Phoenix Contact has developed a range of high-current terminals that make it easy to connect and wire rigid or flexible ferruled conductors up to 95mm² without needing tools.
Aerotech has announced a range of two-axis linear motor stages that, it says, offer good geometric and dynamic performance in low-profile packages. The Planar DL stages are optimised for high dynamics and stiffness and can achieve velocities to 1m/s, accelerations to 1.5g, straightness to ±0.4µm, and flatness to ±1µm.
ABB has announced a range of high-power motors designed to accelerate high-inertia loads, such as axial fans. With standard motors, the long start times of such loads can lead to overheating. The new motors have been designed to withstand the increased temperature rise during start and stall conditions, and have stall times longer than their start times.
Mitsubishi Electric has released a motion controller that allows users to combine Mitsubishi’s servo motion systems with third-party control systems. The Q170MCPU-EIP controller allows users to create positioning applications within their existing programming environments and to use these with Mitsubishi servo platforms.
Dunkermotoren has announced a range of compact brushless DC servomotors with integrated control electronics and EtherCat connections. There are ten models with power ratings from 50–500W in square frames with sizes ranging from 45–75mm.
The Japanese automation manufacturer Idec has announced a new family of low-I/O-count controllers including a version with a colour touchscreen. There are five models in the FT1A SmartAxis series, offering from 12–48 I/O.
A German power semiconductor specialist, GvA Leistungselektronik, has developed a modular, scalable inverter system that allows components to be combined flexibly to achieve the required rating and performance.
US-based Red Lion Controls has unveiled a new generation of rugged HMIs (human machine interfaces) which, it claims, are the first of their type to combine plug-in modules with protocol conversion, data-logging and Web-based monitoring and control.
Rockwell Automation has released a new version of its PharmaSuite software for pharmaceutical and biotech production. It says that version 5 of the software sets new standards for MES (manufacturing execution system) performance in automation, risk management, cost reduction and regulatory compliance.
The Austrian automation company B&R has developed a software-based safety control system as an alternative to the hard-wired safety systems usually needed for small-scale applications.
The US electronic components supplier Pulse Electronics has announced an AC current sensor designed specifically to fit onto rectangular busbars, rather than having the traditional round shape.
Fuji Electric has developed a new line of cost-effective HMI displays which, it claims, are the world’s thinnest, with a depth of just 36mm. The Technoshot HMIs also incorporate enhanced CPUs for fast response times.
GE Intelligent Platforms has announced a family of modular single-board computers (SBCs) that it says are the first designed specifically to deliver high long-term performance with low total costs of ownership.
Eaton has developed a drawer-based motor control centre (MCC) technology in which the conventional control wiring and wiring to higher-level controllers are replaced by its SmartWire-DT communication and wiring system. The motor control system, called iMCC, can transfer detailed information from the drawers to the controllers, thus increasing the reliability and availability of motors, as well as cutting wiring efforts.
The Israeli motion control specialist Servotronix has announced a family of precision brushless servomotors suitable for positioning tasks with demanding requirements for dynamics and stability. The Pro Series motors cover rated outputs from 100W–8.3kW, rated output torques from 0.3–40Nm, and speeds up to 5,000 rpm.
