Motion Control

DC Brushed Motor

The RE 30 EB precious metal brushed motor from maxon precision motors (Fall River, MA) features a low startup voltage and a rated torque of 53 mNm. Other features include minimal highfrequency interference, ironless windings,...

Motor Controller

Fairchild Semiconductor (San Jose, CA) has released the FCM8531 analog and digital integrated motor controller. The 3-phase, hybrid BLDC/PMSM controller offers two parallel processors — an advanced motor controller (AMC) and...

Linear Actuators

Exlar, a business group of Curtiss-Wright Controls (Chanhassen, MN), offers the K Series™ linear actuators with a 75-mm frame size. They combine roller screw technology in varying performance levels, and allow the use of...

Instrumentation Valves

Brennan Industries (Cleveland, OH) offers a line of compression-end instrumentation valves available with single or double ferrule-style tube fittings. The NVB Series ball valves range in size from 1/8" to 3⁄4 " and are...

Motors Power NASA’s Interactive Humanoid Tour Guide

RoboThespian is a programmable, interactive humanoid robot designed to communicate, interact, and entertain. First developed in 2006 by Cornish company Engineered Arts, RoboThespian stands...

Using Source Measure Units to Characterize High-Power Semiconductors (Part 1)

The proliferation of electronic control and electronic power conversion into a variety of industries (e.g., energy generation, industrial motor drives and control,...

Couplings Synchronize Motion in Pipe Bending System

Pines Technology’s (Westlake, OH) Model 250 Heavy Duty CNC bender is a powerful automatic precision system for fast, repeatable bending of tube and pipe up to 10" in diameter. Providing fast...

Real-Time Software Enables Multi-Core PCs for Industrial Automation

As early as 25 years ago, industrial system integrators saw the great potential that the Windows operating system brought to PCs. They saw the possibility of using the advanced...

Gear Reducer

The Able VRB Gear Reducer from Shimpo Drives is available from Servo2Go.com (Greenville, DE), and is suited for packaging machinery, medical equipment, and assembly cell automation. The standard mounting is a through-bolt style....

Lens Actuator

New Scale Technologies (Victor, NY) offers the UTAF (ultra-thin auto focus) piezoelectric lens actuator module that measures 8.5 × 8.5 × 3.8 mm. The module integrates the company’s UTAF piezoelectric beam motor with a drive IC...

AC Vector Drives

The SK 200E series distributed size 4 AC vector drives from NORD Gear Corp. (Waunakee, WI) offers power capacity to 30 HP. The drives are capable of operating up to 15-HP motors on 200 to 240 VAC 3-phase power, and up to 30-HP...

Cartesian Robot

IAI America (Torrance, CA) offers a Cartesian robot with commanded acceleration of up to 3.2 G (maximum instantaneous acceleration: 4.8 G). The dedicated cast aluminum frame ensures high rigidity. The shape and vibration damping...

Controllers

The Simatic S7-1500 controllers from Siemens Industry (Chicago, IL) feature integrated motion control, security, and safety functions, as well as a color display. The controllers feature a backplane bus with a high baud rate and...

Linear Servo Actuator

Tolomatic (Hamel, MN) offers the IMA integrated linear servo actuator with ball screws that provide up to 58 inches per second. Designed for long life in high duty cycles, the actuator is suited for press fitting systems,...

Rotary Position Sensors

Bourns (Riverside, CA) has introduced the Bourns® Model AMS22U and Model AMM20B non-contacting rotary position sensors for rugged environments. They utilize magnetic Hall Effect (HE) technology, and are designed for...

Vibration Isolator

Minus K Technology (Inglewood, CA) has released the CM-1 compact, high-capacity, low-frequency, negative-stiffness isolator designed to support heavy payloads while reducing low-frequency vibrations. The isolator comes in...

Rotary Position Sensor

Piher Sensors & Controls (Chicago, IL) has introduced the MTS-360 Mechanical Mount rotary position sensor with integral PCB. Designed with the sensor directly mounted onto a PCB, the package allows engineers to install a...

Position Switches

AutomationDirect (Cumming, GA) offers the NITRA® line of position switches for pneumatic cylinders, including round, dovetail, t-slot, square, and D-shaped. Additional dovetail accessories are available to accommodate larger...

Linear Motors

Applimotion (Loomis, CA) offers LARC (Linear Arc) motors for large-diameter applications greater than 1 meter in diameter. The modular nature of the motors allows them to integrate with large assemblies for scanning, imaging, and...

Actuator

BEI Kimco Magnetics (Vista, CA) has released the Moving Magnet voice coil actuator series. When combined with smart drive electronics, the actuator can be controlled for speed and desired output force. Moving magnet actuators are...

Servo Controller

PI (Physik Instrumente) LP (Auburn, MA) offers the C-884 4-axis digital servo controller for motorized linear translation stages and rotary positioners with very high accuracy and repeatability. The high-speed encoder interface...

Slotless Motor

Koford Engineering (Winchester, OH) offers a 6,300-rpm, hollow shaft, 48-mm-diameter, slotless, 2-pole motor with a shaft bore size of .400". The motor is designed for low temperature rise and low operating current (.06 amps at...

Rotary Actuator

Oriental Motor (Torrance, CA) has introduced the DGII Series hollow rotary actuator that uses an AR Series closed loop motor. In addition to the pulse input type package, a built-in controller (stored data) type package with...

Coupler Brake

Force Control Industries (Fairfield, OH) offers a double C-Face coupler brake that mounts on the drive end of a standard C-Face motor. Mounting the brake between the reducer and C-Face motor allows a standard C-face motor to be...

Inclination Sensors

Balluff (Florence, KY) offers BSI inclination sensors that measure the deviation in a horizontal axis of up to 360 degrees. They operate in temperatures down to -40 °C. They feature rugged metal housing and accuracy of 0.1...

Control Platform

The Ensemble® LAB control platform from Aerotech (Pittsburgh, PA) enables automation of light industrial manufacturing applications. The full-color touchscreen display enables access to core functionality, while the tabbed...

Slide

The NV type STUDROLLER™ from NB Corp. (Hanover Park, IL) is designed for motion control applications with extremely fast acceleration and deceleration at dimensions ranging from 30 to 600-mm lengths. The slide features Anti-Creep Cage...

Custom Drive System Helps Mercedes-Benz Reduce Draft in Convertibles

The AIRCAP® automatic draft stop, offered in the Mercedes-Benz E-Class convertibles, is distinctively different from conventional angular wind deflectors. It is entirely...

Linear Guide Systems Streamline Aircraft Seat Assembly and Operation

When airline passengers travel in coach class, expectations are fairly low with regard to comfort. For example, most seats only offer two positions: straight for takeoff and landing, and a slight recline for the journey. Coach seats are relatively simple and lightweight structures compared to their more sophisticated counterparts in business class, first class, and super first class. Whereas a coach seat weighs approximately 100 pounds, seats in higher classes weigh 200 to 300 pounds each, depending on their features.