Motion Control – Maxon Partners with MassRobotics

Maxon is teaming up with MassRobotics and other companies, organizations, and leading research centers  to create new innovations across a wide range of applications.

Fall River, MA — Motion Control – MassRobotics and maxon announce a partnership to support the robotics innovation ecosystem through collaboration and exploration of motion control technologies around automation and manufacturing-related applications. With maxon’s extensive expertise and knowledge of electric drives, this partnership will support and advance the latest innovations and technologies in motion control with automation-focused companies in the robotics sector.

Based in the Boston area, MassRobotics is the first and largest independent nonprofit robotics startup escalator in the world whose mission is to grow and support robotics innovators and entrepreneurs.

Motion Control – Miniature Parallelogram Voice Coil Stage!

Forestville, CA, – — Motion Control – This Custom PVS-30.5 Parallelogram Voice Coil Stage Features: Flexture guidance system, 30 millimeter clear aperture, 4 millimeters of linear motion, 45 G’s acceleration (no load), 200 nanometers positioning repeatability, non-contact electro-optic position sensor, direct SCA-814 Servo Controlled Amplifier compatibility, 38mm x 46mm x 85mm, 280 grams.

Motion Control – Open Aperture XY Alignment Stages

Van Nuys, CA – Motion Control – Optimal Engineering Systems, Inc. (OES) has released four new high resolution, high repeatability XY Alignment Stages. The AU200-120×120 Alignment Stages feature 120 mm (4.724 in.) of travel in both the X and Y axes.  These new low profile 87 mm (3.425 in.) high XY stages, have a 188 mm x 188 mm (7.401 in. x 7.401 in.) open aperture.  Easy integration of tooling and fixtures is facilitated through a precision series of threaded mounting holes.

Motion Control – A Great Place to Work!

Cost-competitive Alternative to Pneumatics, Starting at $300 US/ea

Motion Control – Vaughan, Ontario, Canada – The New LDL Programmable Electric Linear Actuator from SMAC has been designed as a cost-competitive alternative to pneumatics.  A common trend in industrial automation is that users are looking for electric alternatives to their pneumatic components for a number of reasons: increased control, improved cycle life, and reduced operating cost.

The LDL series actuator features several innovative cost reduction elements that result in a list price starting at $300 US/ea. 

Motion Control – High Force Linear Servo Motor!

Van Nuys, CA – Motion Control Components – A high force Linear DC Servo Motor from Moticont has been added to their expanding line of voice coil or moving coil motors. The LVCM-095-038-01 Linear Voice Coil Motor is a true servo motor featuring zero cogging, high accuracy, and high repeatability when operated in a closed positioning loop. Clean non-commutated, zero cogging, zero backlash voice coil motors (also referred to as linear actuators) are, efficient, brushless high speed linear servo motors.

This LVCM-095-038-01 Linear Servo is 3.75 in. (95.3 mm) in diameter and has a continuous force of 23.1 lb. (102.7 N) and a peak force of 73.1 lb. (324.4 N) at a 10% duty cycle.

Motion Control – Maxon Gearheads – Great power in Compact Form!

Motion Control – Micro gearheads from maxon with improved efficiency.

Taunton, MA — Motion Control Products – Maxon has developed a unique upgrade in the form of a new product series for its standard micro gearhead: A wide range of performance improvements offer new opportunities.

The first ideas for the UP-gearhead were inspired by ESA’s Mars project ‘ExoMars’ and NASA’s ‘Mars 2020’ project, where there was a need to ensure the highest possible availability even in extreme environmental conditions.

This also directly affects further parameters of the drive system: Given the same input power, ie. using the same motor and the same motor control system, the gearhead can deliver 30% more torque.

Motion Control – XYZ-Goniometer Positioning Stages

Van Nuys, CA – Motion Control – OES (Optimal Engineering Systems, Inc.) is unveiling their new XYZ-Goniometer Series of Four-axes Stages.  Any of the three Goniometers Stages with +/- 10 degrees, +/- 15 degrees or +/- 45 degrees of travel can be integrated with X, Y, and Z axis stages with 15 mm, 30 mm, 50 mm, 75 mm, or larger than 100 mm of linear travel linear in any combination of X, Y, and Z axes.  These stages are the ideal choices for: Crystallography, metrology, light measurement, mirror positioning, laser scanning, drilling and machining, reverse engineering, inspection, assembly, measurements, tracking, and inspection and optical bench applications.

Motion Control Application – Truck Wheel Buffing Machines

The Application –

Motion Control – Polishing Aluminum Truck Wheels is done with a polishing machine that has a 36″ vertical stroke indexer, having a 2500 pound load moving @ 4″ per second. The polishing media is like toothpaste with glass in it. It is extremely abrasive, and sticky/tacky.

The Problem –

The industrial buffing system is chewing-up motion control linear ball bearings and spitting them out every 2 weeks! This is the situation one of customers found themselves in while for years accepting lost production and costly maintenance shutdowns. When LM76 got a call from a proactive new maintenance manager, we were eager to try a scraper seal design we had recently had success with on another application.

Originally, these systems came with protective bellows which helped keep polishing media from contaminating the 2″ linear ball bearing pillow blocks. According to our maintenance manager, once a bellow was damaged, it was removed and thrown away. Maintenance personnel so disliked having to take off and reinstall bellows that they mysteriously disappeared. Even with protective bellows, aluminum dust mixed with polishing media formed what one mechanic termed, “toothpaste with glass in it.”This abrasive “lapping compound”would stick to shafting, dry and semi-harden. As a bearing rolled along, polishing media would penetrate it’s seals “sliming” balls and clogging ball tracks. This would quickly lead to bearing failure and shaft brinneling (grooving). Needless to mention, routinely replacing linear ball bearings and more costly shafting was too much for the new maintenance manager who called LM76 for help.

The Solution –

For this application, we chose our motion control Black Racer Ceramic Coated Linear Bearing. This bearing is extremely tough, is of one piece construction (no mechanical components, no catastrophic failure mode or shaft grooving) and has the longest life test we know of on record. Like linear ball bearings, Black Racer requires lubrication.

John Tarbell (President of LM76), specified a zero clearance beryllium copper scraper seal. Beryllium copper is exceptionally ridgid, extremely hard and wear resistant. The Beryllium copper would trap lubricant and distribute it as a fine, uniform film on the shaft. This film reduces friction, disperses heat and wets shafting. The wetted shaft surface forms a barrier between media and steel – keeping polishing media from cleating into disparities on the shaft (remaining peaks and valleys). Tarbel, said, “A Zamboni doesn’t lay down an inch of ice, it fills in the skate marks.” When the scraper travels on the shaft, it easily lifts the media and moves it along to the end of the stroke. Unlike linear ball bearings, Black Racer has no balls so some residual “slime” is easily accommodated. (Seen below, the beryllium scraper seal is captured between the bearing counter-bored face and the machined steel end cap.) Admittedly, a heavy interference fit dramatically raised system friction but was mitigated because the system is hydraulically driven – driving force is not an issue.

Staying within the form factor of the original OEM design–standard roundway pillow block and shafting–we chose our direct drop-in 2″ closed pillow block and Black Racer Ceramic Coated bearing coupled with our 2″, Class L Rc60 Case Hardened Shafting. Tarbell then designed a steel end cap retainer ring that pinned the beryllium scraper seal against the bearing face.

Note: The bearing leading and trailing faces have machined counter-bores to locate and capture the back of the scraper seal. To keep the retainer ring secured to the pillow block, set screws were positioned on both sides and driven into a slot machined into the OD surface.

To follow the NEW Series from LM76, THE ENGINEERING EDGE! and learn about interesting Outside-of-the-Box solutions developed by LM76 to solve some interesting linear motion problems! CLICK HERE

About LM76

Founded in 1976, LM76 has been a leading designer/manufacturer of linear bearings, slides and linear motion systems. LM76 is renowned for its industry leading Minuteman PTFE Composite linear bearings. LM76 is a leading supplier of precision linear shafting: RC60, 300 Series Stainless Steel, and ceramic-coated aluminum shafting. LM76 also offers several FDA/USDA compliant linear bearings and slides for the food processing, pharmaceutical, medical, and packaging industries.

For additional information contact Mike Quinn at: LM76, 140 Industrial Dr., E. Longmeadow, MA 01028; Telephone: 413-525-4166, Fax: 413-525-3735 or E-Mail: mquinn@lm76.com or visit the website at http://www.lm76.com

And say, “I saw it on MotionShop.com, “The Motion Control Home Page.”

See this and other Motion Control Components from LM76 featured on:

The LM76 Blog

LM76 Catalogs

http://MotionShop.com

http://LinearMotionBlogger.com

http://AllMotionBlogger.com

http://Automation-Blogger.com

http://MotionControlBlogger.com

http://motioncontrolBuyersGuide.com

http://MotionControlWeb.com

http://MotionShop.net

http://Catalogs-MotionControl.com

Motion Control -Micro Sized Servo Drives

Vaughan, Ontario, Canada — Motion Control – µZ’s are the smallest off-the-shelf servo drives from ADVANCED Motion Controls. Pronounced ‘Micro-Z’ these plug-in drives are designed for embedded applications in a wide range of industries including: Robotics, Lab Automation, Homeland Security/Military, Electric Mobility, Medical and Packaging.

Motion Control – Direct Drive Linear Motor

Van Nuys, CA – Motion Control Automation – Moticont’s DDLMs (Direct Drive Linear Motors) eliminate backlash and provide an economical solution for users requiring high acceleration, high speed, and long life.  They are available in three popular off-the-shelf models.  The compact DDLM-019-044-01, linear motor is only 0.75 in. (19.1 mm) in diameter and 1.75 in. (44.5 mm) long. It has a stroke of 0.46 in. (11.7 mm), and features 11.0 oz (3.1 N) of continuous force and 34.8 oz (9.7 N) peak.

Motion Control – Custom Gearmotors

With digital television fast approaching, camera manufacturers are flooding the market with new, lightweight units, but few companies are providing the professional equipment that goes with the upcoming change.

“We searched across all known small motor manufacturers, but only Maxon Precision Motor was able to provide a motor that met our requirements,”

Fall River, MA — Motion Control  Application – Up until 2006, the only broadcast-use professional motorized Pan/Tilts in the market were very heavy. This is because the equipment was built to hold analog video cameras, which could weigh as much as 50 kg and up. With February 2009 approaching, the final day of transition for digital TV, the leading HD camera manufacturers, Sony and Panasonic, have flooded the US market with new lightweight HD digital cameras, such as HDR-FX1 and AGHVX200, respectively. These new, HD cameras weigh less than 4.5 kg, and that weight continues to drop as the use of flash memory storage devices continue to rise.

Motion Control – Rotational Voice Coil Stage

Quickly and repeatably steer an optical beam with a diameter of up to 25 millimeters over 90° with 25 microradians of resolution!

RVC-9025 Rotational Voice Coil Stage: Up to 25mm wide mirror; Controllable positioning over +/-45 degree optical; 5 arcsec (25 microradians) optical position repeatability; 1 degree optical step-and-settle in less than 5ms; Fully integrated servo controller; USB 2.0 and auxilary user electrical interfaces; X 58 x 28 x 21 millimeters, 30 grams

Forestville, CA – The RVC-9025 Rotational Voice Coil Stage provides a means to quickly and accurately set an angular position. The frequency is factory adjusted to customer specifications during the manufacturing process. Amplitude of the resonating mirror can be adjusted through either an analog input voltage or the USB interface.

Motion Control – Motion Controllers for Servos and Steppers!

Van Nuys, CA – — Motion Control – Need a quick and easy solution to install a single or multi-axis Plug-and-Play motion controller? The answer: The MCC Series of stepper and servo motor controllers from OES (Optimal Engineering Systems) which are designed to control from one to four axes of motion for users without prior motion control experience. These MCC controllers integrate a motion control card and operator interface in one package. Having a user-friendly interface, they allow the user to operate the motion controller, without the need for a PC, PLC, host controller, or programming.

The modes of operations are: Set Acceleration, Set Velocity, Set Position, Absolute Move, Relative Move, Find Home, Reset Position Counter, Go to Position Zero, Joystick Operation and Stop All Motors. The MCC Controllers feature a 4-Line LCD, 32-button keypad, STEP and DIRECTION outputs for each axis.

Motion Control – “New Design” Pillow and Flange Blocks!

E. Longmeadow, MA  — Motion Control  – Linear Motion – Lubricating Stainless Steel and Self-Aligning Linear Ball Bearings has never been easier! “New Design” pillow blocks and flange blocks from LM76, features a lubrication fitting, and an alignment set screw in the pillow blocks and flange blocks, and the Stainless Steel and self aligning linear bearings are modified by having an alignment flat ground on the bearings’ outer shell and drilling a hole through the outer shell.

Lubricants can then be pumped directly inside of linear ball bearing races without having to remove the bearing from the shaft. The Pillow and Flange Blocks also have been designed to accommodate an encapsulated ETX Scraper Seals that prevents contaminants from getting inside the bearing and retains the lubricant in the bearing.

Motion Control – Frameless Motors

With outer diameters of only 43mm to 90 mm, these frameless brushless servo motors are extremely compact. 

Vaughan, Ontario, Canada — Motion Control Components — The new frameless motor kits from Maxon consist of only a rotor and stator – with no bearings or motor shaft. With outer diameters of only 43 to 90 mm, these pancake servo motor kits are extremely compact.

Available in size ranges from 30 Watt to 260 Watt, these EC (electronically commutated) frameless slotted motors feature low voltage windings, high pole pair count and are shipped as BLDC motor kits with the rotor and stator delivered separately without bearings and motor shaft.

Motion Control – Electric Cylinder

Van Nuys, CA – Motion Control Components – Moticont has added two linear motors to it’s SDLM Series of high speed direct drive linear motors which are also know as Electric Cylinders. These compact drives with a 1.0 in. (25.4 mm) stroke are just 1.00 in. (25.4 mm) in diameter and 3.75 in. (95.3 mm) long. These direct drive linear motors feature resolutions of 5 µm (0.000197 in.) and 1.25 µm (0.000049 in.) The integral, linear optical quadrature encoder is directly connect to the shaft for the greatest possible accuracy.

Motion Control – Flexible Operating Tool

What do wasps have to do with brain surgery?  At first glance, not a whole lot. However, one species serves as the model for an innovative brain surgery needle that is being developed by a team of researchers from England.

Fall River, MA — Motion Control Components Application – In tumor treatment, neurosurgeons today use a thin, rigid needle to inject medication into the affected brain tissue. This carries a relatively high risk of injuring healthy tissue, because a rigid needle only allows the surgeon to enter a certain region of the brain, following a straight path. The ideal solution would be a flexible operating tool.

Motion Control –  Open Apeture Linear Focus Actuator

LFA-3404 Linear Focus Actuator: 34 millimeter clear aperture, 4 millimeter range of motion, <50 nanometer positioning resolution, 90 grams moving mass, 89 x 57mm, 1kg

Forestville, CA, – LFA-3404 Linear Focus Actuator: is a high performance compact positioning actuator. It was specifically developed for applications requiring both high precision and high-speed positioning over a short to medium stroke. This product mates the voice coil motor to a perfectly smooth flexure guidance system and a very high resolution position feedback encoder.

Motion Control – Vertical Lift Stage

Van Nuys, CA – — Motion Control – A vertical lift of 300 mm (11.811 in.), high stability, and low cost are just some of the features of the AT20-300 Motorized Vertical Lift Stage from Optimal Engineering Systems, Inc. (OES). This high load, 50 kg (110.2 lbs), vertical lift stage can be easily integrated into almost any application. The large 400 mm x 200 mm (15.748 in. x 7.874 in.) stage has a pattern of threaded mounting holes. The rigid box construction of the moving component of the elevator stage travels on six slide rails assuring smooth vertical travel and parallelism of the table and mounting surface at all times, and features: 3.315 µ (non- Micro-Step) resolution, 5 µ repeatability, and 15 µ positional accuracy.

Motion Control – Advanced Block & Rail System

E. Longmeadow, MA – – Motion Control – Linear Motion – Advanced Linear Block and Rail System – SLIDE RAIL2 is both novel and innovative. Unlike injection molded, plastic-lined block and rail systems, INJECT2 Technology’s unique properties ensure higher loads, 1/2 the coefficient of friction and increased toughness for shock, vibration and contamination. INJECT2 Technology’s low friction, self-lubricating sliding surface guarantees smooth, quiet and contamination proof operation.