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Conveying: Drive system enables two synchronous movements with max performance

The new FAULHABER DualGear drive system optimizes automated warehouse logistics, enabling two synchronous, powerful movements in one compact unit. Combining a BX4 motor with two GPT planetary gearheads, it is ideal for storage/retrieval machines and autonomous logistics. Hall sensors ensure exact positioning for compact, efficient, and reliable performance in demanding, small-space environments.
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Decentralized drives offer seamless integration

NORD DRIVE-SYSTEMS' NORDAC LINK motor starters, plus NORDAC LINK and NORDAC FLEX variable frequency drives, feature a plug-and-play design for rapid commissioning and high system availability. With onboard AS-Interface (ASi) functionality, these modular products integrate seamlessly into existing or new systems, supporting ASi standards V2.0 and V3.0 with integrated follower profiles for connectivity.
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Non-Magnetic ball slides made in the USA

Del-Tron's USA-made, non-magnetic ball slides prevent magnetic interference in medical, semiconductor, military, and laser applications. Featuring silicon nitride ceramic bearings, titanium shafts, aluminum components, and brass fasteners, these lightweight slides come in seven sizes with travels from .5 to 12 in., providing an ideal solution for sensitive environments.
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What's new in robotic efficiency and advanced gauging systems?

Renishaw will highlight its latest solutions for maximizing robot performance and manufacturing efficiency at Automate 2026, taking place June 22-25 at McCormick Place in Chicago. Highlights will be demonstrations of its Robot Calibration System for cell recovery and in-field robot calibration, the Equator-X dual-method gauging system for high-throughput production environments, and position and motion control encoders.
Read the full article.

New Titanium servo-drive line for harsh environs

The Elmo advanced Titanium line of harsh-environment servo drives offers optimal performance with advanced power density, providing exceptional intelligent and compact servo drives that are operational within minutes. These single-axis and multi-axis servo drives, featuring top-performance multi-core processors, deliver superior productivity, Functional Safety, advanced networking, and local intelligence in a compact package for operation in extreme conditions.
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Top Tech Tip: Automating winding, unwinding applications

From paper mills and textiles to sheet metal and plastics manufacturing, winding and unwinding mechanisms play critical parts in many industries. Jonathan Bullick from KEB America examines the automation architecture behind industrial winding applications, with particular emphasis on motor selection, variable frequency drive (VFD) configuration, and control system design. Tension, winding loads, torque speed, regen energy, bus load sharing, and more are all addressed in this excellent technical overview.
Read the KEB America article.

3D printing and 5-axis milling get highly portable

Powered by Siemens' SINUMERIK ONE CNC platform and Ingersoll's MasterPrint^® industrial 3D printer, a new generation of deployable machines is bringing additive and subtractive manufacturing directly to the point of use for defense, disaster relief, and infrastructure and industry.
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Double the force capacity: New RSX50 linear actuators

Tolomatic's RSX50 is the newest, most powerful addition to the RSX Extreme Force electric actuator family. Delivering 50 tons of force within the compact footprint of its 25-ton predecessor, it offers industry-leading power density. Built with high-precision planetary roller screws, the RSX50 provides high-force reliability and environmental compliance, eliminating the mess and maintenance complexity of traditional hydraulic systems.
Get all the specs from Tolomatic.

Integrated drive system for next-gen robotics and human-like motions

Engineered for modern robotics, the BXI is FAULHABER's most powerful integrated drive. Delivering up to 20 Nm of torque, it ensures dynamic, precise control. This compact unit combines a motor, stepped planetary gearhead, and high-res encoder into one functional system. Its strength lies in systematic integration, offering maximum performance in minimal space -- ideal for humanoid robot joints and demanding applications.
Get all the specs from FAULHABER.

Important Qs about linear motor actuators that design engineers should ask

Many design engineers overestimate how accurate traditional motors and actuators stay over long travel runs, mistakenly believing that if the solution works well for short runs, it will work equally well on long ones. Do you know what type of actuator you should use for your application? Patrick Lehr, Product Manager, Precision Mechanics at Parker Hannifin, has some really good tips for you.
Read the full article.

Cobots get 4 m tall with the 8th-Axis Vertical Robot Transfer Unit

Designed to optimize industrial processes across various sectors, the 8th-Axis Vertical Robot Transfer Unit (RTU-V) from Bishop-Wisecarver features a vertical travel length of up to 4 m, enabling a single small robot or cobot to cover large areas traditionally requiring multiple robots. This innovation not only boosts productivity but also offers considerable cost savings, making it an ideal solution for industries such as logistics, manufacturing, agriculture, packaging, and more. Extended reach allows robots to perform tasks on oversized workpieces, such as rocket tubes, boat hulls, and aerospace structures, with ease.
View the video.

UR AI Trainer for robotics: First lab-to-factory AI model trainer

Universal Robots unveiled the UR AI Trainer last week. Developed in collaboration with Scale AI, the AI Trainer marks a tectonic shift as robots move from pre-programmed applications to fully AI-driven tasks. These systems are powered by robust data generated in AI training cells where robots imitate humans.
Read the full article.

BLDC motors with advanced safety features built in

Dunker-motoren has built advanced safety functions directly into its BG75 and BG95 BLDC motors, so you no longer need a separate safety controller or complex wiring. This means faster installation, lower costs, and simpler designs. With features such as safe stop and speed control, plus secure digital communication, dSafe motors are ready for automation, robotics, and mobile systems worldwide. It's safety that scales with your future.
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Mobile robotic platform with contactless charging

MAXOLU-TION, an SEW-EURODRIVE company, has introduced the modular Mobile Robot Platform 1600 (MR P1600). It is designed to move heavy loads such as pallets through factories and warehouses, with less manual handling and more consistent material flow. The platform supports configurable load-handling options, including conveyor transfer, lift, drive-under, and precise docking, using standardized material transfer attachments or custom-engineered load handling. Max load is 1,600 kg.
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Configurable modular precision linear stages

PI's Modular Precision Linear (MPL) stage family is a configurable platform that simplifies specifying and integrating high-precision linear positioning systems. Engineers can select mechanical, drive, and feedback options online, creating application-specific stages without the cost of fixed designs. The MPL series offers 50- to 300-mm travel ranges and servo or stepper motor options -- with linear motors planned for future release -- while maintaining high precision, stiffness, and reliability.
Learn more.

NASA making steady progress on developing robotic satellite servicing capabilities

By Bob Granath, NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center

With satellites playing increasingly important roles in everyday life, NASA is developing the technology to build Earth-orbiting, roving "service stations" capable of extending the life of these spacecraft. Engineers at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida are assisting the space agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, in developing the concept for bringing a high-technology gas pump, robotic mechanic, and tow truck to satellites in space.

This artist's concept shows a servicing spacecraft, left, approaching a satellite needing assistance. NASA is developing technology needed to bring a high-technology "gas pump, robotic mechanic, and tow truck" to satellites in orbit. [Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center]

 

 

 

 

There are 149 government-owned spacecraft and 275 commercial satellites currently in geosynchronous Earth orbit, or GEO, around the Earth. Placed 22,300 miles above the Earth, these satellites play key roles in communications, science, defense, and weather monitoring. GEO permits these spacecraft essentially to stay over the same point, allowing for constant coverage of a designated position. This is crucial for satellites relaying meteorology and television signals covering specific portions of the globe.

According to Tom Aranyos, technical integration manager in NASA's Fluids and Propulsion Division at Kennedy, engineers at the Florida spaceport are supporting the hypergolic propellant refueling portion of the Goddard-led study examining how free-flying servicing spacecraft could expand options in orbit for government and commercial satellite owners.

"America depends on satellites in geosynchronous orbit," said Aranyos. "These expensive spacecraft eventually develop systems failures or run out of propellant. Servicing and refueling these satellites can keep them operating longer and in the correct orbit, giving the nation and their owners more value for their investment."

Preliminary work with a technology demonstrator is underway on the International Space Station. The crew of space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 flight delivered the Robotic Refueling Mission, or RRM, hardware to the station in July 2011.

During a spacewalk, astronauts Mike Fossum and Ron Garan transferred the RRM onto a temporary platform on the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, also known as Dextre, a two-armed robot developed by the Canadian Space Agency that serves as part of the station's Mobile Servicing System. RRM now resides on the Express Logistics Carrier 4 platform outside the station.

Designed by the same team that developed the instruments and astronaut tools for the Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions, the four RRM tools cut and manipulate wires, unscrew caps, open and close valves, and transfer fluid, demonstrating that a remote-controlled robot can service and refuel a satellite in orbit. In March 2012, the 12-ft Dextre performed the most intricate operation ever attempted by a space robot: cutting two twisted "lock wires," each 20 thousandths of an inch (0.5 mm) in diameter using the RRM Wire Cutter Tool. The RRM refueling demonstration is scheduled to take place on the space station by the end of 2012. Meanwhile, back on the ground, preparations are ramping up for a second set of activities and task boards to continue RRM operations through 2014.

With his feet secured on a restraint on the space station remote manipulator system's robotic arm, NASA astronaut Mike Fossum holds the Robotics Refueling Mission payload. The four tools on the test device cut and manipulated wires, unscrewed caps, opened and closed valves, and transferred fluid, demonstrating that a remote-controlled robot can service and refuel a satellite. [Photo credit: NASA]

 

 

 

 

Goddard's study and associated development campaign to advance Technology Readiness Levels, or TRLs, of satellite-servicing technologies are the next steps in building capabilities for a fully robotic maintenance vehicle that could service satellites, including those that were not originally intended to be serviced.

Goddard envisions a future in which servicer spacecraft equipped with a state-of-the-art navigation system, enhanced robotic arms and tools, and a supply of propellant would be able to autonomously rendezvous and dock with a satellite needing aid. Depending on the type of assistance needed, the servicing spacecraft could perform one of five "R" capabilities: refueling, repositioning, remote survey, component replacement, or repairing an ailing satellite. The Goddard development campaign is designed to ensure that the capabilities and technologies are matured, vetted, and ready for potential future servicing missions.

"Kennedy, as part of the Goddard team, is studying and performing preliminary tests for the design, development, and qualification testing of the critical subsystem for an in-orbit hypergolic propellant transfer system," said Aranyos, who is leading Kennedy's technical team for the project. "That will include a pumping system with high metering accuracy and hose management system to transfer propellant to multiple client locations on existing orbiting satellites."

Since May 2011, Aranyos' technical team has been developing a highly reliable, leak-free hypergolic propellant transfer module capable of high-accuracy metering at high-pressure, low-flow rates. Hypergolic propellants such as nitrogen tetroxide, hydrazine, and monomethyl hydrazine are the propellants most frequently used in satellites.

A key milestone in the Kennedy effort was completed in August with testing of the low-TRL "proof of concept" pump led by Brian Nufer who leads the propulsion subsystem team. NASA engineers worked with technicians from Sierra Lobo of Fremont, OH, under an institutional support contract to conduct the first simulation of proof-of-concept hardware to see how to pump highly corrosive, toxic, low-viscosity (low-thickness), and high-density nitrogen tetroxide propellant at required transfer pressures.

"The operation was highly successful in that it showed that the experimental system worked as designed," Aranyos said. "It provided the engineering team with an enormous amount of performance data to better understand how the pump operates and provide lessons learned to be incorporated to the flight pump fabrication and operating procedures."

In the near future, Kennedy's engineering team will design and perform functional risk-reduction tests on a propellant transfer module similar to a flight-like unit.

"It will be a full-scale engineering development unit," Aranyos said. "The propellant hose-management system, which completed initial proof-of-concept testing in May 2012 led by Erik Tormoen of NASA's Launch Vehicle Electrical Systems Branch, is planning engineering development unit testing for the second quarter of fiscal year 2013."

Aranyos is pleased with the progress so far.

"This is a great partnership with Goddard," he said. "Through most of Kennedy's history, we have received, processed, and launched vehicles developed at other centers. Over our 50-year history, we've developed an extensive knowledge base and diverse capabilities. Projects such as this give us an opportunity to put that expertise to work."

Published November 2012

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