a housewares manufacturer modernized its manufacturing process, it gained an automated grinding and polishing system based on four robotic cells.
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Control platform aids injection, extrusion
Control Design, June 2007
By Jim Montague, Executive Editor
Cincinnati Milacron added a new control platform, including an intuitive data screen, pushbuttons for machine movements, and operation-software wizards, to its machines that make plastic-composite decking.
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Capsule filler has new IPC Control System
Process and Control Today, June 2007
By John Houston, Editor
Lenze IPC and automation software achieved a more effective operator interface on the Bosch GKF701 capsule filling machine. After research to define the optimum operator processes, Bosch chose the Lenze PCMatic automation solution as it provided the functionality required at a good price to performance ratio.
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SCM and EEU collaborate for CNC solution
Process and Control Today, June 2007
By John Houston, Editor
Italian woodworking machine tool manufacturer SCM approached Yaskawa Engineering Europe (EEU) in Milan for a solution to a problem on the X-axis of one of its existing SCM Record 2-111/8695 CNC routers in use at furniture manufacturer Ferrari snc in Verona.
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Servo drives trim fish with accuracy
Process and Control Today, May 2007
By John Houston, Editor
Multi-axis servo drives from Lenze are used to trim salmon fillets at high speed and to a precise profile. The ITM fish trimming machine made by Marel hf of Reykjavik automatically trims salmon fillets into pre-defined shapes using an advanced vision system linked to servo drives
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Phantom of the Opera Chandelier at Venetian Hotel Thrills Audiences
Design News, May 2007
John Dodge, Editor-in-Chief
Anyone who has seen Phantom of the Opera knows that the crashing chandelier scene in the Paris Opera House climaxes the performance. When you get right down to it, the whole rig is like a 32-axis robot hanging from the ceiling.
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Aylesbury Automation aligns correctly for Kenwood
Process and Control Today, April 2007
By John Houston, Editor
The potential for separation and misalignment of components during manufacture of Kenwood water filters, has been overcome by the design and construction of an automatic rotary indexing machine from Aylesbury Automation Limited.
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Revolvo’s SRB bearings operate in abrasive solution on Zambezi Rapid Water ride
Process and Control Today, April 2007
By John Houston, Editor
Revolvo’s SRB split roller bearings are providing a reliable solution to the problem of support for the twin 11-metre long Archimedes ascender screws that deliver water to the massive Zambezi Rapid Water ride in the Gold Reef City theme park, Johannesburg, RSA.
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Redesign keeps painting robot safe - off the floor
Control Design, May 2007
By Jim Montague, Executive Editor
Dürr Paint Systems inverted its robot design, so it could be installed on walls and ceilings for better access, more accurate painting and better coverage.
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Precise cutting kept well in-hand
Control Design, May 2007
By Deron Roberts, Jet Edge Inc.
This global designer and manufacturer of ultra-high-pressure waterjet systems helped develop a full-featured, water-resistant pendant that works with its PC-based motion control system.
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Improve Your Application’s Performance
By John Mazurkiewicz, Baldor Electric
Servomotors can be used in applications requiring numerous starting, stopping, and reversals, and applications requiring precise control over position and speed.
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A Rainforest Grows in Cleveland
Control Engineering, April 2007
C.G. Masi, Control Engineering
Variable-speed drives help maintain temperature, humidity of “The RainForest” at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
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Extreme Machine: Compact Precision Robotics II
Control Engineering, April 2007
By Mike Babb, Control Engineering International
The European winner of CE’s “Extreme Machine” contest was Stork Townsend B.V. Its QX family of co-extrusion sausage makers is massive: 10 m (33 ft) wide, 6 m high, and up to 30 m in length make it the largest of the machines in the contest. It is powered by 60 variable speed motors and 18 servomotors.
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Extreme Machine: Compact Precision Robotics I
Control Engineering, April 2007
By Steve Scheiber, Control Engineering
Schneider Packaging of Brewerton, NY, won CE’s “Extreme Machine” contest with a robotic packaging machine that's small, nimble, and easy to use. The end-of-line robotic handling system occupies a miserly 300 sq ft.
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Advanced Controls Working At the Car Wash
Design News, January 2007
By Joseph Ogando, Senior Editor
With its PLCs, variable speed drives, optical sensors and Ethernet connections, the Tunnel Commander isn’t your grandfather’s car wash.
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Manual handling…in the cold
Process and Control Today, March 2007
By John Houston, Editor
Industrial Automation Ltd has helped First for Foodservice solve a materials handling problem at its two Regional Distribution Centres at Royton and Banbury, UK, by inventing a machine that transfers a pallet-full of trays on to a set of dolleys. The particular challenge for IAL was that the machines are operating in a chilled part of the RDC where temperatures are kept between –2oC and +2oC; this presents problems with condensation and the performance of lubricants for moving parts.
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Integrated axes crank up cold working
Control Design, March 2007
By Marc St. Pierre, Ingersoll CM Systems
The rolling machine includes nine to 13 arms of independent rolling axes, each arm applying a different force at a different point along the length of the crankshaft. The overall machine is controlled by a motion controller, which tightly integrates the multi-tasking PLC with the CNC and is capable of controlling up to 64 axes of motion.
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Eight heads are better than one
Control Design, April 2007
By Jim Montague, Executive Editor
Park Industries in St. Cloud, Minn., recently spent two years developing its Velocity decorative edge shaper/polisher machine for natural stone and stone-like materials. The new machine uses a conveyor to present 3x6 or 3x8 ft slabs of granite to a bank of 13 spindles driving one cutting/shaping head and seven polishing heads, which move in and out at 190º around the edge of the slab. These heads are directed by cam profiles and functions in a motion controller to produce six or more different decorative edges.
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Diamond is in motion
Process and Control Today, April 2007
By John Houston, Editor
The Diamond Light Source synchrotron ring in Oxfordshire, UK, has seven beamlines functional and more are on the way at this globally important research facility. Supplying the motion control for the project has been a challenge for Delta Tau, which has now installed over 600 axes of motion at the project.
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PatMax- The universal solution for robotic applications
Process and Control Today, April 2007
By John Houston, Editor
Evolut, a systems integrator in Italy, has installed more than 1100 robotic systems including 850 with Cognex vision systems enabling them to automatically recognise and identify objects with precision and to measure and inspect them. Article describes how Evolut uses Cognex vision systems in robot applications.
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Latest Mitsubishi Robot Installed In ‘High Tech Garden Shed’
Process and Control Today, April 2007
By John Houston, Editor
Brass Products employs a comprehensive level of automation at its three-man operation near Ashford, UK. Barr & Paatz installed and commissioned one of the latest generation of Mitsubishi six-axis articulated robots for feeding a CNC milling machine, a previously tedious and potentially hazardous manual operation.
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Automated Metal Dome Placement Machine
Design News, Motion Networks Supplement, April 2007
Terry Persun, Contributing Writer
Snaptron of Windsor, CO, tackled the problem of tactile metal dome placement in production situations. Snaptron designed a machine that would place domes in pockets, primarily for membrane applications, using an upgraded motion system for faster, more efficient operation.
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High Speed Tab Inserter Systems From UMG Technologies Operate 24/7
24/7 automated operation has become an industry standard for UMG Technologies high speed tab inserters used in the manufacture of electronic printed circuit devices. These systems are designed for continuous, unattended operation with minimal maintenance due largely to top notch design engineering and the use of the latest and best off-the-shelf component technology. Click here to read full article...
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Smart drives make cable winder whirl
Machine Design, February 2007
Two Baldor H2 smart drives replaced the original ac drives and PLC control that wound custom cables of different diameters onto large drums at Centrilift Cable, Claremore, Okla. Electronic gearing in the H2 drives lets both motors operate as if connected with mechanical gears to assure the cable winds properly onto the drum. The two smart drives let Centrilift eliminate the PLC and complicated manual programming steps. The new setup also got rid of many signal wires for a cleaner installation with more reliable operation. The change improved productivity more than 25%.
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Variable-speed drives keep Rain Forest Temperate
Behind the scenes, a lot of mechanical engineering goes into creating and maintaining a tropical rainforest near Lake Erie, just 40 miles from the Canadian border. It is a feat accomplished by Cleveland (Ohio) Metroparks, a recreational authority that provides an “emerald necklace” of woodlands, golf courses, hiking trails and other attractions surrounding this Midwestern city -- known as much for its sports teams as its world-class orchestra and Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. Without state-of-the-art HVAC technology, it is doubtful this unique tropical habitat -- located within the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo complex -- could exist; and it continues to benefit from equipment improvements, such as advanced motor and drive design.
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