Panasonic Industry has entered the motion controls market with a compact controller that combines motion functions with typical PLC functions such as positioning, networking, modular I/Os and a high-frequency counter. The company says that the GM1 controller will save cabinet space and can handle demanding applications with up to 32 axes and response times as low as 0.5ms.
The industrial sensing and protection company Sensata Technologies has teamed up with the Canadian-Indian machine health monitoring specialist Nanoprecise to offer a monitoring and predictive maintenance system for rotating machines that allows plant managers to detect early-stage faults and extend the working lives of their machines.
Interroll has launched a platform-based material-flow system that, it says, will boost the productivity of manufacturing processes “significantly”. The modular, plug-and-play LCP (light conveyor platform) system allows integrators to implement scalable belt conveyor sections quickly to satisfy the automated material-flow requirements of individual customers.
Rockwell Automation has announced a pair of micro-PLCs that, it claims, will allow machine-builders to design and program machines more efficiently. As well as releasing the Allen-Bradley Micro850 and Micro870 2080-Lx0E controllers, Rockwell has also updated its Connected Components Workbench software which, it says, will simplify the development of machines using the microcontrollers and cut development times by boosting upload data transfer rates by 23%, and download rates by 40%
Beckhoff is offering a new operating system for some of its industrial PCs as a lower-cost alternative to full Microsoft Windows packages.
Trio Motion Technology used the recent Drives & Controls Show to launch a multi-axis servodrive designed to provide precision motion coordination for space-critical applications up to 750W. The DX5 servodrive is aimed at machine-builders who need multi-axis EtherCat control in a compact format with no gaps between the drives.
Rockwell Automation has released a series of machine-mounting AC variable-frequency drives designed for quick installation, simple commissioning and predictive maintenance. The Allen-Bradley Armor PowerFlex drives, available in standard or safety versions, replace multiple components for easier integration into automation systems.
At the recent Drives & Controls Show in Birmingham, UK, Nidec Control Techniques unveiled a microdrive that it believes is the first in the world to provide programming, commissioning, diagnostics and other functions using a built-in NFC (near-field communications) capability.
ABB has announced two new families of large industrial robots for complex manufacturing applications such as EV (electric vehicle) manufacturing, foundries, forging, rubber, plastics and metal fabrication. The IRB 5710 and 5720 robots are designed to boost productivity, performance and uptime by delivering enhanced speed, accuracy, flexibility, and a more robust design with integrated cabling.
The French motor manufacturer Nidec Leroy-Somer has developed a range of super-premium efficiency permanent magnet-assisted synchronous reluctance motors which, it says, combine the easy set-up of induction motors with the high performance of synchronous permanent magnet technologies, as well as offering “significant advances” in terms of their use with smart drives.
An industrial computing specialist has announced a pair of controllers based on the low-cost Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4) platform, which is aimed at industrial applications. OnLogic says that one of the controllers will have built-in touchscreen to provide status updates and system control.
ifm electronic has announced a device that allows users to operate standard safety sensors and actuators via IO-Link. The AL200S module uses a special ProfiSafe telegram to provide “tunnelled” communication with a safety controller. This allows it to meet SIL3 and PLe safety requirements.
The German level and pressure instrumentation specialist Vega has developed a radar-based level sensor that, it claims, can be used for almost any level-sensing application involving liquids or solids. Until now, choosing a radar-based level has been a laborious process, requiring application details such as temperature and pressure ranges, to be matched to a wide choice of radar frequencies, antenna designs, parts numbers and options. Up to 15 parameters needed to be specified.
The Brazilian drives and automation manufacturer WEG is launching a new generation of simple, space-saving, high-performance VSDs with advanced energy-saving, overload and safety functions. The CFW900 drives, which can be used with either induction or PM (permanent magnet) motors, will make their first large-scale public debut at the Drives & Controls Show in Birmingham, UK, in April.
Igus has added a Scara (selective compliance articulated robot arm) robot to its Low Cost Automation (LCA) family of robots and other devices that are designed to boost the productivity of tasks such as electronic assembly and laboratory work, while keeping costs down. The drylin Scara robot, priced upwards of £3,000, joins the existing delta, multi-axis and gantry linear robots in the LCA range, designed to perform basic high-speed, low-payload automated tasks.