Motion Control

Z-Theta System

Catalyst Motion Group™, a Haydon Kerk Motion System integrator (Waterbury, CT), offers a Z-Theta system capability that provides a compact package to achieve a rotary axis and a linear axis in a single unit. When operated in...

Motion Controller

Soft Servo Systems (Waltham, MA) offers the WMX general motion controller that simultaneously controls up to 64 axes and 64 channels with control functions on the EtherCAT platform. It can run as an EtherCAT master on a...

Rail Brakes

Profile Guide rail brakes from Nexen Group (Vadnais Heights, MN) are available in a range of sizes from 15 to 45, and provide engagement at 0.049 to 0.080 seconds. They provide static holding force to 2,600 N (585 lbs.), and can...

Delta Robot and Controller

The RCP-DELTA robot and control system from Aerotech (Piitsburgh, PA) is available in four models that support payloads up to 3 kg, with X/Y operating ranges of 500/800/1100/1300 mm, and an optional continuous...

Slide System

Velmex (Bloomfield, NY) offers the Parallel-Coupled BiSlide System for long traverses and larger loads. The system features two identical BiSlide assemblies coupled with a timing belt to drive synchronous operation. It can...

Positioning Stage

LinTech (Monrovia, CA) offers the 610 series totally enclosed positioning stage in stroke lengths from 6 to 60 inches (150 to 1520 mm). The screwdriven linear positioning systems use a low-friction, preloaded, recirculating...

Mini Force Fields Control Individual Microbots

Researchers are using a technology likened to "mini force fields" to independently control individual microrobots operating within groups, an advance aimed at using the tiny machines in...

Researchers Create Evaporation-Powered Motor

Biological systems are known to convert energy generated from the evaporation of water confined within nanoscale compartments into muscle-like mechanical work in response to changes in...

Shape Optimization Improves Electric Motor Efficiency

The automotive and aeronautic industries often rely on shape optimization, an approach that uses modeling to create a framework for making devices as smooth and efficient as possible....

Nissan Tests NASA Technology in Driverless Car

For the past year, NASA’s Ames Research Center and Nissan have been collaborating on the development of autonomous driving technologies that could one day be used in future consumer vehicles,...

Nano-Submarine Motors Powered by Light

Each of the single-molecule, 244-atom submersibles built at Rice University has a motor powered by ultraviolet light. With each full revolution, the motor’s tail-like propeller moves the sub...

Wearable Equipment Supports Human Motion

The Unplugged Powered Suit (UPS), a new model of pneumatic muscle and an active type of assistive equipment incorporating the muscle, is wearable equipment that supports human movement without...

Choosing the Right Potentiometer for Reliable Sensing

A potentiometer sensor is an electromechanical component that consists of a resistor where the voltage divider value can be measured at any position by means of sliding contacts between...

Embedded Virtualization Enables Highly Integrated “Soft Motion” Platforms on the PC

With the increased processing power that PCs have attained, a complex machine that used to require an expensive and dedicated hardware-based motion...

Sonic Tractor Beams Lift and Move Objects Using Sound Waves

Tractor beams are mysterious rays that can grab and lift objects. Now, researchers have built a working tractor beam that uses high-amplitude sound waves to generate an acoustic...

Positioning Systems Improve Airport Logistics

Tow tractors, pushback tractors, tankers, luggage carts, air cargo, and catering vehicles crowd airport aprons. Poor weather conditions impede work on the apron even more. Researchers at the...

Tiny Carbon-Capturing Motors Could Clean up Carbon Dioxide Pollution

Machines that are much smaller than the width of a human hair could one day help clean up carbon dioxide pollution in the oceans. Nanoengineers at the University of...

Autonomous DeLorean Guides Development of Self-Driving Electric Cars

Stanford engineers built an autonomous DeLorean capable of stable, precise drifting at large angles in order to study how cars perform in extreme situations, which could...

Mapping Human Movement to Improve Rehabilitative Robotics

The Biomechatronics Group at MIT is using a data-driven approach to study the mechanics and control of human walking, with the goal of applying the findings to hardware control. PhD...

Nanoclutch Transmits Torque at Small Scales

When driving a car, the clutch mechanically carries the torque produced by the engine to the chassis of the vehicle – a coupling that has long been tested and optimized in such macroscopic...

NASA’s Green Propellant Spacecraft Moves Toward Launch

The propulsion subsystem for NASA's Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) has been integrated onto the spacecraft, moving the mission another major step toward scheduled launch in...

Imitative Robotic Control: The Puppet Master

Service Robots Use Flat Motors to Provide Reliable, Safe Motion

Unlike industrial robots for manufacturing, service robots come with their own specification requirements aimed specifically at the end user, and the most discriminating user at...

Encoders Ensure Position Accuracy of Linear-Torsion Tester

Instron (Norwood, MA) manufactures materials testing equipment and accessories that are used to test samples ranging from components for jet engines to medical syringes. The...

Piezo Drive

The Ensemble QDe™ desktop nanopositioning piezo drive from Aerotech (Pittsburgh, PA) was designed for seamless use with the Ensemble family of drives and controllers. The QDe connects to any Ensemble controller network,...

Linear Stage

Bell-Everman (Goleta, CA) offers the SLS Light sealed linear stage that keeps contamination such as manufacturing debris, particulate, or liquid contaminants outside of the stage housing. The stage measures 80 x 120 mm, and has...

Position and Angle Measurement

The BML series from Balluff (Florence, KY) offers absolute position and angle measurement for installation or direct integration into drive and positioning systems. The magnetically encoded systems with...