Motion Control

INSIDER: Motion Control

New Approach Gives Robotic Grippers More Dexterity

Most robots on a factory floor are equipped with large pincers or claws to grab an object and place it somewhere else in an assembly line. Engineers at MIT have now hit upon a way to impart...

INSIDER: Materials

Recycling Electric Motor Permanent Magnets

The latest generation of electric motors is increasingly being equipped with strong, multi-ton permanent magnets instead of a gearbox. The most powerful magnets are based on neodymium,...

INSIDER: Nanotechnology

New Method Builds Microscopic Robots of Complex Shapes

Nanoengineers at the University of California, San Diego used an innovative 3D printing technology they developed to manufacture multipurpose fish-shaped microrobots that swim...

Articles: Motion Control

Choosing the Right Drive Technology

Although there are a number of variations of drive technologies for motion applications, there are a few that are used for the majority of systems being built today. These most common drives do take a bit...

Articles: Motion Control

Reasons for Turning to Slotless DC Motor Technology

When first introduced, brushless DC motors, despite their many advantages, were cast as a costly alternative to brush-commutated motors, and were typically only specified for low-power...

Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Motion Solutions for Electric Expansion Valves

Expansion valves are flow-restricting devices present in any refrigeration system. The valve needle remains open during steady state of operation. The size of the opening, or position of the...

Application Briefs: Motion Control

Hamburg Airport Relies on Drive Technology to Keep Bags Moving

Hamburg Airport in Germany handles nine million pieces of baggage every year. For the baggage handling staff, the reliability of the conveyor system and the prevention of faults...

Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Brushless Electric Motor

maxon precision motors (Fall River, MA) offers the EC-4pole 30 brushless DC motor that features two pole pairs, and provides a nominal torque of 106 mNm and an output of 150 W. It has a hermetically sealed rotor to...

Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Variable Frequency Drive

Mitsubishi Electric Automation (Vernon Hills, IL) introduces the F800 Series variable frequency drive (VFD) for precise motor speed control. The low-voltage motor is designed to improve efficiency of air movement...

Products: Motion Control

Conveyor Drive

The NORD Screw Conveyor Package from NORD Gear Corp. (Waunakee, WI) offers closely stepped speed reduction ratios and a directly coupled gearmotor or NEMA C-face input design that eliminates the need for top motor mounts,...

Products: Motion Control

Motor Brakes

X-Small motor brakes from Warner Electric (South Beloit, IL) are spring-set holding brakes for applications in industries such as aerospace and medical equipment. The electrically released brakes are designed for...

Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

BLDC Motor

Nanotec (Feldkirchen, Germany) introduced the DB80 BLDC motor that features a rated speed of 3000 rpm and a rated voltage of 48 V. The 8-pin motor is suited for applications that require a high degree of efficiency, such as...

Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

Brush DC Motors

PITTMAN® Motors, a business unit of AMETEK Precision Motion Control (Harleysville, PA), has introduced the DC032A Series of brush DC motors. The high-torque-density motors are designed in a rectangular package suitable for...

Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

Stages

Aerotech’s PlanarDLA integrated, open-frame stages from Aerotech (Pittsburgh, PA) are suited for applications ranging from two-sided LED wafer processing where high dynamics and micrometer-level straightness are required, to...

Products: Motion Control

Power Chuck

SMW Autoblok (Wheeling, IL) introduced the BIG BORE® BB-EXL-SC2G front-end spring clamp power chuck featuring a jaw stroke of 1.5 inches, as well as increased safety monitoring. It utilizes spring clamping and pneumatic...

Products: Motion Control

Drive Software

ADVANCED Motion Controls (Camarillo, CA) offers DriveWare® 7.3 (DW7.3) that streamlines and simplifies setup and configuration of DigiFlex Performance digital servo drives. The color-coded organization of the Drive Status...

Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Brushless DC Motor

BEI Kimco Magnetics (Vista, CA) introduced the DII15-60-200A High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) brushless DC (BLDC) motor developed specifically to withstand harsh conditions found in the oil exploration Industry. The...

Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Servo Motor Brakes

Nexen Group (Vadnais Heights, MN) offers Eclipse Servo Motor Brakes that consume no energy when the brake is disengaged. It is spring-engaged/air-released (no electric coil) to keep the brake cool until it is needed. The...

Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

AC Drive

Vacon (Milwaukee, WI) introduced the NXC drive, an enclosed, variable-speed AC drive for high-power applications. It is available in NEMA 1 and NEMA 12 variations for applications in pumps and fans, extruders, main propulsion and...

Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Rotary Assembly Unit

The SCHUNK SRU-mini- Speed rotary unit from SCHUNK (Morrisville, NC) is available in two model sizes and provides swivel times from 0.27s. If lightweight parts are handled with the unit, more than 4,000 cycles per hour...

INSIDER: Propulsion

Researchers Help NASA Eliminate Vibration in Space System Joints

Researchers at the University of Georgia are helping NASA determine if a key rocket component can withstand the rigors of the next generation of spaceflight. The bellows...

Articles: Motion Control

What Engineers and Customers Need from a Motion Control System

In the automation industry, engineers strive every day to advance their process and products. Engineers have to select components, learn and use many tools to construct their...

Application Briefs: Motion Control

The Increasing Use of Electrical Actuators in the Aerospace and Defense Industry

Hydraulic and pneumatic systems have traditionally been the market leader in providing power in the aerospace and defense industry because of their low cost and...

Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Industrial Robot

ABB (Auburn Hills, MI) introduced YuMi, a collaborative dual-arm industrial robot designed for small parts assembly environments. It features dual arms, flexible hands, a universal parts feeding system, camera-based part...

Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

Air-Bearing Platform

Aerotech (Pittsburgh, PA) offers the PlanarHDX planar air-bearing platform for semiconductor manufacturing and advanced test and inspection. Structural elements were designed using a silicon carbide ceramic. The...

Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Accelerometers

PCB® Automotive Sensors Division (Depew, NY) offers MEMS DC response accelerometers for improving the precision of low-frequency vibration and motion in automotive applications. Available in full-scale ranges from ±2g to...

Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

3D Infrared Scanner

Aimess Services (Braunschweig, Germany) offers the R3Dscan 3D infrared scanner as an automated solution with direct connection to industrial robots. The scanner can be integrated into production lines to inspect...