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4-axis motion controller for highly dynamic applications

The CM-CPB3-44 EtherCAT controller from Nanotec controls four brushless DC or stepper motors with a rated power of up to 150 W per axis. Feedback on the motor position is provided by Hall sensors or incremental or SSI encoders. Each axis is equipped with four digital inputs, two outputs, one analog input, and one output for a safety brake. Field-oriented torque, speed, and position control, combined with other features such as acceleration feed forward and jerk-limited ramps, ensure optimum dynamic performance and cycle time.
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Robot-ready frameless servo motors

The new TBM2G series of frameless servo motors from Kollmorgen introduce new features that simplify the design of collaborative, surgical, aerospace and defense, and other robots while delivering high-performance torque in a lighter, more compact package. These next-gen motors enable robots with lower joint weight, higher load-carrying capacity, improved energy efficiency, lower thermal rise, and faster, smoother movements. Sized for a perfect fit with readily available strain wave systems.
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Mini motors and drive systems on-demand webinars: Chock full of informative details!

Faulhaber has made available a library of on-demand webinars about its miniature motors and drive systems. Each presentation is full of product details, technology overviews, selection help, design tips and tricks, and application examples. Topics include: stepper motors, brushless motors, DC motors, linear motors, encoders, gearheads, motion controllers, and more. Filled with useful information!
View the Faulhaber webinar library page.

High-speed linear VCA with built-in encoder

Moticont has added a high-speed, high-acceleration/-deceleration, non-cogging, high-resolution, high force-to-size electric cylinder to its extensive product line of linear voice coil actuators (VCAs). The new SDLM-051-095-01-01 Linear DC Actuator features high repeatability, 1.25-micron resolution, and a continuous force of 33.9 N (7.6 lb). A linear encoder mounted internally provides the feedback for very high accuracy and repeatability.
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Guide to machine shop automation

We know that collaborative automation starts with your specific needs: your shop, your employees, your products. OnRobot can help you find the easiest and most cost-effective way to get started with automation. Download our free ebook to learn how to transform your machine shop with automation.
1. Download your ebook.
2. Learn how to build your own robotic machine tending application.

Mini medical motor with way more torque

Portescap's 22ECP35-2A brushless motor with integrated driver is the company's latest addition to its Ultra EC mini brushless DC motor line. This compact, 22-mm diameter motor is available in a length of 35 mm and offers almost 50% more continuous torque over similar motors without compromising on smooth operation and long life. The integrated motor drive is a good fit for applications such as respiratory and ventilation devices, infusion pumps, miniature industrial pumps, medical hand tools, and valve actuation.
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Miniature linear guides simplify mounting in tight spaces

IKO's new LWLF2 linear motion rolling guide addresses the demand for device miniaturization with a compact, lightweight design that makes mounting easy in tight spaces. With an ultra-small 2.5-mm height dimension, it is designed with tapped rails for bottom mounting and stability. The LWLF2 guide is structured with two rows of balls that make contact with the raceway at four points to provide high stability and accuracy -- even in applications with varying load direction or complexity. Applications include robotics and grippers, semiconductor fabrication, life science, and aerospace.
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Motors for the robotics industry

Lin Engineering has been supporting the robotics industry for more than 30 years by designing and manufacturing a wide variety of motion control products that include hybrid step motors, PM steppers, linear actuators, BLDC motors, servo motors, frameless BLDC motors, and slotless BLDC motors. Applications include manufacturing robots, delta robots, collaborative robots, and more.
See all Lin Engineering has to offer.

NEMA 24 stepper motor with best-in-class power density

Permanent magnets between the stator teeth make Nanotec's SCB6018 with 60-mm flange a smooth-running -- yet powerful -- stepper. FluxFocus technology guides the entire magnetic flux into the stator teeth. This prevents flux leakage and provides more torque across all speeds. This motor generates a holding torque up to 3.6 Nm. Combined with a closed-loop controller, the SCB6018 is ideal for use in valves and textile or other applications that require rapid acceleration over a short distance.
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In-wheel motor unit upgraded to carry 500 lb

If you are a developer of mobile robots and the like, it may be worth your while to check out ElectroCraft. The motor and motion solutions provider has expanded its award-winning MobilePower wheel drive family with the MPW86, which features a high-torque-density brushless DC motor with a heavy-duty integrated planetary gearbox mounted inside the hub of a lightweight aluminum wheel with custom tread. The MPW Wheel Drive combines optimum performance with high efficiency, quiet operation, and long life -- and now it can handle heavier loads.
Read the full article.

SMART SYSTEM belt-driven linear actuators

Rollon has updated its SMART SYSTEM lineup of belt-driven linear actuators with a rugged new design that supports heavy loads and ensures low-maintenance operation in automated manufacturing, packaging machines, and food and beverage equipment. The actuators have a self-sustaining anodized aluminum frame and a steel-reinforced driving belt, and they are engineered to provide stiffness for greater load capacity. Symmetrical heads on both ends of the actuators allow users to assemble the gearbox in one of four different positions. The SMART SYSTEM also simplifies creating multi-axis systems.
Learn more.

New Twin profile Rail Stage actuator improves accuracy in XYZ motion systems

The new Twin profile Rail Stage (TRS) actuator from Tolomatic improves accuracy and increases production uptime on XYZ linear motion systems with two- or three-axis configurations. Applications include machining centers, collaborative robot movement, drilling, cutting, pick-and-place, material handling, and more.
Read the full article.

How to specify pneumatic cylinders

As the number of standard options available on the pneumatic-cylinder market grows, you may feel spoiled for choice due to the array of products that may fit within your specs. But how often is "good enough" actually good enough? How do you specify a pneumatic cylinder without resorting to a custom option? Learn this and more in Fabco-Air's new informative white paper (PDF).
Learn more. No registration required.

KUKA cobot: How to build a collaborative robotic cell

LBR iiwa is KUKA's robot for collaborative applications where people and robots share spaces. See how easy it is to use hands-on training to teach this lightweight little 7-axis robo worker, which features redundant torque sensors in each joint, to carry out assigned tasks safely and effectively.
View the video.

Bearing protection standard on Food Safe motors

AEGIS Shaft Grounding Rings, which mitigate the effects of bearing currents caused by variable frequency drives, have been made standard equipment on the Baldor-Reliance Food Safe line of motors. The addition of the internal shaft grounding ring provides increased motor reliability and stops early bearing failure from EDM. The Baldor Food Safe line consists of 25 models with horsepower ratings from 1/2 to 30 hp. They are ideal for food processing, high-pressure washdown, sanitary washdown, and outdoor or caustic environment applications. AEGIS Shaft Grounding Rings are also a retrofit option.
Learn more about AEGIS Bearing Protection.
Learn more about Baldor Food Safe motors.

Crime Tech: New rotating stage helps take fingerprint images in the round

New fingerprint scanning stage. [Credit: University of Nottingham]

 

 

Experts in the UK have developed a unique method for retrieving high-resolution images of fingermarks and fingerprints from curved objects like bullet casings. The technology offers greater detail and accuracy than traditional forensic methods.

Scientists from the University of Nottingham's School of Physics and School of Pharmacy developed a rotation stage to allow researchers and forensic practitioners to perform highly sensitive, non-destructive Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS) measurements and develop high-resolution fingerprint images on surfaces that conventional fingerprint imaging fails to pick up at all.

The rotation stage they have developed opens up new possibilities for the retrieval of high-res fingerprints from the whole surface area of challenging shapes and materials like metal bullet casings.

Retrieval of fingermark evidence from bullet casings is an area of major difficulty for forensic scientists. While both fired and unfired casings can often be found at the scene of violent crimes, retrieving fingermarks and linking the person that loaded the gun to the crime has consistently proven to be difficult because of the physical conditions that are experienced by the bullet casings during firing and techniques that are used to develop and image the fingermarks.

When a bullet is fired, the casing experiences high temperatures, pressures, and large friction forces inside the barrel of the gun. It can also be coated by the residues of propellant used to generate the reaction that forces the bullet out of the chamber. These combined effects often result in the removal, evaporation, or degradation of the more volatile components of fingermark residue (such as water, amino acids, and low-molecular-weight organics such as lipids), as well as potential smudging or obscuring the mark. These factors can make it difficult for conventional methods of fingermark retrieval such as cyanoacrylate (superglue) fuming and fluorescent staining approaches to work.

ToF-SIMS is a sensitive surface-analysis technique that provides very detailed information about the locations of different chemical species on a surface. The technique uses high-energy (typically up to 30 keV) beams of positive ions directed at the sample's surface to free secondary ions from any material that they collide with. These ions are then accelerated into a time-of-flight analyzer and separated according to their mass-to-charge ratio, producing a spectrum that is indicative of the sample's chemical composition.

Images generated using ToF-SIMS were shown to display evidence of friction-ridge- and sweat-pore-level detail on samples where fingermarks were not visible when developed using a conventional technique involving cyanoacrylate and the dye Basic Yellow 40 (BY40).

Fingerprint from new scanning stage. [Credit: University of Nottingham]

 

 

Experiments were performed over a period of seven months to determine how fingermarks deposited on the surface of Webley MkII revolver rounds change over time. The ToF-SIMS technique is also non-destructive, and no evidence of image degradation was observed over this period -- even when samples were repeatedly exposed to UHV conditions.

"This could really pave the way for a new, reliable way to analyze evidence, identify persons of interest, and link them to the ammunition in a firearm," said Dr. James Sharp from University of Nottingham's School of Physics and Astronomy.

Source: University of Nottingham

Published January 2022

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