The British bearing manufacturer, Revolvo, has developed a range of ceramic-coated, deep-groove ball and cylindrical roller bearings, which are protected against the damaging effects of electrical erosion in rotating equipment such as traction motors.
The power supply manufacturer TDK-Lambda has invested more than $5m to develop a new generation of DIN-rail-mounting power supplies that, it says, includes the narrowest and most efficient models on the market. It believes that that the new supplies will help it to more than triple its current 3% share of the $400m European market for DIN rail supplies by 2017. By then, the market is expected to be worth $465m, and TDK-Lambda hopes to have 10% of the business.
The Californian chip-maker Maxim Integrated Products has developed a high-voltage regulator for industrial DC-DC converter applications which, it says, will reduce heat dissipation, improve reliability, cut space requirements by up to 50% and external component counts by 75%.
The German sensor company Sick has developed a technology that can cascade up to 32 safety sensors and switches from different manufacturers on a loop almost 1km long, while meeting the PLe performance level. The Flexi Loop system is said to offers new levels of scalability, diagnostics and I/O connection capacity in a compact space and at a competitive cost.
Eaton has launched a smartphone app for monitoring and controlling its easy800 control relays. The easyRemote display app allows users with Android phones to view the relay’s text and functions and to operate it remotely.
Invensys has announced the availability of software that will allow users of its Wonderware InTouch HMI software to access shopfloor data via a Web browser running on a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet, or a laptop or desktop computer.
The German motion technology specialist Schunk claims to have produced the first standard linear motor axes to be made of reinforced carbon composites (RCCs). It says the rigid modules are about 58% lighter than comparable aluminium modules, and deliver more dynamic movements with rapid accelerations.
ABB has announced an “extreme conditions” PLC that is protected against high and low temperatures, high humidity, low air pressure, salt mist, hazardous gases, and shock and vibration. It says that AC500-XC PLC can cut system-building costs by eliminating the need for protective enclosures, special seals, shock absorbers and EMC protection.
The Japanese HMI and communications specialist, Prof-face, has announced a modular controller and operator interface which installs in standard 22mm round holes – the same size used for switches and indicator lights. The LT4000M series combines a 3.5” or 5.7” display with a DIN-rail-mounting controller.
Festo has announced a cost-effective semi-rotary pneumatic drive with twin pistons that, it says, offers good precision, stiffness and loadability. The DRRD actuator uses an innovative bearing system to handle high loads with high accuracy.
Trinamic Motion Control, the German developer of motion control technologies, has developed what it claims to be the world’s lowest-cost single-axis motion control chip. The TMC4210 motion controller IC, which costs just over $2 in quantities of 1,000, performs real-time position and velocity stepper motor calculations, simplifying the design of software to implement motor control on host microcontrollers.
Omron has announced a compact vision system which, it claims, is the fastest of its type, resulting in shorter machine cycle times combined with precise operation, even in difficult operating conditions, such as poor lighting, and out-of-focus, rotated or overlapping target objects.
Mitsubishi Electric has released a compact PLC with embedded Ethernet facilities, two analogue inputs (0-10V DC or 4-20mA) and an analogue output (0-10V DC or 4-20mA). It says that these facilities will open up the Melsec FX3GE CPU to a wider range of applications than other models in the FX3G family.
The Californian controls company, Specialty Motions Inc (SMI), has developed a motion controller that provides variable speed control, direction control, and oscillating and jog-able motion, using standard 12V or 24V brushed DC motors. The D-Con controller is designed to be an low-cost and easy means of achieving such motion without needing to learn programming languages, or using expensive motors, complex drives, PLCs or computer controls.
The Israeli motion controls manufacturer ACS Motion Control has developed a combined control module and EtherCat master which, it claims delivers “ultimate servo performance, the shortest move and settle times possible, minimal jitter, and outstanding smoothness”.
