Swiss researchers have developed a flexible gripping technology that can bend to pick up delicate objects such as eggs and paper without needing to know anything about the type of object or its shape. It could, for example, be used to handle food, to capture debris in outer space or be incorporated into humanoid robots.
Two US companies have announced plans to produce electric motors with a novel cooling technology that results in them being 75% smaller, and much lighter, than conventional motors with a similar power rating. They say that the motors, aimed principally at automotive applications, will deliver the power and torque to drive a passenger car from a package the size of a one-gallon can of paint.
A Finnish research organisation has developed a control system for the industrial robots that, it claims, can cut the time taken to set up and program robots to “minutes”, rather than the hour or more needed when using traditional programming methods.
Profibus and Profinet International (PI) has announced plans to merge its Profibus PA and Profinet technologies to allow plant operators to continue using installed technologies while giving them access to the latest technologies, including Industry 4.0.
ABB has developed a torque and speed control system for high-pressure grinding rollers (HPGRs) used in mineral-crushing applications that, it says, will improve their lives and performance.
At the recent SPS IPC Drives show in Germany, Sercos International (SI) demonstrated a software-based Sercos III master that avoids the need to use a hardware master based on FPGA or ASIC chips. Instead, the Sercos III hardware functions are emulated in host-based driver software running on a standard Ethernet controller.
Leuze electronic has developed a technology which, it says, avoids the need for the muting sensors that are usually required to detect the approach of goods to a light curtain. It says that its Smart Process-controlled Gating (SPG) system will make muting cheaper, simpler and safer.
Bosch Rexroth has developed a range of synchronous servomotors which provide data on their temperature and saturation to the company's IndraDrive controllers, allowing them to improve torque precision and making operating tolerance ranges much tighter than previously possible. Rexroth says that, for the first time, the servomotor can act as a reliable sensor, as well as a data source.
On its stand at the recent SPS IPC Drives exhibition in Germany, Mitsubishi Electric was demonstrating a robot safety system that it is developing with a German integrator, MH Elektro-Steuerungstechnick, that will allow humans and robots to work together safely during batch production processes.
By using an energy-harvesting technology, the German drives manufacturer Wittenstein has been able to develop two series of brushless DC motors with miniature multi-turn encoders that do not need a battery or a gearhead. It says that the motors are less than half the length of comparable machines and 20% smaller in diameter. Eliminating the gearhead and battery from the 32mm and 40mm diameter motors also extends their operating lives.
The German clamping and gripping specialist, Schunk, has developed a compact linear axis with a 24V linear motor drive which, it claims, is as easy to commission as making a cup of coffee and will revolutionse automated assembly.
The German automation manufacturer Lenze has announced a family of customisable frequency inverters that users can configure from their smartphones. Lenze says that the functions and power of the i500 inverters can be tailored to almost any application or environment. The drives comply with the IE2 VSD efficiency class (as defined in the new EN 50598-2 standard), and cover the power range 0.25–45kW.
The Austrian automation specialist B&R has joined forces with the Italian sensor-maker Datalogic to develop a safety light curtain that can sense the direction in which an object is travelling, and determine its height and length, without needing the position sensors that have traditionally been used for muting and blanking applications.
At the recent SPS IPC Drives show in Germany, the automation manufacturer Beckhoff unveiled a new approach to HMIs (human-machine interfaces) which it is hailing as a “paradigm shift” in HMI technologies. Instead of using proprietary systems for engineering and communications, the new Web-based TwinCat HMI system uses IT standards such as Microsoft Visual Studio for the engineering, HTML5 for the design, and Websockets and HTTPS for secure communications.
ABB has developed a remotely controlled device that crawls in the air-gap between the stator and rotor of large motors or generators to inspect their status, thus cutting downtime, inspection costs and the need to remove the rotor. The 8.5mm-high InSight inspection crawler is fitted with five cameras that provide high-resolution coverage of the whole length of the stator core. The results are recorded for later assessment.
