Spotlight on motion system applications
It’s here – our annual Motion System Applications special issue. Each year our editorial team here at Design World puts together four special issues on motion control, with the last one of the year focusing on the many and varied applications for motion systems.
This special issue highlights some top application examples and how many of the vast array of motion control components, separate or together, are used to tackle some of the most challenging applications. These span a range of industries across manufacturing including medical devices, but also in packaging and material handling as well as the booming robotics field.
In fact, it’s clear that one of the most common applications driving the development and evolution of many motion components is robotics. The reverse is true too, of course – as controllers have shrunken in size they’ve packed more processing power, and the motors and actuators that robots rely on continue to pack more power in smaller frames.
Case in point; a soft robotic glove that aids in strengthening the gripping force of human workers. The micro motors used in the glove capitalize on the trend in motor design for powerful rare-earth magnetic materials that increase power density and decrease size.
Such small, powerful motors are also common in many medical devices. Included in this issue is a short guide to selecting the right motor for medical device applications – specifically, choosing between brushless dc motors and brushed dc motors in reusable and disposable medical tools.
Besides motors, motion controllers and networking combined are tackling some big projects. For instance, the giant Magellan telescope in the Chilean Andes. The rotation and movements of the telescope’s mirrors and the giant enclosure housing the telescope are controlled by motion controllers. Together with an FSoE (Fail Safe over EtherCAT) safety network link, they also control the telescope’s interlock and safety system.
This special issue also highlights linear technology of various kinds, including linear electric actuators used in a shampoo bottle filling line that replaced older pneumatic actuators, which tended to cause some spills that required additional clean up operations.
As always, we hope you find what we’ve assembled in this special issue on motion system applications useful. Do you have any interesting challenges that you or your company overcame? Want to share it with our readers? Get in touch with me via email at [email protected] or on Twitter at @DW_Motion.
And don’t forget that you can fi nd all of the latest motion control news at our motion-specific sites motioncontroltips.com and linearmotiontips.com, as well as bearingtips.com and couplingtips.com.
MILES BUDIMIR
SENIOR EDITOR