Motion Control/​Automation

Explore the latest developments in motion control and automation. Discover innovative advances from NASA and major research labs in robotics, autonomous vehicles, industrial automation, PID controller applications, motor drives and power transmissions.

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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The RB series of roller guides from NSK, Franklin, IN, provides a 26% reduction in overall height compared with NSK’s conventional RA series roller guides. This facilitates downscaling of equipment and lowering the center of...
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Application Briefs: Motion Control
SQUIGGLE® custom rotary piezoelectric motors New Scale Technologies Victor, NY 585-924-4450 www.newscaletech.com The Wide-Field Multi Object Spectrometer (WFMOS) is a ground-based...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The Siletz series of carrier multiplication devices (CMDs) from Voxtel (Beaverton, OR) are nanostructured InGaAs/ InAlAs devices that are designed to overcome the limitations of avalanche photodiodes (APDs) in the...
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Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
Slip clutches are commonly used to protect against overloads, but they can solve many other problems as well. Their applications include increasing machine speeds, applying constant tension to webs or...
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Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Off-highway tractors slog through mud, muck, and other rough terrain on a daily basis. Achieving high reliability and performance in spite of these...
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Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
There’s a science to testing metal structures for rigidity and performance under stress. The development of new testing methodologies is continuing at a fast pace, aided by...
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Application Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Heidenhain Encoders Help TRW Machine Ford SUV Parts
TRW has been making parts for the automotive industry for many years, but when Ford Automotive considered giving them the contract to manufacture the rear toe-links for their Navigator and Expedition SUVs, their traditional lathes were considered inadequate for the task. The solution was to...
Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The TONiC optical encoder from Renishaw, Hoffman Estates, IL, provides the accuracy of fine-pitch encoders in a rugged, simple-to-install package. It employs a compact read head (35mm long × 13.5mm wide × 10mm high for...
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Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
Winner of an HP Workstation Small-Area Thin-Film Heat Flux Sensor Mahmoud AssaadThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Akron, OH This sensor is being used in tires of all types and sizes, and has also...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Pillow blocks from Quality Bearings & Components, Garden City Park, NY, feature both locking collar and set screw types. Designated the BBXBLK-HCP and BBXBLK-UCP Series, the blocks have cast iron housings and are designed to...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The DFS 60 incremental encoders from Sick|Stegmann, Dayton, OH, are available in fully programmable versions to accommodate any value from 1 to 65,536 pulses per revolution. With the help of a simple programming tool, users,...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Based on the Piezo Walk principle, the N-380/N-381 NEXACT® ceramic linear motor actuator from Physik Instrumente replaces classical lead screw actuators. It combines high forces and long travel ranges with sub-nanometer...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Designed for high torque, tight space applications, the FlexTorq™ 762 series hollow shaft offset DC gearmotors from Bison Gear & Engineering Corp., St. Charles, IL, feature either a 1.25in. (31.75mm) I.D. hollow shaft, or a...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The Cushion-Start Kinechek® speed regulator from Deschner Corp., Santa Ana, CA, combines the shock absorbing feature of the company’s Cushioneer® shock absorber with the Kinechek® speed regulator. The impact-absorbing...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The EGC electric actuator from Festo Corp., Hauppauge, NY, is designed for high dynamic speeds and high rigidity. It can be used as an individual component adapted to third-party motors, or as a complete system. The actuator...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The TA333 high-power linear drive from Trust Automation, San Luis Obispo, CA, combines a Class-AB linear amplifier with pure analog throughput at currents up to 25A. Highly configurable, the drive can be used with a brushless motor...
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Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
For process industries, one of the greatest challenges plant operators face is finding a sensor technology that will provide reliable measurement of liquid levels in tanks while...
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Articles: Motion Control
Single-turn encoders have long been used in industrial automation to gauge angular displacement in a broad range of applications, ranging from steering control on a mobile equipment...
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Articles: Motion Control
Functional machine safety using discrete wiring is an established way to protect workers from injury, and protect companies from the expense associated with accidents and downtime.
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Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Echo Hill Automation Inc., a Beamsville, Ontario, Canada company founded by mechanical engineers and brothers Dan and Harry Schellenberg, has grown from a small two-man operation to...
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Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics
When a leading manufacturer of CNC optical manufacturing technology needed ultra-accurate and stable positioning for a new system to measure conformal optics, it turned to...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The KXTE9 accelerometer from Kionix (Ithaca, NY) has embedded algorithms for orientation and activity monitoring. The algorithms simplify the adoption of motion-based functionality in consumer electronics, while reducing operating...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The TONIC optical encoder from Renishaw (Hoffman Estates, IL) packs advanced optics and electronics into a compact read-head measuring 35 × 13.5 × 10 mm. Available in both linear and rotary versions, it supports applications...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The Model No. MMP-TM55-24V GP52-059 dc gearmotor from Midwest Motion Products (Watertown, MN) produces 60in.-lb. of torque at 78 rpm. Designed to operate on 24 Vdc, it measures 2.14in. diameter × 7.75in. long, and has a keyed...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
A miniature ball valve from Beswich Engineering (Greenland, NH) comes in two configurations. The MBV-1010-303 is for applications requiring an on/off valve, while the MBVT-1010-303 is for applications requiring selecting one of two...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The KA power pack from HAWE Hydraulics (Charlotte, NC) can supply pressure up to 10,000 psi utilizing a radial piston pump, or up to 2,900 psi utilizing a gear pump.
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The SM2315D-PLS2 and SM2315DT-PLS2 integrated servo motors from Animatics Corp. (Santa Clara, CA) have a built-in controller, encoder, and amplifier, and can be programmed to control several machines. They achieve resolution up to...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The Clean Motors from HaydonKerk Motion Solutions (Waterbury, CT) are designed to limit contaminants and outgassing in vacuum environments. The motors operate in vacuum down to 10-9 Torr.
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The MT 105-50-LM micro manipulator stage from Steinmeyer (Burlington, MA) provides a positional accuracy of 1 micrometer, straightness/flatness runout of +/1 micrometer, and repeatability of +/0.2 micrometers. It measures...
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