Both the costs and risks of spaceflight are always high. So what do you do when you don’t have the time, budget and room for error to outsource the machining of ever-evolving prototypes? NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center uses an array of manufacturing and engineering tools to develop their one-off, highly customized technologies. In fact, they…
Simpler machine tool design
A mechatronic design tool will help you size a motion system within a single platform. Finally, some companies are cooperating together to make it easier to design a whole system. Tolomatic and Rockwell Automation have announced that you will be able to specify electric rod actuators and rodless electro-mechanical actuators on Rockwell’s Motion Analyzer web-based…
There’s an app for that
Within seven years, the concept of an “app,” like the ones used in smartphones, has become a nearly universally understood tool. If the people who use your products know how to use a smartphone, then it just makes sense to adopt this concept when developing features and functions in your products. Even in the machine…
A new addition to integration tools family
Yaskawa offers a variety of integration tools to help make commissioning a drive into a communication network easier. We are pleased to announce that we will be adding a new addition to our toolbox of integration – Add-on Instructions (AOI) for use in Rockwell Automation’s Logix Designer/RSLogix 5000 (version 16 and above). Yaskawa AOI’s will…
Bimba will be a Corporate Sponsor of the US Amateur Golf Championship
Bimba announced it is a Corporate Supporter of the 2015 US Amateur Championship, the oldest golf tournament in the United States. From August 17 to August 23, more than 300 amateur golfers from around the world will compete to add their names to the storied list of historic winners of the US Amateur, which includes…
System controller for large AGV systems
Large-system Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) applications need a system controller that can handle the complexity of large warehouse layouts, varying load size/weight and complicated material flows. The Kollmorgen NDC8: Version 2.6 manages all these variables quickly and precisely, while allowing AGV suppliers to use a single system and skill set. The controller is an application-independent…
EtherCAT as a Master Machine Control Tool
There is an increasing demand in the automation and motion control industries for a localized motion control solution that can coordinate motion between multiple remote components. Previously, field bus protocols such as Modbus or Ethernet have been implemented to address this demand. Although successful in moving data across automation networks, these protocols lacked the real…
Groov now has event notification and lower-cost options
groov 3.0 adds event-based email notifications to groov and a mobile operator interface system that connects machines, equipment, and control systems with mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Now, industrial automation end-users, system integrators, machine OEMs, or any authorized person can receive immediate email messages when a connected machine or system needs attention. groov is…
Leveling feet with fixing lug From J.W. Winco have non-skid pad options
J.W. Winco, Inc., a supplier of standard industrial machine components, announced it now offers GN 440.1 Steel Leveling Feet with Fixing Lug, in inch and metric sizes. hese RoHS-compliant leveling feet are simple, economically priced components. The base and the tapped socket are made of zinc plated and blue passivated steel (base is stainless steel…
SPIROL Europe achieves ISO 9001 recertifications
SPIROL Europe is pleased to announce that both SPIROL United Kingdom and SPIROL France have had their ISO 9001:2008 certifications reissued for three years by the British Standards Institution applicable to the manufacture and distribution of precision engineered fasteners, tubular products, shims, stampings and machined components. ISO 9001:2008 is based on a number of quality…
Software helps you add intelligent functions to machine tools
Higher productivity through intelligent functions is an increasingly critical factor in the competitive ability of machine tools. One option for adding new and unique functions is with the Open Core Engineering system. Open Core Engineering enhances classic PLC programming by bridging the gap to IT automation. It increases engineering efficiency through its use of open…
High-performance 5.7” HG2G HMI series for added protection
With the addition of UL Type 4X and Type 13 approvals, IDEC high-performance 5.7” HG2G HMIs now provide a degree of protection against corrosion, dust, spraying water, oil, non-corrosive coolant, and damage from external ice formation. Suitable for applications in harsher conditions, especially where protection against corrosion is required, such as in oil and gas,…
Rack and pinion drives go long
Ballscrews for long machine travel application can be expensive and can require additional motion components for sufficient support over the needed travel distance. If a machine application requires high operating speeds as well, then machine costs can increase because of the need for larger servomotors and servo drives. The design engineers at Proteck, an Indian…
Modular, flexible fixtures speed changeover
To meet the demand for its ever-expanding line of cylinders and related products, TRD Manufacturing, Inc., a division of Bimba, a leading actuation company, sought a partner to develop fixturing to allow quick set-up and the flexibility to run small or large batches of product from a multitude of workpiece block sizes. TRD turned to…
Sunstone Circuits® announces design for manufacture tool DFMplus
Sunstone Circuits®, a printed circuit board (PCB) prototype solutions provider, has announced the addition of a Design for Manufacture (DFM) tool, DFMplus, to their product line. DFMplus will allow potential issues to be fixed in the PCB design phase, to ensure manufacturability by Sunstone Circuits. By using the DFMplus tool, design engineers can verify their…
Avnet adds “embedded brains” to machine vision
Avnet Electronics Marketing, an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), is helping to eliminate time and cost barriers to develop industry-leading embedded machine vision applications with today’s release of the Smart Vision Development Kit featuring the Xilinx® Zynq®-7015 PicoZed System-on-Module (SOM). The low-cost, all-in-one kit enables engineers in markets such as banking, medical scanning,…
Quick fixturing change for horizontals with Carr Lock® system
Carr Lane Manufacturing is introducing a new system of tooling blocks and fixture plates for quick fixturing change on horizontal machining centers. Create your fixturing on inexpensive fixture plates rather than dedicating a complete new tombstone to each new job. Changeover is in seconds with repeatability of .0004″. Carr Lock® components can be ordered alone…
Deublin Company to Exhibit at IMTS 2014
The International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) 2014 to be held September 8-September 13, 2014 in Chicago, will include an exhibit of products from the Deublin Company at booth #E5391, a manufacturer of rotating unions and components used in machine tools and other manufacturing equipment. Deublin machine tool solutions include such patented technologies as Pop-OffTM and…
B&R to present integrated machine control platform at IMTS 2014
B&R to present integrated machine control platform at IMTS 2014 Modular automation solution unifies CNC, PLC, HMI, robotics, safety and more At this year’s International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS), from September 8-13 in Chicago’s McCormick Place, B&R will exhibit its innovative automation solutions at booth E-4901. B&R specializes in standards-based, scalable and modular control systems…
Complete Control Solution for a 5-Axis Desktop Dental Milling Machine
This video demonstrates a multi-axis motion controller and closed loop stepper technology, tailored to meet the application-specific requirements of a desktop CNC machine. Check out how this motion solution by Servotronix enabled the customer to maintain their machine’s high accuracy and improve its compactness while significantly reducing its cost. Servotronix www.servotronix.com
Adaptive Systems deliver productivity gains
When manufacturers seek to increase throughput in an automation system—a packaging line, a machine tool or a pick-and-place operation—one technical issue they can quickly encounter is unwanted vibration. Depending on the process, this can require intermittent deceleration to avoid damaging the machine or product. This useful and informative Technical Paper from Bosch Rexroth provides a…
AutomationDirect Extends RUKO Line of Hole Cutting Tools
AutomationDirect’s line of RUKO cutting tools now includes drill/tap combination bits as well as fractional and metric thread hand taps. RUKO drill/tap combination bits provide uninterrupted hole drilling, thread tapping and deburring in one convenient bit. The high-speed steel bits are relief-ground and designed with ¼-inch hexagonal shanks for use with mild steel up to…
J.W. Winco, Inc. Plastic Hinges Are Stable and Torque Resistant
J.W. Winco, Inc., a supplier of standard industrial machine components, announced it now offers EN 222 Technopolymer Plastic Hinges with four Indexing Positions, in metric sizes. These RoHS-compliant hinges are very stable, and notable for a high resistant torque of 3 Nm in four indexing positions. All detent positions have a guaranteed resistant torque of…
AutomationDirect’s “When to Use Multi-Function Safety Relays”
AutomationDirect announces the release of a new White Paper, “When to Use Multi-Function Safety Relays” that explains how to determine when applications will benefit from multi-function safety relays over other options. Many machines and robots require safety circuits to stop all or part of operation in the event of an emergency. Safety circuits are also…
Increase Machine Control, Motion Capabilities, and EtherCAT System Support
Kollmorgen introduces Kollmorgen Automation Suite™ (KAS) software version 2.8 and AKD servo drive platform firmware version 1.12. The additions include a new higher performance version of the AKD® PDMM, enhancements to the coordinated motion programming blocks and additions to the EtherCAT configuration tool. This enables OEM’s who utilize Kollmorgen’s automation and drive systems to deliver…