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Flexible planetary gearheads: Quiet, extremely robust

FAULHABER GPT gearheads for miniature and micro motors deliver high power density, exceptional flexibility, and excellent cost efficiency. Designed for seamless integration with diverse motors and encoders, these compact planetary drives feature hardened stainless steel components that reliably withstand extreme torques and abrupt load changes. Offered in standard, low-noise, and high-torque variants, they ensure precise, durable performance across wide operating temperature ranges.
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What is a low-waving linear motion guide?

If you are having a problem with your linear guides not always staying perfectly straight during use, it may be due to a phenomenon called waving -- a problem that is particularly critical in high-precision markets such as semiconductor and LCD equipment-related applications or machine tools. Thankfully, THK has an answer.
Read the full article.

NORD serves up sweet energy and cost savings for industrial bakeries

NORD DRIVE-SYSTEMS offers robust, highly configurable drive solutions designed to optimize efficiency, ensure hygiene, and reduce the TCO for automated bakery systems. From industrial-scale mixing and portioning to baking, cooling, and packaging, NORD's modular product portfolio delivers precise, reliable performance across every stage of production.
Read the full article. You may learn something even if you are not in the baking industry.

Key considerations for battery-powered motors

Battery-powered motor applications require careful design considerations to pair motor performance and power consumption profiles in concert with the correct battery type. This Power Electric article covers power requirements, performance considerations, and battery choices to assist you in selecting an efficient motor and a battery with the appropriate capacity. Good technical info.
Read the Power Electric technical article.

Driving next-gen pump and fan applications: Sinamics G210X

The Sinamics G210X is a new frequency converter for advanced pump, fan, and compressor applications, combining easy engineering with robust design. Integrated functions, seamless TIA Portal integration, and a web server reduce PLC effort to speed up commissioning, operation, and diagnostics. IP55 protection, 3C3 coating, and S2 system redundancy ensure reliable operation in demanding environments.
Learn more.

New Exlar food-grade actuator

Curtiss-Wright's Actuation Division has expanded its Exlar line with hygienic electric actuators using FDA-approved materials and finishes. Designed for food, beverage, packaging, and pharmaceutical automation, the new GTF unit enables economical USDA, 3-A, BISSC, and EHEDG certification. Its IP69K washdown option, inverted roller screw, and compact servo-driven design deliver reliable, high-performance motion for hygienic machinery.
Learn more.

New Texas conveyor system is 42 miles long!

SEW-EURODRIVE is helping power one of the most ambitious bulk material handling projects in North America through its contribution to the Dune Express conveyor system, a record-setting 42-mile single-flight conveyor across the Permian Basin.
Read the full article.

Compact servo drives for harsh environs

Built on Copley's proven NanoPlus platform, the compact, 1.2-oz R-Series Nano servo drives withstand extreme temperatures, vibration, shock, and humidity. Available in R47 (CANopen) and R48 (EtherCAT) models, they suit space-constrained, harsh environments such as mil/aero robotics and gimbals. This commercial off-the-shelf series provides a hardened option without defense-specific development lead times.
Learn more from Copley Controls.

Hybrid actuator with force up to 14,726 lb

Kyntronics' new all-electric HyCore hybrid actuator is a compact, low-cost alternative to traditional hydraulic, pneumatic, and electro-mechanical systems. Engineered for OEMs, it delivers up to 14,726 lb of force. The self-contained design eliminates leaks and wear, providing precise control, shock-load tolerance, and high efficiency. It simplifies integration and lowers operating costs for mobile equipment, packaging, assembly automation, and more.
Learn more.

SDP/SI motion products: Best sellers

SDP/SI's best sellers aren't just popular -- they're proven. These are the motion components their customers return to time and again for precision, reliability, and unbeatable value. From belts and pulleys to gears, bearings, and couplings, each product has earned its place through consistent performance in real-world applications.
Learn more and see the full products list.

Automated part grinding and finishing in one unit!

Grinding large fabrications is a classic dull, dirty, and dangerous task perfectly suited for automation, yet traditional setups require multiple costly robots. At Automate 2026, Güdel debuted a single-robot solution that utilizes two extra degrees of freedom to finish massive surfaces without complex part repositioning.
Read the full article.

Rockford RBS ball screws and nuts now available

Automation-Direct now offers US-manufactured RBS ball screws and nuts for precise linear motion in OEM and maintenance applications. Achieving over 90% efficiency, they feature low friction, high accuracy, and minimal wear. Available in various diameters, lengths, and leads, these precision-matched components handle axial loads with minimal backlash, providing a dependable solution that reduces maintenance and extends operational life. Great prices too.
Learn more.

Next-gen conveyor transports 3,000-kg payloads

Building on its established portfolio of twin-strand conveyors that are currently used in a variety of industry verticals, Bosch Rexroth is introducing the TS 7plus transfer system, which is the world's first freely configurable, fully electric conveyance solution to workpieces weighing up to 3,000 kg. TS 7plus transports material via conveyor rollers on freely configurable modular sections with lift/transverse, rotary, and positioning units, as well as stop gates. Great for automotive, battery, aerospace/defense, and more.
Learn more.

Next-generation air bearing linear slide

The A-123 noncontact nanoposi-tioning stage integrates a brushless motor, air bearings, and a 1-nm encoder, supporting 40-kg payloads over 750-mm travel. Its pressurized air film eliminates the friction, wear, and vibration of mechanical stages, ensuring zero particle generation. Customizable with options such as granite bases and isolation systems, it is ideal for semiconductor metrology, inspection, photonics, and more.
Learn more.

How to implement redundancy in stepper motors

Some of the recent research activities in the area of electric motor drives for safety-critical applications (such as aerospace and nuclear power plants) are focused on looking at various fault-tolerant motor and drive topologies. After discussing different solutions, this article focuses on a miniature permanent magnet (PM) stepper motor design that provides increased redundancy.
Read this informative FAULHABER article.

Full electrification of Uber and Lyft vehicles would provide only modest benefits to society, study shows

Both Uber and Lyft ride-hailing services have pledged to fully electrify their vehicle fleets by 2030 in the United States.

The move would eliminate tailpipe pollution while shifting emissions to the power plants that provide electricity to charge electric vehicle (EV) batteries, likely resulting in a significant drop in overall emissions of climate-warming greenhouse gases.

Good news all around, right? Hold on.

A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan and Carnegie Mellon University estimates that the overall benefits to society of switching ride-hailing vehicles from gasoline to electric would be very modest -- on average, a 3% gain per trip when other "costs on society" are factored in.

Those societal costs include increased traffic congestion, collision risk, and noise due to Uber and Lyft drivers traveling to and from fast-charging stations, according to the study published online June 1 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

"Our simulation showed that electric vehicles drive greater distances without a passenger than do gasoline vehicles, since EVs have to travel to chargers more often than gasoline vehicles have to refuel," said study senior author Parth Vaishnav, assistant professor at U-M's School for Environment and Sustainability.

"Furthermore, fast chargers are not as ubiquitous as gas stations, which means EVs have to travel farther each time they refuel than gasoline vehicles."

In their simulation, the researchers used a new high-resolution model called AgentX with real-world Uber and Lyft trip data collected in the Chicago area from 2019 to 2022. Chicago is one of the largest ride-hailing markets in the country, and the number of daily trips averaged roughly 300,000 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The researchers modeled more than a million Uber and Lyft trips taken on weekdays, weekends, and during different seasons. They included trips taken before the pandemic started, as well as trips during the period after the widespread rollout of vaccines.

A set of standard economic tools was used to express costs to society in terms of dollars. Though the study results are specific to Chicago, the findings likely apply more broadly, according to the researchers.

The study found that:

• Electrification of Chicago's ride-hailing fleets would reduce lifetime greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45% when compared to gasoline-powered vehicles. The reduction is largely due to the greater efficiency of electric vehicles.
• Health impacts from local air pollution would increase an estimated 6 to 11% per trip, on average, due to higher concentrations of local pollutants (such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter) from fossil fuel-burning power plants.
• Extra driving to and from charging stations would increase traffic-related harms to society (congestion, crash risk, and noise) by 2 to 3% per trip.
• Overall, full electrification of ride-hailing would reduce total harms to society by about 3% per trip.
• A 3% reduction in costs to society translates to about $1.5 million per year in savings for the city of Chicago. To put that number in context, ride-hailing is estimated to generate $4 million to $5 million in revenues per day in Chicago.

"It may seem counterintuitive that overall costs to society fall so little, even though greenhouse gas emissions are substantially reduced by the switch to EVs," said study lead author Aniruddh Mohan, formerly a doctoral student under Vaishnav at Carnegie Mellon and now a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University. "But on a per-mile basis, greenhouse gas emissions are a very small part of the total costs imposed on society by these vehicles. The costs are dominated by traffic externalities -- congestion, crash risk, and noise -- which are directly correlated with vehicle distance traveled. And vehicle distance traveled will increase with electrification."

About 80% of the total costs to society result from traffic-related factors, while 20% are due to emissions, according to the study.

The assessment includes the cradle-to-grave costs to society of building, operating, and disposing of EVs and gasoline-powered vehicles. Those lifetime costs include battery manufacturing, gasoline refining, and vehicle construction.

For EVs, the researchers looked at battery size and how it affects vehicle impacts. Making smaller battery packs requires less energy and leads to lighter vehicles, both of which might lead to greenhouse gas emissions savings.

To their surprise, smaller battery packs did not help. A smaller battery pack meant that EV drivers visited chargers more often, and those additional miles canceled emissions gains from using a smaller battery pack, according to the study.

"Overall, our findings made it very clear that a large part of the damage that cars cause is unrelated to their air emissions and is therefore unlikely to be eliminated by electrification," Vaishnav said. "Electrification is a small win for society. A bigger win would be to dramatically reduce our dependence on cars. Policies that decrease vehicle distance traveled through investments in public transit and infrastructure for biking and walking, or that reduce crash risk by improved vehicle safety, are critical."

Source: University of Michigan

Published June 2023

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