Motion-solutions provider Bishop-Wisecarver recently awarded Luna Zarco from Pittsburg High School in California the 2022 Bishop-Wisecarver Innovation Award for her automated design submission for the agriculture industry. Maurice Straubhaar from another Bay-area school — Ygnacio Valley High School — also earned an Innovation Award for his design targeting the packaging industry. “Between Bishop-Wisecarver’s Manufacturing Day […]
LINAK U.S. Inc. once again expands Louisville campus (now to more than 39 acres)
LINAK U.S. Inc., the largest subsidiary of the Danish and family-owned manufacturer, has acquired a new building in Louisville, KY, to expand operations at their North and South American headquarters. After 29 years, and multiple expansions in Louisville, LINAK, a worldwide leader in electric linear actuation solutions, is committed to adding more value for design […]
Vesconite material gives rail-transport equipment decades of service
Actom Signalling, a Southern African railway signal-equipment company, has found minimal wear in accelerated wear testing on Vesconite slides in its point machines. These machines control railway tracks and switch the tracks to which particular trains will be directed. Actom engineering projects and contracts development technician Wayne Meyer confirms the test results. Testing was executed […]
LINAK lifting column takes cobot palletizers to new heights
There’s an untapped automation potential for palletizing goods in production and other industries. Realizing this potential requires flexible, easy-to-use, and affordable cobot solutions that can adjust to different palletizing setups and generate rapid return on investment. To meet these demands, LINAK now offers the ELEVATE lifting column — a new product that extends the reach […]
Differentiating belt-drive types
Synchronous belt drives dominate motion control designs for positioning and other precision functions. Here we detail V belts and other belt types used in industrial, robotic, and consumer designs for both linear and rotary axes. Modern flat belts are either endless (welded or otherwise closed into a hoop by the manufacturer) or open. Common on […]
Update on today’s belt drives
Belt drives have continued to evolve with new applications. Industrial belt drives in motion designs consist of rubber, engineered plastic, metal, or (most common) multi-material belts that wrap around drive pulleys — grooved or otherwise profiled wheels mounted on a shaft — in turn driven by electric motors. Powered by various motor types, belt drives run […]
Four-axis positioning stages with four motor options
OES (Optimal Engineering Systems Inc.) has added to their line of purpose-built stages. The new XYZR Series of Four-axes Stages are the integration of a: 15 mm, 30 mm, 50 mm, 75 mm, or 100 mm linear stages (in any combination) for the X, Y, and Z axes, and a 60 mm or 100 mm […]
Rediscovering ball splines for robust linear and rotary motion
Ball splines were once a staple for machine designers seeking an elegant way to integrate rotary and linear motion. Driven by pressures to speed their machines to market, many designers found it faster to implement prepackaged solutions in which rotary and linear motion shafts had already been integrated. By Charles Isaac • Thomson Industries Chris […]
Linear and rotary motion components satisfy aerospace requirements
Linear guides, cam followers, and crossed-roller bearings can satisfy the demanding requirements for space-flight hardware. By IKO engineering staff | www.ikont.com As space activity shifts from governmental agencies to a growing industry driven by commercial entities and even startups, the types of spacecrafts and the missions they support are also expanding. This diversifying industry is […]
Beckhoff optimizes linear motion with machine learning solution that eliminates cogging
The highly dynamic AL8000 linear motors from Beckhoff now meet even greater requirements for accuracy and synchronization with the new TwinCAT Cogging Compensation software. This makes the linear motors particularly suitable for high-precision applications such as milling machines or laser cutting machines. The cogging compensation software makes use of machine learning, which is seamlessly integrated […]
