Monthly Archives: March 2017

The Dirty Truth about Overheating Servos

Heat failure is one of the biggest problems for motion control technology, especially as we move into warmer temperatures. What causes heat failure? Well, obviously, heat. Ambient temperatures get higher in spring and summer, of course, but we don’t always notice it. If it’s a gradual increase, we humans can gradually adjust. Servomotors and drives… Read more »

Right-sizing Indramat and Rexroth Equipment

If you’re burning out your Rexroth electric motion control repeatedly, there’s a bigger problem. “Repeatedly ” here means that when a component burns out, everyone remembers the last time it happened. Rexroth drives often go for decades without any problems at all. Burnouts could reflect a number of problems, from poor atmospheric conditions to dirty… Read more »

National Inventors Hall of Fame Announces 2017 Class

The National Inventors Hall of Fame has announced their 2017 inductees. The class of 2017, who will be celebrated in May of this year, includes these inventors: Iver Anderson, 1953- , Lead-free solder Don Arney, 1947- , Bambi bucket for aerial firefighting Carolyn Bertozzi, 1966- , Bioorthogonal Chemistry Earle Dickson, 1892-1961, Band-Aid Harold E. Froehlich,… Read more »

What’s Delaying Automation?

Newspaper headlines include a lot of stories about industrial automation (AKA, robot overlords enslaving us and taking away our jobs). Maybe the real question is, what’s delaying that outcome? Not the enslavement part. There’s not a whole lot of motivation for robots to take that on. A McKinsey study found, however, that nearly half of… Read more »

Rexroth and the New Printing

Servo motors have been important to the printing industry for decades. The combination of accuracy and power makes a servo motor perfect for the demands of newspapers, magazines, and other reading materials.Now, when many people read more words on packaging than in printed reading materials like books, flexographic printing and other specialized types of printing… Read more »

Integrated or Modular Motion Control?

Rexroth works with many machine builders to create the just-right machine for end users. The Open Core Engineering initiative helps machine builders achieve great results with Rexroth motion control without needing special custom code. But many industrial machines still are designed for a high level of integration and specialization. One reason for this is the… Read more »

Rexroth and Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency has been a driving force for innovation in industrial technology over the past few years. In the area of motion control, our primary interest, energy savings has been a primary selling point. Servo motors are already more energy efficient than other kinds of motors, because their smaller size makes for less rotor mass… Read more »

Why Choose Rexroth?

We specialize in Rexroth electric industrial motion control. We believe that Rexroth makes the best motion control on the planet. And while we love to work with legacy components, we are also committed to Rexroth’s new line. So when we were recently asked whether we’d recommend upgrading to a new Rexroth system or choosing another… Read more »

Problem: Rexroth Doesn’t Break

We recently read a comment by an engineer who says that wherever he goes, he finds Rexroth legacy systems. We know that’s true; these servos and drives and controls are so well built that we see machinery that has been working perfectly for decades with no maintenance at all. Often, the people who call us… Read more »

Rexroth’s Open Core Engineering

Open core engineering allows engineers to use more familiar computer languages like C++ to work with industrial machinery. This creates greater flexibility for designing user interfaces. It increases productivity by allowing people to use their current skills and knowledge and makes communication among different machines much easier. It makes it easier to allow people to… Read more »