The Taiwanese automation supplier Delta, has entered the cobot (collaborative robot) market with a family of six six-axis cobots with payload capacities from 6–30kg, and reaches from 800–1,800mm. The D-Bot cobots, which made their debut at the Hannover Messe, are designed for rapid deployment, requiring no special programming skills to get them running. A plug-and-play capability makes it easy to set up movements and command executions.
At the 2024 Hannover Messe, Siemens is launching the first new generation of its Simatic S7-1200 PLCs for ten years. The new models are designed to help bridge the worlds of OT (operational technology) and IT (information technology), with high communications performance and efficient data-processing, thus boosting output. By connecting the controllers to IT systems, it is also possible to use advanced data analysis in the cloud, for example.
At this month’s Hannover Messe, Siemens will be previewing a new SaaS (software-as-a-service) designed to identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities rapidly in factories. The cloud-based Sinec Security Guard offers automated vulnerability mapping and security management optimised for operators in OT environments.
Sfera Labs, the Italian designer and manufacturer of embedded and edge computing systems, has announced an expandable industrial controller based on the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4). The Strato Pi Max is a powerful industrial server module that can be customised and optimised for industrial and IoT applications.
ABB has cut the losses in its proven Baldor-Reliance Nema induction motors by an average of 20% while maintaining the form, fit and function of these motors, which have a large installed base. The new SP4 motors comply with the Nema Super Premium efficiency requirements for standard AC induction motors operated DOL (direct on line), and can achieve higher efficiencies when paired with a variable-speed drive.
A German robot-maker, fruitcore robotics, has announced a new generation of digital robots which, it claims, will “redefine cost-effectiveness in industrial automation”. It adds that the AI-supported Horst1500 robots will have the lowest service life costs on the market. Thanks to AI-supported, intuitive operation, new tasks can be set up quickly and efficiently, even without expert knowledge.
At the Hannover Messe in April, Siemens will unveil a portfolio of software and hardware for designing and operating drivetrains efficiently and sustainably. It will allow users to combine the real and digital worlds of drive technologies to achieve efficiency and sustainability for entire drivetrains.
Control Techniques has announced a variable-speed drive designed to maximise the efficiency of sensorless permanent magnet (PM) motors, cutting their running costs while optimising system performance.
Invertek Drives has launched two compact-frame HVAC-R drives aimed at OEMs who are having to move to R290 (propane) and R744 (CO2) refrigerants, as well as A2L and A3 types which support the F-Gas regulations. The new frame size 3 and 4 drives add higher current capabilities to the company's Optidrive Coolvert (HVAC-R) family, which is designed for use with brushless DC compressors, heat pumps and CDUs (condensing units), allowing HVAC-R OEMs to optimise their system performance in a compact space.
Schneider Electric has launched a hardware-agnostic digital platform that collects and aggregates data across industrial operations to develop KPIs (key performance indicators) for short-interval management (SIM) meetings, where shopfloor teams review production cycles and identify issues and actions that need to be implemented.
The German sensor-maker Sick has unveiled what it claims in the world’s first photoelectric proximity sensor with a touchscreen display. The W10 sensor’s swipe-up touchscreen technology, combined with simple icons, makes set-up and teach-in “intuitive”, the comopny says.
SEW-Eurodrive says it is redefining what “standard” means with a compact frequency inverter that can be used for applications from open-loop speed control and encoder-free torque control, to dynamic positioning. Its new Movitrac Advanced inverter offers a high degree of standardisation and is suitable for use in more than 50 countries.
On its stand at the 2023 SPS exhibition, the safety specialist Schmersal was demonstrating several of its technologies including a recently launched 3D camera which uses time-of-flight (ToF) technology to measure infrared (850nm) light pulses reflected from objects being monitored. The AM-T100 camera creates a millimetre-accurate 3D image of the scene at high speed that is available as a point cloud. It can be used to determine the position and the dimensions of objects or detect fill levels of containers, for example.
Phoenix Contact has a new Profisafe safety controller that operates as an expansion module for its AXC F 2152 or AXC F 3152 PLCnext controllers. The AXC F XT SPLC 3000 controller adds a safety PLC for Profinet networks to PLCnext. It can be used in applications up to SIL3 or PLe.
Sumitomo Drive Technologies has released a new generation of its E Cyclo (ECY) precision cycloidal shaft gears with higher torque densities and modular plug-and-play connectors that fit any motor. It claims that the ECY 203 and ECY 205 gearboxes deliver at least 30% more rated torque, acceleration torque, and emergency stop torque, compared to previous models. The maximum drive speed is up to 8,500 rpm.
