Monthly Archives: October 2012

Rexroth Bosch in China

As the American manufacturing sector begins to recover and manufacturing jobs return to the United States, China has been in the news. Certainly, China comes up as a threat to U.S. manufacturing jobs. American workers can’t compete with Chinese workers on price or on tolerance for difficult working conditions, and China continues to be a… Read more »

Servo Motors: Worth the Higher Cost?

We’ve discussed the difference between a stepper and a servo motor, but we still find that in industrial settings, people sometimes figure it’s best to use stepper motors because they’re lower in cost. Servo motors, like the Indramat Servo Motors we work with, are often saved for situations in which speed and power are obviously… Read more »

Motion Control Stumble

Industrial motion control’s current economic situation is being described as a “stumble.” Manufacturing overall is picking up, automation in general is looking good, but motion control in particular seems still to be suffering from Asia’s financial woes, including the lingering effects of natural disasters. At the same time, economists fear that the mature markets of… Read more »

Motion Control Basics

A motion control system has a lot going on. This is what the basic system looks like: • A motion controller sets the system in… well, in motion. There are programmed points or responses to feedback. The controller has to control both position and speed. • A drive reacts to the instructions from the controller… Read more »

Another Great Indramat Movie

Indramat MKD servomotor

Last time, we showed you a moody Polish offering. This film, a more recent work which appears to be Brazilian, shows the influence of that fiery culture in its decision to include a human actor — rare in the genre. We were intrigued by the choice of costuming for the actor, though of course the… Read more »

The Future of Automation

Media mogul Steve Forbes will be the keynote speaker at Automate 2013 in January. Henrik Chritensen, Director of Robotics at Georgia Tech, will deliver the keynote at the Future of Robotics. Both will be talking about the U.S. Robotics Roadmap. This document (you can read it yourself by clicking through the link) starts by saying… Read more »