Robotics, Automation & Control

Automation

Access your resource for innovative automation technologies and applications. Find technical briefs and applications that play an essential role in today's age of automation in industrial manufacturing and medical industries.

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Products: Motion Control
NORD Gear Corp. (Waunakee, WI) offers the SK 180E drives for applications that do not utilize the scope of functionality found in frequency inverters. The drives focus on the functionality necessary for pumps and conveyor technology....
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INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
Soft machines and robots are becoming more and more functional, capable of moving, jumping, gripping an object, and even changing color. The elements responsible for their actuation...
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INSIDER: Medical
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...
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INSIDER: Motion Control
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, iron, and...
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INSIDER: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Nanoengineers at the University of California, San Diego used an innovative 3D printing technology they developed to manufacture multipurpose fish-shaped microrobots that swim around...
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News: Robotics, Automation & Control
SLAM, or simultaneous localization and mapping, enables mobile autonomous robots to map their environments and determine their locations. SLAM can be used to improve object-recognition systems, a vital component of...
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Articles: Motion Control
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...
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Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
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...
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Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping
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...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Stepper Motor
Lin Engineering (Morgan Hill, CA) releases the Xtreme Torque E5718 stepper motor with enhanced technology to reduce stalling, skipped steps, and provide efficient torque. The enhanced design allows users to stay within the same frame size and take advantage of increased torque normally available in larger frame sizes. The motor has a...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Preliminary data was recently provided for a reaction sphere prototype on NASA’s zero-gravity parabolic flight vehicle. Gyroscope telemetry indicates that reaction spheres were...
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Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Nanosatellite Launch Adapter System
NASA has developed a Nanosatellite Launch Adapter System (NLAS) that maximizes the efficiency of satellite launch missions. NLAS increases access to space while simplifying the integration process of miniature satellites, called nanosats or CubeSats, onto launch vehicles. While a complete NLAS consists of an...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
James Webb Space Telescope Microshutters Subsystem Project Thermal Chamber Ground Support Equipment Automated Control
An automated control system for the microshutter assembly (MSA) portion of the JWST MSS (James Webb Space Telescope Micro shutters Subsystem) was developed. This is a cryogenic device that operates at 35 K. Cooling down and warming...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Visual Environment for Remote Virtual Exploration (VERVE)
VERVE is a 3D visualization system that provides situational awareness, science analysis tools, and data understanding capabilities for robotics researchers and exploration science operations. VERVE includes telemetry views that show remote system status, and can be extended to support...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Optimal Alarm System Design and Implementation
An optimal alarm system can robustly predict a level-crossing event that is specified over a fixed prediction horizon. The code contained in this package provides the tools necessary to design an optimal alarm system for a simple stationary linear dynamic system driven by white Gaussian noise.
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Mars Science Laboratory Flight Software for Autonomous Drilling
One of the goals of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission is to collect powderized samples from the interior of rocks and deliver them to onboard science instruments. This goal is achieved using the algorithms and software that control the drill hardware to produce a system that...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Morpheus Lander Vehicle Simulation/Vehicle Flight Software
The Morpheus simulation is a suite of software models that simulates the performance of a lander vehicle. The specific vehicle is a terrestrial lander used as a “vertical test bed” platform for developing technology, and proving hardware and software systems for use in space...
Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
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...
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Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Risk-Aware Mars Rover Operation Tool with Autonomous Terrain Classifier and Path Planner
The greatest single source of risks for Mars rovers is terrain. These risks are currently managed by a labor-intensive process in which rover operators carefully examine the terrain and plan a path to avoid any potential hazards. This poses a challenge,...
Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping
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,...
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Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
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 of...
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Application Briefs: Motion Control
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 are...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
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 engaged/disengaged...
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Products: Motion Control
Stage System
The OptiScanTMIII system from Prior Scientific (Rockland, MA) is a stage and focus system for routine microscopy procedures requiring high precision. It offers full control in the X, Y, and Z axes via compatibility with OptiScan motorized stages for both inverted and upright microscopes, and Prior’s non-encoded focus motors and FB...
Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
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 service...
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Products: Motion Control
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...
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Products: Motion Control
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...
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Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping
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 unclamping...
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Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping
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 screen...
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