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Articles: Motion Control
The use of variable-frequency drives (VFDs) to control AC motors has increased dramatically in recent years. In addition to low operating cost and high performance, they save energy. Today,...
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
The Onyx guided parachute designed and manufactured by Atair Aerospace (Brooklyn, NY) is an autonomous precision airdrop system. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) uses motors and planetary...
Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
Evolutionary rather than revolutionary changes characterize the motion control market. Motors and motor controllers continue to gravitate toward higher performance and...
Application Briefs: Motion Control
Many factors have contributed to the fact that in the past five years, home elevator sales have doubled. These include the aging of the affluent baby-boom generation. In the next five years, an...
Application Briefs: Motion Control
Tractair Ltd., based in Brough, UK, designs, manufactures and installs air and hydraulic brake systems for special applications. The company works closely with the design engineers of major...
Articles: Motion Control
Assembly is a complicated, sometimes tedious process that often unfolds sequentially along a series of stations. In the manufacture of complex equipment such as jet engines...
Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Midwest Motion Products (Watertown, MN) has released the Model MMP-TM55-12V GPk52-124, a DC gearmotor that accepts any 12-volt DC source including battery power. This gearmotor measures 2.14" in diameter by 7.7" in length, and has...
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Complex machines in semiconductor manufacturing often have tough performance requirements for motion control. When traditional PLCor PC-based motion controllers fail to...
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
The Bugatti Veyron is the world’s fastest street-legal motor vehicle, a high-end passenger car that can reach speeds of more than 200 miles per hour. These high speeds...
Articles: Motion Control
The semiconductor industry and automation technology increasingly require more precise and faster machines in order to satisfy growing demands on miniaturization, quality, and manufacturing...
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Scheduled for completion in 2009, the National Ignition Facility Project (NIF), part of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL, Livermore, CA), is a component of the National...
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Traditionally, once they are shaped, but before they are mounted, diamonds are rated by the “4 Cs” — clarity, color, carat, and cut. Modern gemology, however, grades finished diamonds by a more...
Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
Robotic system designers should choose the right power source for the job. Often, electric motors are chosen without thinking about the benefits of hydraulics or...
Products: Motion Control
The Model 01424 rotating torque sensor from Sensor Developments (Lake Orion, MI) uses a shaft-to-shaft configuration for in-line placement, and incorporates a digital non-contact wireless system that provides power to the...
Products: Motion Control
Animatics Corp. (Santa Clara, CA) released the SM2315DT as part of the OEM Series of SmartMotors. The unit features an 8-pole rotor design with a high copper filling factor, and delivers 112 oz-in of peak torque while maintaining...
Products: Motion Control
From SICK STEGMANN, INC. (Dayton, OH), the DRS61 CoreTech® Incremental Encoders can be programmed the number of lines from 1 to 8,192, as well as the width of the zero pulse. The units are available in face mount flange,...
Products: Motion Control
Haydon Switch & Instrument (Waterbury, CT) released size 8 hybrid linear actuators with encoder feedback. Encoder resolutions range from 120 to 330 cycles per revolution, or 480 to 1,200 pulses per revolution; encoder...
Products: Motion Control
Danaher Motion (Wood Dale, IL) released the Thomson-Deltran Power-Off Magnetic Brake (PMB) series of power-off DC, spring-set, multifunctional brakes. Nine standard frame sizes from 30 to 120 are available. Torque range is 45...
Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Festo Corp. (Hauppauge, NY) released the SEC-ACSMLC Multi-Axis Controller and SEC-SDD drive. Featuring the CoDeSys programming platform, the SEC-AC-SMLC is based on the IEC61131-3 standard, offering the...
Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
S. Himmelstein and Co. (Hoffman Estates, IL) released the MCRT® 48200V Series Compact Digital Torquemeters, having no pots, switches, and requires no manual adjustment. The non-contact devices have full-scale ranges from 25...
Products: Motion Control
Avago Technologies (San Jose, CA) introduced the AEDS-964x optical encoder modules, with resolutions of up to 360 lines per inch, for printing applications. The modules are used with a transmissive code strip to detect...
Application Briefs: Motion Control
World cotton production in 2006/07 is forecast at 115.7 million bales, and global cotton consumption is forecast at a record of nearly 121 million bales, with 13.2 million acres dedicated...
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
At full power, the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), part of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL, Oak Ridge, TN), will produce the world’s most intense pulsed...
Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
Nowadays, there are many technologies available that are used to quantify the motion of humans and animals. However, recent innovations in optical motion capture systems have...
Articles: Motion Control
Winner of a hybrid automobile or $20,000
Designed by:David A. Torrey, Ph.D., P.E.
Advanced Energy Conversion LLC
Malta, NY
There is tremendous interest today in reducing the...
Blog: Electronics & Computers
Current Attractions
Developed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (Huntsville, AL), a micro-commanding rotational-position-control system offers the advantage of less mechanical complexity, susceptibility to mechanical resonances, power demand, bulk, weight, and lower cost, relative to prior rotational-position-control systems based on...
Blog: Motion Control
Pneumatic Step Motor
Medical scientists at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD) have constructed the "PneuStep," a prototype pneumatic step motor that is the first of its kind. The motor was developed as part of a project for a robot that could operate precisely within the closed bore of high-intensity MRI equipment. The pneumatic nature of the...
Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Asymmetric Fasteners, Inc. (Hackettstown, NJ) released the Torksleeve B mounting for ball bearings, compatible with roller, needle, linear, or plain bearing types. The unit provides quick assembly time, is compact, and...
Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Aerotech (Pittsburgh, PA) released the ALAR series of direct-drive, large-aperture rotary stages. Coming in five aperture sizes (100, 150, 200, 250, and 325 mm), the units are designed for angular positioning and velocity control,...
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Webcasts
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Powering America’s EV Future: Connect, Collaborate, Innovate
Upcoming Webinars: Robotics, Automation & Control
Next-Generation Linear and Rotary Stages: When Ultra Precision...
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