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'First' radar safety system copes with tough environments

Pilz has joined forces with the Italian radar specialist Inxpect to offer what they claim is the world’s first for monitoring safety protection zones, based on radar technology. The technology immune to dust, rain, light, sparks or even shocks, allowing safe, economical monitoring of protection zones in tough environments – such as dusty woodworking plants – where optoelectronic technologies may not work.

Adaptor links older enclosure cooling systems to the IoT

Rittal has developed an adaptor that retrofits its Blue e cooling systems with communications capabilities, allowing them to link up with smart condition-monitoring and IoT systems. The adaptor uses a similar interface to that available for the more recent Blue e+ systems. The older systems cannot communicate directly with e+ interface.

High-power braking resistors overcome traditional problems

REO has developed a range of braking resistors that, it claims, overcome problems traditionally associated with using high-power resistors in drives cabinets. The REOHM series 155 braking resistors come in a closed, IP66-rated format that prevents the entry of dust and airborne materials. They are connected to the drive by a screened cable, thus ensuring that emissions are not an issue.

Servo-pumps with internal teeth are low-maintenance

Baumüller has developed a compact, low-maintenance servo-pump that, it says, combines the advantages of hydraulic power transmission and servodrives. The pump is mounted on the motor and uses internal teeth, resulting in a short installation length that saves space in machines. Furthermore, the direct-mounting design dispenses with the need for couplings and other mechanical components.

120-model inverter family is 'first to offer AI diagnostics'

Mitsubishi Electric in Japan has announced a new generation of general-purpose inverters which, it claims, will be the first to incorporate diagnostics functions based on AI (artificial intelligence). The first 44 models in the FR-E800 series, with ratings from 0.1–7.5kW, will be released in December 2019. They will be joined, from April 2020, by further versions with safety functions such as SLS (safely-limited speed) and STO (safe torque off). The family will eventually comprise a total of 120 models in ratings up to 22kW.

Nema hazardous area motors ‘deliver 15% more power’

ABB has announced a range of large Nema-frame AC motors for hazardous area applications which, it says, deliver an average of 15% more power than conventional designs. The AXR 5000 and 5800 motors meet American Petroleum Institute 541 and 547 standards for motors used in the oil and gas industry.

Compact pneumatic slides are ‘smallest on the market’

Festo has developed what it claims is the world’s shortest pneumatic slide. The DGST slide has a twin-piston design and comes in diameters from 6–25mm and stroke lengths from 10–200mm. The slide houses an integrated guide and end-plate made from a single part, thus eliminating torsion and misalignment issues and providing precise movements. Impact shocks at the end-of-stroke are reduced by integral cushioning, while in-built stroke adjustment eliminates the need for additional parts.

164 safety light curtains form ‘world’s broadest portfolio’

Omron has announced a family of 164 new safety light curtains, with the claim that they form the industry's broadest portfolio. The F3SG-SR/PG curtains provide finger (10mm beam gap), hand (20mm), leg (40mm), and body protection (80mm), and cover protective heights from 160–2,480mm. They are IO-Link compatible, and can thus be linked into IoT systems on factory floors.

Ironless linear motors boost force-to-mass ratios by up to 45%

At the 2019 Hannover Fair, Schaeffler presented a series of ironless linear motors designed to reduce the mass of the primary part without compromising drive forces. The UPLplus motors are aimed, in particular, at applications where the maximum acceleration of linear drives has previously been limited by the relatively large proportion of the rotor mass to the total moving mass.

Parameterising app talks to drives via Bluetooth

Nord Drivesystems has developed an app for diagnosing, analysing, monitoring and parameterising its drives. The Nordcomm app works with a Bluetooth stick to speed up commissioning, simplify maintenance and remedy faults faster.

Backdrivable actuator offers ‘unrivalled’ speed and stiffness

Genesis Robotics, the Canadian company which unveiled a gearless, high-torque rotary actuator at the 2017 Hannover fair, was back at this year's show, previewing a new family of low-friction, back-drivable actuators which, it says, respond much faster than traditional actuators.

Siemens' automation portal migrates to the cloud

Siemens is making its TIA Portal engineering framework accessible via the cloud, providing fast, flexible, Web-based access to pre-installed environments via any type of hardware, at any place and any time, without needing any installation. It says that this capability will reduce the effort needed to test TIA Portal innovations, allowing the framework to adapt flexibly to a user’s hardware and way of working. There is no need to install the software on local hardware.

Cloud-based apps give real-time insights into IIoT equipment

At the 2019 Hannover Fair, Schneider Electric announced seven new cloud-based apps for industry, smart buildings, data centres and energy grids, as part of its EcoStruxure platform. The Advisor apps and services provide visibility for connected products, while delivering analytics to drive efficiency. They include:

App reads error messages from industrial controls

Bosch Rexroth has released an app that provides wireless access to the error memory of machines equipped with its control systems, allowing maintenance personnel to read error messages and service information, and to order spares.

Software integrates machine learning and drive programming

Beckhoff has integrated a real-time machine learning (ML) capability into its TwinCat 3 automation software. It says that the ML technology is powerful enough to handle advanced tasks such as motion control, and predicts that it will open up new possibilities and optimisation potential in areas such as predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, collaborative robotics, automated quality control, and machine optimisation.