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Mate-XT GO Exoskeleton reduces effort up to 50%

Comau's MATE-XT GO exoskeleton supports arms and shoulders during repetitive or overhead work, reducing muscle and perceived effort by up to 50% to improve comfort, endurance, and posture. Weighing under 3 kg, it dons in 30 seconds and removes in 10. Made in Italy, Category II PPE for industry, logistics, construction, agriculture, and trades.
Learn more.

New low-noise gearheads for high-torque mini motors

FAULHABER expands its GPT family with the quiet 22GPT LN and 32GPT LN gearheads, engineered for noise-sensitive laboratory, optical, medical, testing, and measurement systems. They pair high torque with compact, reliable design, delivering up to 2.2 Nm (22GPT LN) and 8 Nm (32GPT LN) in intermittent operation, and can handle occasional peak loads of 4 Nm and 12 Nm, respectively.
Learn more.

Linear voice coil motor tolerates tilting and misalignment

Moticont's new LVCM-051-032-06 linear voice coil motor features an enlarged radial air gap to accommodate tilt and misalignment when clamping out-of-parallel objects or moving off-center loads. It delivers 40.8-N peak and 12.9-N continuous force, with low-inertia, zero-cogging performance suited for sorting, packaging, sampling, machining, and medical automation.
Learn more and find the right VC motor for your application.

Crossed roller bearings dramatically lower weight and size for low- to medium-precision designs

IKO International's LCRB Series crossed roller bearings use press-formed, heat-treated steel rings and high-contact rollers to deliver up to 60% less mass than comparable designs. Their bolt-on flanges, compact profile, and fast response suit rotary positioning, seating, warehouse systems, and lightweight aerospace needs. Two models are available: LCRB 50 and LCRB 70.
Read the full article.

Slash robotic machining deployment times

RoboDK has introduced a CAM platform that cuts machining-automation deployment time by removing manual programming. It automatically generates robot code from CAD models and simulations, supporting milling, drilling, deburring, cutting, and additive processes. Users can create advanced toolpaths, run full-process simulations, detect collisions, and scale from 3-axis to 5-axis machining in one environment. NASA Langley is among its users.
Learn more.

Compact open-frame servo drives: New CLC series

Nanotec's CLC series compact open-frame servo drives support stepper and BLDC motors with 3-, 6-, or 15-A ratings. They offer CANopen, EtherCAT, Modbus RTU, FOC control, and a built-in programming environment. SSI, incremental, and Hall feedback with dual-loop control, plus flexible I/Os, suit lab automation, medical, packaging, and compact robotics.
Learn more.

What is Sensorless Closed Loop? Precise motor control without an encoder

Matt Sherman, eMobility Sales and Application Engineer at KEB America, runs through different options to drive an AC motor, including one called "Sensorless Closed Loop" that does not require additional hardware such as encoder, resolver, or cables on the motor.
Read the blog, which includes an informative video.

NEW! Programmable angle sensors

Vert-X 13E sensors from Novotechnik U.S. deliver wear-free, maintenance-free rotary measurement thanks to a touchless magnetic design and hermetic IP69 sealing that shrugs off water, oil, and dust. They provide precise 0 to 360° feedback with 14-bit resolution, SPI/PWM outputs, and 50-year MTTF -- all in a compact 13-mm package that retains absolute position through power loss. Applications include servodrives, insetting machines, robots, and medical.
Learn more.

What's a high-helix (high-lead) screw and what can it do for you?

"High-helix (high-lead) screws are a crucial component in many motion control systems, offering increased efficiency and faster linear motion," says Christopher Nook, CEO and founder of Helix Linear Technologies. "Unlike standard lead screws, these specialized screws feature a steeper helix angle, allowing for greater lead per revolution." Learn their mechanics, advantages, and many applications.
Read the Helix Linear Technologies blog.

Streamline servo linear actuator selection: New Drive Integration Tool

Tolomatic's online Drive Integration Tool simplifies the selection process to seamlessly match a drive system to a servo linear actuator. This tool combines the motor, drive, feedback, and connection info across a wide range of industry-leading manufacturers with Tolomatic's own servo linear actuator specs so you can ensure compatibility and streamline commissioning.
Learn more.

Magnet-free electric motor tech is award winner

BorgWarner won an R&D 100 Award in partnership with the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Lab for their work on new motor technology. The project powers an electromagnet-based rotor, eliminating the need for rare earth magnets, and does away with some other traditional components too.
Read the full article.

Key factors for ball screw applications

Learn the six key factors that should be considered when specifying ball screw assemblies in motion control applications. PCB Linear gathered a panel of experts in the field of linear motion to concentrate on this important topic -- particularly when it comes to the company's miniature ball screw product line. Learn about precision and accuracy, orientation, speed and acceleration, duty cycle, linear motion travel, and load capacity. Podcast available too.
Read the PCB Linear blog.

Brushed DC motors for higher temps

Traditionally, operating temperatures up to 200 C were exclusively the domain of brushless motors. maxon has changed this with the new DCX22S HT brushed DC motor, which uses a high-temp-grade Neodymium magnet, a customized winding, and a newly designed cover made of a high-temp-capable material. Works with the GPX22 and GPX26 gearbox ranges.
Learn more.

Structural beam-type linear motion guide

THK's LM Guide JR is a structural beam-type linear motion guide designed to serve as both a linear guide and a machine structural component. With its high rigidity rail design and four-way equal load capacity, LM Guide JR supports stable, precise motion while helping simplify machine structures and reduce overall system complexity. Since the LM rail's cross-section center is slightly thinner, it can absorb parallelism errors between two rails by bending inward or outward. Its cross-sectional shape provides high flexural rigidity, though, allowing it to serve as a structural component.
Learn more.

Machine shops: Automation provides more for less

Siemens is pushing machine-tool automation forward with a new partnership that pairs a digital twin of its SINUMERIK 828 CNC with a KUKA robot. The system, with the robot arm integrated into the CNC, streamlines part-handling tasks and simplifies both operation and programming, giving small and mid-sized shops a practical, high-impact automation upgrade. Lots of new capabilities here.
Read the full article.

A spacecraft that sweats? Cool solution could make heat shields obsolete

The technology is a new way to tackle atmospheric reentry.

By Jacob Wologo, Texas A&M University College of Engineering

A car may drive for 15 to 20 years before needing replacement, while a passenger jet may fly for up to 40. A spacecraft, however, may only fly once.

Even the longest-serving spacecraft, the space shuttle Discovery, completed only a few dozen flights, each requiring months of extensive testing and replacement of critical pieces. As space travel becomes more common, the need for fully reusable spacecraft is growing.

One potential solution? A spacecraft that sweats.

The Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University is partnering with Canopy Aerospace to develop and test a 3D-printed material that releases or "sweats" a coolant gas to protect spacecraft. This technology, part of a $1.7 million Air Force Small Business Technology Transfer grant, could enable the design of fully and rapidly reusable spacecraft.

Reentering the atmosphere
The most significant hurdle in making a spacecraft fully reusable is withstanding the intense heat it encounters when reentering the atmosphere at high speeds. Traditional spacecraft rely on heat shields that burn away completely or ceramic tiles that may need replacement between flights. Modern spacecraft like SpaceX's Starship demonstrate a higher degree of reusability by using more advanced heat shields than their predecessors.

A sweaty spacecraft could abandon heat shields altogether and utilize a method called transpiration cooling. This method creates a layer of gas along the vehicle's surface that not only cools the spacecraft but also acts as a barrier preventing direct contact with the hot atmosphere.

"Gas has a very low thermal conductivity," said Dr. Hassan Saad Ifti, assistant professor of aerospace engineering in the department. "This is why a puffer jacket is so effective. It traps air in these pockets, so it is the insulation from the air keeping you warm, not the solid part of the jacket."

The research team stands in front of one of the hypersonics testing tunnels at the National Aerothermochemistry and Hypersonics Laboratory (From left: Dr. Hassan Saad Ifti, Dr. Ivett Leyva, and William Matthews). [Credit: Photo by Emily Oswald/Courtesy of Texas A&M Engineering]

 

 

 

 

Because the sweated gas insulates the vehicle, single-use heat shields are no longer needed. This could reduce the time between flights from months, as seen with the space shuttle, to a matter of hours, closer to the turnover time of a passenger jet.

"Once the mission is complete, the coolant gas tanks can be refueled for the next mission," Ifti told Newsweek. "This would make the rocket more reusable, and perhaps one day, we will have a fully and rapidly reusable rocket, just like the aircraft we fly today."

The idea of using gas as an insulator for spacecraft has existed for decades, but it is not as simple as strapping a puffer jacket to a rocket. Until now, limitations in materials science, computational power, and ground testing abilities have made it challenging to implement.

This project will connect Canopy Aerospace's materials science capabilities with Texas A&M's state-of-the-art testing facilities and the aerospace engineering researchers' hypersonics expertise to overcome those limitations.

"We are in a great position to bring together expertise on aerodynamics and high-speed testing to ensure this project succeeds," said Dr. Ivett Leyva, department head of aerospace engineering.

Testing the material
For transpiration cooling in spaceflight to be successful, the spacecraft's hull material must be strong enough to withstand extreme pressures yet porous enough for the coolant to sweat through. Canopy Aerospace has already developed the material -- a 3D-printed silicon carbide. The first batch of prototypes has been sent to Texas A&M for high-speed testing.

William Matthews, a fourth-year Ph.D. student, is leading the development of testing rigs to evaluate the material's effectiveness -- both in how well it sweats gas and how well that gas insulates a spacecraft.

William Matthews, a fourth-year Ph.D. student who is leading the development of testing rigs, is evaluating the new material's effectiveness -- both in how well it sweats gas and how well that gas insulates a spacecraft. [Credit: Photo by Emily Oswald/Courtesy of Texas A&M Engineering]

 

 

 

 

"We should see that the material's surface is cooler at hypersonic speeds when the coolant flow is introduced than the baseline when no coolant is present," Matthews said. "Depending on how well the gas permeates the material, there are a lot of potential outcomes for this technology, and these tests should help us decide which direction we want to go."

The initial wind tunnel testing at Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station's National Aerothermochemistry and Hypersonics Laboratory will provide basic understanding of the physics behind transpiration cooling in spaceflight. The results will help Texas A&M and Canopy Aerospace determine the requirements for a full-scale mission and build the foundation for commercial use of the technology.

"I am optimistic about this technology," said Ifti. "If all goes well, we could see sweaty spacecraft in the sky by the end of our lifetimes."

Published May 2025

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