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19 March, 2024

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Fin-mounting motor monitor helps to predict problems

17 April, 2018

At the recent Drives & Controls Show in the UK, the Brazilian motor-maker WEG unveiled a device that attaches to an electric motor to monitor its performance in real time via an app running on a tablet or smartphone. The Motor Scan device measures vibration and surface temperature to detect any anomalies. It can also monitor running hours, and provide data on motor operating speeds and start/stop times. WEG is planning to add the ability to monitor loads, efficiencies, rotor imbalances, misalignments and bearing condition.


Safety comms system improves diagnostics and cuts wiring

16 April, 2018

Rockwell Automation has announced a safety communication protocol that, it says, will help users to improve machine diagnostics, reduce downtime and increase productivity, as well as cutting wiring by up to 38%. The Allen-Bradley Guardmaster GuardLink system allows safety devices to share diagnostics and status information with higher-level controls, allowing users to access information from an entire safety installation.


Superconducting motor uses solid-state cooling

09 April, 2018

At the upcoming Hannover Fair, Festo will be demonstrating a superconducting claw-pole motor with solid-state cooling. Details are sketchy, but the company says that the SupraMotor’s technology is characterised by a compact design, a high holding torque and a long-life, coolant-free electrical direct-cooling system.


80MW two-pole motor targets LNG applications

09 April, 2018

GE has completed no-load testing on an 80MW two-pole induction motor designed for use in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. The 11kV motor – claimed to be one of the largest of its type – has been designed to operate at speeds from 2,500–4,000 rpm with an efficiency of up to 98.1%. GE’s previous largest induction motor was rated at 22MW.


Bionic spider will roll or run, while fruit bat flies overhead

27 March, 2018

A camera-guided flying fruit bat, and a spider that that can both walk and roll, are the latest additions to Festo’s menagerie of bionic creatures that will make their debuts at this year’s Hannover Fair in April. Festo has established a tradition of developing bionic versions of real animals that attract vast number of visitors to its stand at Hannover every year.


Water-based gearbox lubricant is ‘the world's first’

26 March, 2018

Last year, the German lubricant specialist Klüber Lubrication announced that it had developed a water-based lubricant that, it predicted, could revolutionise the future of lubrication, and solve challenges with regard to performance, energy efficiency and environmental compatibility of lubricants. Initially, the Hydro Lubricant technology was available only in the form of a specialised lubricant for conveyor belts.


Built-in sensors automate lubrication of linear axes

26 March, 2018

Schaeffler has developed a system that automates the lubrication of linear recirculating ball bearing and guideway assemblies using built-in lubrication and vibration sensors, thus eliminating the need for manual lubrication. The system, called DuraSense, provides individual linear axes with the precise level of lubrication they need, based on their loads and other factors. Up to six carriages can be monitored on one axis.


Cloud-based platform will enhance VSD performance

01 March, 2018

At the Hannover Fair in April, Siemens plans to unveil a digital platform for using and evaluating VSD (variable-speed drive) data, based on its MindSphere cloud-based open IoT operating system. Called Sidrive IQ, it will give users of networked drive systems direct access to functions designed to support production and maintenance tasks. Siemens says it will improve the productivity, reliability and serviceability of drive systems over their entire lifecycles.


Replacing neodymium could slash PM motor costs

26 February, 2018

The Japanese car-maker Toyota says that it has developed a magnet that uses much less of the costly rare-earth material neodymium than is normally needed for high-power PM (permanent magnet) motors used in electric vehicles, robots and other applications. It has replaced up to half of the neodymium (Nd), which currently costs around $100 per kilogram, with two other rare-earth materials, lanthanum (La) and cerium (Ce), each costing around $5-7/kg, potentially cutting the cost of PM motors – and their applications – substantially.


Worn steel-cutting tools can blunt motor efficiencies

20 February, 2018

German researchers have discovered that the sharpness of the tools used to cut the electrical steels used in the cores of electric motors, can have a profound effect on the motor’s efficiency. The researchers, from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), found that using blunt tools could quadruple the amount of electricity needed to magnetise the cores of the finished machines.


‘Groundbreaking’ control system ‘brings future to the present’

14 February, 2018

The Californian industrial controls developer Opto 22 has announced a “groundbreaking” industrial control technology that, it says, “brings the future of automation to the present” by combining I/O, real-time control, local and remote HMI, and industrial/IT data exchange in a single compact package.


AI learns how to control equipment faster and cheaper

14 February, 2018

Mitsubishi Electric has developed a technology that uses model-based artificial intelligence (AI) to control equipment autonomously. Using AI, the technology constructs models of a system’s dynamics through repeated trial-and-error, and then uses these models to learn the control rules needed to reach pre-defined goals automatically.


AI adapts robots to shapeshifting objects in real time

08 February, 2018

Mitsubishi Electric has developed an AI (artificial intelligence) based control technology that allows machines such as industrial robots to grasp items rapidly, and to adapt their behaviour in real time to handle non-rigid objects, even if they move or change shape. The company predicts that the technology will simplify and speed up automation tasks, even when conditions are changing “dramatically”.


IIC and Industrie 4.0 look to align their architectures

07 February, 2018

Two of the organisations leading the transition to the fourth industrial revolution – the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) and Plattform Industrie 4.0 – have published a joint White Paper mapping alignments between their IIoT (industrial internet of things) reference architecture models.


Groups of PLCs swap process and safety data in real time

06 February, 2018

ABB has launched a series of safety CPU modules that can function both as safety controllers and safety devices, allowing users to move from a single central PLC to multiple PLCs, each capable of communicating with many machines. Each machine controller can exchange large volumes of process and safety data simultaneously in real-time with more than one central controller.


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