News » World News Piezo motors challenge traditional technologies
The global market for piezoelectric motors was worth $8.3bn last year and will reach $12.5bn by 2027 – a CAGR of 4.7% – according to a new study from the analyst Fact.MR. It reports that more than two billion piezo motors were sold last year (about a quarter of them linear motors) and says that the market is being driven by factors including the motors’ high torque and force capabilities.
Bosch buys Daimler’s stake in their EV motor venture
Robert Bosch has bought Daimler’s share of EM-motive, the 50:50 joint venture that they set up in 2011 to manufacture electric motors for electric and hybrid vehicles. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Rockwell buys UK automation simulation developer
Rockwell Automation has acquired Emulate3D, a UK engineering software developer whose products simulate and emulate industrial automation systems digitally. By using accurate simulation models to improve systems planning and decision-making, followed by emulation trials that test the control system before installation, Emulate3D’s software allows customers to test machine and system designs virtually before incurring manufacturing and automation costs and committing to a final design. The financial details of the transaction have not been released.
Danfoss buys US drivetrain developer UQM in $100m deal
Danfoss is buying the US electric drivetrain developer UQM Technologies in a cash transaction worth around $100m, including the assumption of UQM’s debts. Danfoss says that UQM’s expertise in motors and inverters up to 250kW for electric, hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric propulsion systems, “adds an important and complementary technology to our current product range”.
Austria's Keba buys Germany’s LTI and Heinz Fiege
The Austrian automation specialist Keba has acquired two German companies – the servodrives manufacturer LTI Motion and the spindles-maker Heinz Fiege – to widen its technology base and strengthen its position in industrial automation. Lahnau-based LTI and Röllbach-based Fiege were previously owned by the German technology group Körber. The purchase price has not been disclosed.
LV motor sales to process sector are booming
Global sales of low-voltage motors to the process sector have been growing faster than those to the discrete industries, according to a new report from IHS Markit. It says that LV motor revenues from the process sector grew by 4% between 2016 and 2017, generating $3.7bn in revenues, and will reach $4.4bn by 2022.
Automation giants join forces to back OPC UA TSN
Visitors to the recent SPS IPC Drives show in Germany witnessed the remarkable sight of representatives from Siemens, Rockwell Automation and Mitsubishi Electric sharing a stage to endorse a single industrial networking technology – the OPC Foundation’s recently announced version of OPC UA which will use TSN (Time Sensitive Networking) down to the field level.
Schaeffler buys Elmotec to launch into motor production
Schaeffler has acquired the German motor-making machinery specialist Elmotec Statomat, setting it on course to become a large-scale producer of electric motors, especially for automotive applications. The company wants to reduce its reliance on producing components for combustion engine powertrains, and to tap into the burgeoning market for electric drivetrains.
Cyber-researchers find ‘major’ flaws in IoT protocols
Cyber-security researchers have found “major” design flaws and vulnerable implementations related to two popular machine-to-machine (M2M) protocols, MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) and CoAP (Constrained Application Protocol). In a joint report, Trend Micro and the Politecnico di Milano highlight what they see as a growing threat of industrial espionage, denial-of-service and targeted attacks resulting from abuse of these protocols.
GE launches $1.2bn IIoT arm and sells 90% of ServiceMax
GE has announced plans to establish an independent company focused on building a comprehensive Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) software portfolio. The company will start with $1.2bn in annual software revenues and a global customer base. It will be an independently-run business with a new brand and identity, its own equity structure, and its own board of directors.
Regal Beloit sells its drives businesses to Sun Capital
Regal Beloit is selling its engineered drives and control systems businesses to Sun Capital Partners, a private investment firm specialising in leveraged buyouts and investments. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Spain’s Fersa Bearings takes control of Austria’s NKE
The Spanish bearings manufacturer Fersa Bearings has acquired 100% of the Austrian bearings-maker NKE, completing a process that started in in 2016, when the Fersa bought 49% of NKE’s shares. With the acquisition of the remaining 51%, NKE is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Fersa and there are two commercial brands: Fersa for the automotive sector; and NKE for the industrial sector. Fersa has not ruled out adding further brands to its portfolio in the near future.
Molex expands into sensing through deal with Contrinex
The electronics and connectivity giant Molex has announced a collaboration with the Swiss sensor-maker Contrinex, under which it will integrate inductive and photoelectric sensors into its industrial range.
Challengers chip away at UR’s dominance of cobot market
The Danish pioneer of collaborative robots, Universal Robots, still dominates the cobot market, but its share is starting to slip – from more than 55% in 2016 to 46% in 2017 – according to a new study by Interact Analysis. It estimates that UR’s market share dipped further in the first nine months of 2018, to around 40%, despite raising its revenues by more than 40%.
Rockwell Automation unveils a new logo and brand promise
At its annual Automation Fair in the US, Rockwell Automation has unveiled a new logo and a new brand promise: “expanding human possibility by combining the imaginations of people with the intelligence of machines”. It says that the promise supports its emphasis on bringing the connected enterprise to life and how, by linking people, machines and data across an entire business, manufacturers can become more effective and productive.
