Machine control & mechatronics

Article (1)
  • Distributed control provides plug-and-play function blocks
    Machine builders often find themselves in a contradictory situation. On the one hand they have to react flexibly to customer needs with customised machines, while on the other hand product standardisation reduces costs and engineering effort. Modular machinery design has the potential to serve both aims.
Feature (2)
  • The application of IEEE 1588 to industrial automation
    One trend in discrete part manufacturing is towards faster and higher precision part production — more parts per minute and better quality. Traditional control solutions can be stretched to their limits. By replacing traditional control solutions with time-based control, higher spped and precision can be realised.
  • Behind the scenes: protecting the world’s largest machine
    Hotter than the sun and yet in one of the coldest places on earth, the largest machine in the world is 27 km long, lives 100 m underground and spans two countries. The European Organization for Nuclear Research, more commonly known as CERN, has designed the machine, known as the Large Hadron Collider, to reveal the secrets of the universe.
Product (5)
  • SEW-Eurodrive Movigear B decentralised mechatronic drive systems
    SEW-Eurodrive has released the Movigear B all-in-one decentralised mechatronic drive systems. The series comprises motor, gear unit and drive electronics in a single, compact housing. Additional features such as four communication variant options, enhanced safety functionality and a specific wet area variant are available.
  • Motion control development system
    National Instruments has announced the LabVIEW NI SoftMotion Module, which simplifies the development of advanced single- and multi-axis motion applications, and new NI C Series modules, which expand the connectivity of the NI CompactRIO programmable automation controller (PAC) platform to hundreds of servo and stepper drives.
  • Kinematics control solution
    Combining kinematics control with conventional motion control, the MOVI-PLC Kinematics motion controller now provides manufacturers with six degrees of freedom controllability — comprising three-dimensional positioning and three planes of orientation.
  • Plug-in machine controller
    The Mint Machine Module plugs into a hardware expansion slot in any of Baldor’s MotiFlex range of Powerlink-compatible three-phase AC motor drives. This controller module allows machine builders to eliminate the need for a separate external network controller, along with all of the cabling and panel space that would normally be required.
  • RS485 master control card
    The PCM-3202I PCI-104 interface card supports two independent AMONet (Advantech Motion Network) RS485 master rings with each ring controlling up to 2048 I/O points, 256 axes, or a combination of I/O points and axes for motion control. The PCM-3202I allows direct data transfer between master and slaves without any operations in between. This customised solution saves wires, covers long distances and supports high-speed real-time communications.
Case Study (5)
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