Features

Application Briefs: Lighting

Students Drive Effort To Introduce “Smart Lighting” on Rensselaer Campus

An effort by students, faculty, and staff at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to install ultra-efficient LED light bulbs in one campus facility will save the...

Application Briefs: Lighting

LEDs Allow Home Lighting System Control Using Smartphone or Tablet

Philips recently unveiled what it claims is the world’s smartest web-enabled LED home lighting system. Philips hue allows you to create and control the light in your home...

Research News: Lighting

Scientists Mimic Fireflies to Make Brighter LEDs

The nighttime twinkling of fireflies has inspired scientists to modify a light-emitting diode (LED) so it is more than one-and-a-half times as efficient as the original. Researchers from...

Research News: Lighting

Scientists Fit Light-Emitting Bioprobe in a Single Cell

If engineers at Stanford have their way, biological research may soon be transformed by a new class of light-emitting probes small enough to be injected into individual cells without...

Products

Product of the Month: PEM® SpotFast®

PEM® SpotFast® self-clinching fasteners from PennEngineering®, Danboro, PA, enable two sheets to be joined permanently in a flush-attachment connection without protrusions on either side. These...

Products: Motion Control

Rotary Stroke Bearings

A line of rotary stroke bearings is available from Mahr Federal (Providence, RI). Suitable for applications where linear, rotary, and combined movements are required, MarMotion high-precision linear or rotary stroke...

Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

Linear Rails

Haydon Kerk Motion Solutions, a brand of AMETEK Precision Motion Control (Waterbury, CT), has introduced the BGS06 BGS (Ball Guide Screw) linear rail system utilizing the popular size 17 single-stack or double-stack stepper...

Products: Motion Control

Motion Program Software

CADFusion software from Aerotech (Pittsburgh, PA) bridges the gap between part drawings and motion control. Users import a vector-based DXF drawing into the software environment to see the resulting tool path...

Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

Linear Actuators

The MSR Series of five linear actuators from Techno-Omil (New Hyde Park, NY) includes configurations such as cross roller guides, adjustable position, shock absorbers, guide bushings, and external cylinder. The actuators...

Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

Vibration Measurement

Dytran Instruments (Chatsworth, CA) offers the VibraScout™ Vibration Measurement System that includes a USB digital triaxial accelerometer combining a MEMS accelerometer with a microcontroller to create an intelligent...

Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

Servo Drives

Kollmorgen (Radford, VA) has introduced the AKD® PDMM and AKD® BASIC Ethernet-based servo drives that enable machine builders to standardize on a single drive family with a common Graphical User Interface (GUI) across the...

Products: Motion Control

Controller

Galil Motion Control (Rocklin, CA) has announced the RIO- 47300 Pocket PLC that includes I/O, screw terminals, and two Ethernet ports that allow management of an unlimited number of inputs and outputs without an external Ethernet...

Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

Linear Actuators

PL Series linear actuators from Promation Engineering (Brooksville, FL) provide up to 4400 lbs. of force and up to 3.9" (100 mm) travel. This increased up and down force allows use of a globe valve for increased flow control...

Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

Motion Module

Mitsubishi Electric (Vernon Hills, IL) has introduced the QD77MS Simple Motion Module that simplifies programming of complex motion profiles. Programming and setup of both PLC and motion control are performed using a single...

Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

Motor Controls

Cerus Industrial (Hillsboro, OR) offers the BAS (Building Automation Starter) motor controls that incorporate the company’s patentpending Smartstart™ Control Module for integration with digital controls. The starters...

Products: Motion Control

Speed Reducers

Boston Gear (Charlotte, NC) offers the 700 Series speed reducers for heavy-duty conveyor systems. The 752 size worm gear speed reducers feature hollow output shafts in 5.25" center distance. Output torque ranges up to 12,250...

Products: Motion Control

Linear Drives

Amacoil (Aston, PA) offers Uhing Model RG linear drives with a manual pitch control that permits a 10:1 adjustment of the linear pitch of the drive unit. Each of the 17 drive units has a specific maximum linear pitch — the...

Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

Dual-Axis Inclinometers

The Fredericks Company (Huntingdon Valley, PA) offers a microprocessor-based analog output dual-axis inclinometer with RS-232 communications, and a dual-axis inclinometer with RS-485 communications. They are designed...

Products: Motion Control

Slotless Motors

Nanotec Electronic U.S. (Medford, MA) offers the DS16 and DS28 slotless BLDC motors in two models in Nema 6 (16 mm) and Nema 11 (28 mm) sizes. Since there is no iron core, the inductivity of the motor is very low and the...

Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

Leveling Mounts

The V10Z44MCM Series of 3-in-1 leveling mounts from Advanced Antivibration Com - ponents (New Hyde Park, NY) dampens shock and vibration, provides leveling, and offers position mobility for packaging machinery applications....

Products: Motion Control

Positioning Controller

The EPOS3 70/10 EtherCAT digital positioning controller from maxon precision motors (Fall River, MA) enables real-time positioning of synchronized multi-axis systems. It offers a nominal power supply voltage range from...

Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

Incremental Encoders

The OptoPulse EIL580 family of 58-mm optical incremental encoders is available from Baumer (Southington, CT). Available in various mechanical designs, the family includes clamping flange encoders with 10-mm solid shafts,...

Products: Motion Control

Vacuum Cups

Vi-Cas Manufacturing (Cincinnati, OH) offers vacuum cups in sizes to 15" in diameter to lift and manipulate large, bulky, or cumbersome materials like aircraft fuselage segments and fabricated assemblies. Round, rectangular, or...

Products: Motion Control

Permanent Magnet Motors

NovaTorque (Fremont, CA) offers the Gen2.0 PremiumPlus+™ Electronically Commutated Permanent Magnet (ECPM) motors in 3hp and 5hp 2400-rpm (maximum speed 3600 rpm) models. Also available in 3hp and 5hp 1800-rpm...

Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

Servo Drives

Elmo Motion Control (Nashua, NH) offers the Gold Bell and Gold DC Bell servo drives for stepper motors. The Gold Bell servo drive weighs 55 g (1.94 ounces) and operates at 20A/100V, delivering 1.6kW continuous power (3.2kW peak...

Products: Motion Control

Motion Tracking System

InvenSense (Sunnyvale, CA) has introduced the MPU-9250 9-axis motion sensing device housed in 3 × 3 × 1 mm QFN package. The full integrated device includes a gyroscope, accelerometer, and electronic compass, with an...

Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

Miniature Slide Guides

NB SEBS-B type slide guides from NB Corporation (Hanover Park, IL) feature standard clearance. The SGLS all-stainless models are suitable for high-temperature applications, cleanroom, and vacuum environments. They are...

Products: Motion Control

Five-Axis Vise

Kurt Manufacturing (Minneapolis, MN) has introduced MaxLock™ 5-axis vises offering a 2-1/2'' and a 4-1/2'' jaw width. The new models are designed for precision small part machining, and for clamping parts for continuous 5-...

Products: Motion Control

Drives

Lenze Americas (Uxbridge, MA) offers an Ethernet/IP communication module as an option on its 8400 StateLine, HighLine, and TopLine control cabinet devices, in addition to the Lenze 8400 motec and protec decentralized frequency...