It’s like something out of a movie — the intense-looking individual strides into the room, makes magician-like movements in the general direction of some snazzy screens apparently made of smoked glass, and something whirrs into action. The guy nods approvingly or adjusts something to show that he and not the machine is the boss. Actually,… Read more »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
http://youtu.be/o-5c5G-naYc As a fan of Indramat and of movies, I couldn’t resist providing a critique of this, a rare film of an Indramat test. I don’t know why they’re as rare as they are, films in this genre. Since this one was filmed in Poland, we should not be surprised by the sweeping, almost vertiginous… Read more »
Motion control is arguably one of the most important areas in modern engineering. As increased productivity becomes ever more important along with sustainability and energy efficiency, innovative industrial automation is one of the most obvious positive steps. And yet we have fewer STEM grads, and those who are excited by motion control are increasingly ending… Read more »
Not that well, frankly. America’s industrial sector is not as badly off as the rest of the world’s, but there’s reason to believe that the global industrial sector’s problems are affecting America. Growth in manufacturing in the U.S. has been contracting for three months, with last month signalling the fastest rate of loss so far…. Read more »
Financial analysts are tagging industrial automation as a good investment. They have some interesting reasons: The race to the bottom is over. With third-world countries running out of their cheapest labor supplies — rural workers with little training and low expectations — automation is becoming attractive to nations that haven’t considered it before. Increasingly strict… Read more »
