Motion Control/​Automation

Robotics, Automation & Control

Stay updated on the fast-changing advancements in robotics, automation, and control. Access the technical briefs and applications that are trending in AI, robotic operating systems, and machine learning.

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News: Robotics, Automation & Control
Robot Runs Like a Cat
Thanks to its legs, whose design faithfully reproduces feline morphology, EPFL’s four-legged “cheetah-cub robot” has the same advantages as its model: It is small, light and fast. Still in its experimental stage, the robot will serve as a platform for research in locomotion and biomechanics.
Products: Motion Control
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....
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Products: Motion Control
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...
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Products: Motion Control
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...
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Products: Motion Control
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...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
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...
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Products: Motion Control
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,...
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Products: Motion Control
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...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
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...
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Products: Motion Control
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...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
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...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
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...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
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...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
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...
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Products: Motion Control
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...
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Products: Motion Control
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...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
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...
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Products: Sensors/Data Acquisition
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...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
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...
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Products: Motion Control
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...
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Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
The AIRCAP® automatic draft stop, offered in the Mercedes-Benz E-Class convertibles, is distinctively different from conventional angular wind deflectors. It is entirely...
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Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
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.
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Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Explore & Discover with NASA
NASA is one of the top research entities in the world, producing technologies that range from electronics and new materials, to state-of-the-art robotics and sensors. Readers of NASA Tech Briefs get a firsthand look at these new technologies every month. But how many of you have had the chance to go behind the scenes at...
News: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Seahorse Tail Inspires Robotics Designs
A seahorse tail’s exceptional flexibility is due to its structure, made up of bony, armored plates, which slide past each other. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, are hoping to use a similar structure to create a flexible robotic arm equipped with muscles made out of polymer, which...
News: Robotics, Automation & Control
“Terradynamics” Predicts How Robots Will Move on Granular Surfaces
Using a combination of theory and experiment, researchers have developed a new approach for understanding and predicting how small legged robots – and potentially also animals – move on and interact with complex granular materials such as sand.
Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Kionix (Ithaca, NY) offers the KMX61G accelerometer-magnetometer sensor and sensor fusion software that delivers gyro emulation using 550 μA of power. The six-axis device can provide nine-axis accelerometer, magnetometer, and...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Lenze Americas (Uxbridge, MA) offers an Ethernet/IP communication module as an option on its 8400 StateLine, HighLine, and TopLine control cabinet devices, in addition to the Lenze 8400 motec and protec decentralized frequency inverters....
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Products: Motion Control
Kurt Manufacturing (Minneapolis, MN) has introduced MaxLock™ 5-axis vises offering a 2-1/2'' and a 4-1/2'' jaw width. The new models are designed for precision small part machining, and for clamping parts for continuous 5- axis...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
NB SEBS-B type slide guides from NB Corporation (Hanover Park, IL) feature standard clearance. The SGLS all-stainless models are suitable for high-temperature applications, cleanroom, and vacuum environments. They are...
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