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GlobalSpec's Robotics Systems Event — August 11, 2010

Join your peers and leading manufacturers for this free, informative, and interactive ONLINE conference and trade show — right from the convenience of your desktop. Participate in any or all of the educational sessions, network with peers, and meet with manufacturers eager to showcase their latest products, services, and new technology offerings. Learn more about the educational sessions offered to meet your information needs, and register today!

A couple of concurrent trends are quickly increasing the attractiveness of magnetic bearings, even in applications where they were previously out of place. One is the advancement of computing power: better microprocessors allow magnetic bearings to process information faster and react to sudden load changes, handling tasks in applications where they were misfits before — like chillers for naval vessels and rapid thermal processing equipment. Another trend is the development of machines to meet increasingly stringent environmental standards. Magnetic bearings serve well because they eliminate friction, minimize vibration, and offer opportunities for monitoring and diagnostics — while leaving out the lubricants.

If you find this subject interesting, subscribe to GlobalSpec's e-Newsletter, DirectU2 The world of Mechanical Components.

The LMP8645 and the LMP8645HV precision current sense amplifiers detect small differential voltages across sense resistors in the presence of high input common mode voltages with supply voltages ranging from 2.7V-12V. These devices have adjustable gain for applications where supply current and high common mode voltage are the determining factors. View product details.

The NB Square Series compact pneumatic cylinder line is packed with value. Stainless steel tie-bolts lock precision machined end caps to a high strength composite tube. Inside the tube is extremely smooth and encompasses a self-lubricating feature that ensures reliable performance and extended life.

For additional information, please visit: www.numatics.com/nbsquare.

Triad offers a wide range of low cost standard and custom designed Current Sense Transformers for most applications. Designed for today's power applications, Triad's CST and CSE Series provide hi-voltage isolation while detecting current passing through a conductor. Custom designs and flying leads are available on request.

C100 is the newest encoder designed for continuous operation even in demanding fields of application such as windgenerators and steel mills. The unit features a salt-water resistant housing and electrically insulated shaft. Lika's proven output circuit grants safe signal transmission even over long distances.

For cost, mechanical packaging, and reliability advantages, some developers are going sensorless. They're designing systems to control brushless DC motors without Hall position sensors. The new motor control technique, called sensorless trapezoidal control, involves filtering the back-electromotive force on a digital signal controller, eliminating use of separate low-pass filtering hardware.

Given time, suppliers refine their products to fulfill customer demands. These gear tooth encoders have been re-engineered for a wider temperature range, making them operable from -40 C to 125 C while delivering 50% duty cycle edges in 2x or quadrature modes. Their maker now considers them sufficiently robust for a lifetime warranty.

If your priority is reliable running when components are doused routinely by machining coolant or washdown, these rotary stages could serve. They're sealed to IP66, but wet operability can be enhanced with optional air purging and desiccant cartridges. Direct-driven by brushless servomotors, the stages support axial loads to 175 kg.

Of many routes for reducing backlash, the straightest path might be anti-backlash nuts. These nuts smooth the operation and minimize drag torque, partly through materials choice (self-lubricating polyacetal and 303 stainless steel) and partly through pre-loading the nut halves. Pre-loading optimizes stiffness while eliminating lock-up common in screws exhibiting uneven wear.

ACE Controls new line of AGS Gas Springs provide controlled motion for lids, panels, hoods, hatches, and more. Fixed force and adjustable models available with push and pull type designs.

Wide variety of body diameters, forces, stroke lengths, and end fittings available.

Made in Farmington Hills, MI.

Learn from UL experts by attending UL University's upcoming workshops for industrial control equipment manufacturers. Featured topics include:

•  Industrial Control Panels UL 508A and Short-Circuit Current Ratings
•  Test, Measurement and Laboratory Use Equipment: Designing for Compliance to UL 61010-1

Register with discount code GBMC0810 and receive 15% off!

Sold and supported in North America by Myostat Motion Control, The TBL-imini servos with encoder are part of the SV-Net line from Tamagawa. These super compact closed loop AC servo motors require a mere 14.5 mm square for installation and have a maximum speed of 6,000 RPM.

The Eliminator HD™ heavy-duty ball screw linear actuator by E-Drive provides a strong, durable, and precise linear motion actuator for industrial automation. While other actuator designs force a particular motor decision, the Eliminator HD™ is designed to suit virtually any motor, gear box, or gearhead of your choice.

Convenience occasionally trumps technology or performance. Recognizing such, this motor supplier saw opportunity — and introduced a new controller to give its brushless motor customers an easier path to completing their motion packages. Their universal controller can be used with most 3-phase Hall-effect motors, provides full 4-quadrant functionality, and incorporates load-resistor protection.

For motion engineers who want an Ethernet-savvy environment, this programmable controller could get you in the game. This version, with faster dual-core CPU, enhanced SDRAM memory, and USB as standard shows off with enough power and speed to handle motion control applications over EtherNet/IP. It also supports up to 100 axes.

As complexity of machines and their automation rises, so too does the effort to simplify up front setup by building more flexibility into the drive controls. This new device follows suit by offering several control modes from a single drive — volts per hertz, open or closed loop vector, servo mode.

Piezo actuators are often selected for medical applications because they can move in single-digit nanometer increments. But they're limited in transport length and speeds. One solution: use two drives — a faster DC motor to get the mechanism quickly to the target area, then the piezo for the final nano steps.

For more on this subject, subscribe to GlobalSpec's e-Newsletter, DirectU2 The world of Drives.

Download and learn about Techno Linear Motion Systems No Charge LabVIEW drivers now available. We now allow LabVIEW users to easily interface many of Techno's extensive line of controllers and machines.

In addition, view more about our new TechnoMod Gantry, a multi-axis motion platform complete with controls, cabling, software, and enclosure (fully assembled).

New Way Radial Air Bearings are a non-contact solution for high-performance rotary applications. An assembly has only one moving part and provides smoother, faster, more consistent and precise frictionless motion, without stiction, noise, vibration, wear, or lubrication. And it takes less energy to keep a race rotating. Find out more.

Submit your speaking proposal for GlobalSpec's upcoming 2011 Motion Control online conference and trade show events scheduled for June 8, 2011. Open to GlobalSpec's 5 million registered users, this is an opportunity for you and your company to be viewed by your target audience, competition, and peers as industry thought leaders. Increase brand awareness. Influence key decision-makers. Learn more or submit your proposal today. Deadline for the June 2011 event is Oct 30, 2010.

Globalization has its pluses and its minuses. Among the positives: constant information flow; broader access to quality products; international travel and culture-sharing for wider swaths of the population, not just the wealthy. Those pluses, this Product Design & Development commentary posts, are outweighed by minuses — tougher job competition, lower wages, greater social injustices — at least for America.

It's a very eerie, echoing, cosmic sound. Almost what you'd guess was a sound track from an early, low-budget science fiction space film. But it's actually sonification — sound simulated from Large Hadron Collider data generated when sub-atomic particles are created in the enormous tunnels near Geneva, Switzerland.

Electric Cars for the Mainstream?

Nissan has joined the ranks of auto makers betting on the future of true electric cars. Will power-pampered U.S. consumers accept the higher price and questionable performance? How about you?