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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.
Learn more.

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.
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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.

Wireless sensors could make diesel engines greener

By Rob Matheson, MIT

Mounted inside a vehicle's exhaust system, Filter Sensing Technologies' sensors (shown here) track the radio frequency signals coming through a vehicle's filters. The weaker the signals, the greater the soot and ash buildup. [Image courtesy: FST]

 

 

 

 

Advances in wireless technology continue to pave the way for better consumer devices. In the future, however, wireless devices could also benefit the automotive industry by helping diesel engines use less fuel while curbing soot and ash emissions.

Years ago, MIT spinout Filter Sensing Technologies (FST) invented sensors that use radio frequency signals -- commonly used to transmit and receive data from wireless devices -- to measure in real time exactly how much soot and ash builds up in engine exhaust filters. These data help automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) -- which build engines and vehicles -- to program engines to burn fuel more efficiently to clean the filters.

Now, with an acquisition in October by CTS Corporation, a major manufacturer of vehicle electronics and sensors, FTS is poised to scale up manufacturing of its sensors for diesel engines, which must meet increasingly strict emissions limits.

"The industry dynamics are such that it is challenging for a small company to scale and meet OEM requirements of quality and volume. This means additional resources for scaling up and manufacturing" to meet those requirements, says FST co-founder and sensor co-inventor Alex Sappok PhD '09, former CEO of FST and now director of RF sensors for CTS.

FST's co-founder and sensor co-inventor is Leslie Bromberg '73, PhD '77, a research scientist at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center.

Headquartered in Malden, MA, FST is now the Boston Innovation Office for CTS, where the startup team will further develop and explore other applications for the sensors. Currently, the FST sensors are being piloted with OEMs across the United States, Europe, and Japan for commercial vehicles as well as construction and agricultural equipment. The sensors could be available to the automotive industry within a few years.

In a two-year study with New York City garbage trucks, FST's sensors cut the frequency and duration of filter regeneration in half, which produced a 1 to 2 percent fuel savings. This can be significant for fleets of trucks, such as those in the study, which use roughly 5,000 to 8,000 gallons of diesel fuel annually.

 

 

 

 

More efficient emission controls
The FST sensors are basically metal antennas mounted inside the exhaust system of vehicles that use diesel particulate filters (DPF). In 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency introduced strict emissions limits for diesel engines, resulting in the widespread use of these large ceramic filters, which capture more than 95 percent of soot and other particles emitted from diesel engines.

A downside to DPFs, however, is they become saturated frequently, sometimes every eight hours -- depending on engine use -- and must be cleaned. With diesel trucks, for instance, the engine "regenerates" the filter by using some fuel to heat up the exhaust to high temperatures and burn the soot, like a self-cleaning oven. Conventional technologies use pressure-drop measurements and predictive models to roughly estimate buildup. If the estimates are off, soot and ash can also exceed the filter's limit, impacting the pressure-drop response, service life, and fuel consumption.

With no way to accurately measure buildup in real time, OEMs generally program a diesel truck's control system to regenerate the filter more frequently than necessary, regardless of actual contamination, Sappok says. "Trucks are burning a lot more fuel than they need in order to heat up and clean off this filter," he says.

FST sensors transmit a radio frequency signal very similar to those used for cell phones, through part of the vehicle's emissions-control system. As soot and ash accumulate in the filter, the signal strength decreases -- the weaker the signal, the more buildup. "It's the same concept as going through a tunnel on your phone and losing a signal," Sappok says.

These data are received by the onboard engine-control system, so the engine only initiates self-cleaning when needed and cuts off when the filter is cleaned, saving fuel and cutting costs for operators.

The sensors have so far proved effective in field and engine tests. In a two-year study with heavy-duty trucks operated by the New York City Department of Sanitation, funded in part by the Department of Energy, the sensors demonstrated the potential to cut the frequency and duration of filter regeneration in half in some cases, which may enable a 1 to 2 percent fuel savings. This can be significant for fleets of trucks such as those in the study, which use roughly 5,000 to 8,000 gallons of diesel fuel annually.

Classic MIT story
Launching FST was a "classic MIT story," Sappok says, where two researchers from different backgrounds combined forces to innovate and launch a startup.

In 2005, Sappok, then a PhD student in mechanical engineering, delivered a presentation as part of a speaker series in the MIT Sloan Automotive Laboratory, which focused on diesel filter technologies that aim to lower emissions, and on issues related to measuring buildup. In the audience was Bromberg, who had studied RF technologies during his time in academia. Bromberg had earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and PhD in nuclear engineering/plasma physics, both from MIT, in the 1970s.

"[Bromberg] came up to me after the presentation and asked, 'Have you ever thought of using radio-frequency technology to measure what's going on in these filters?'" Sappok says. "It's something I had no background in and never would have come across myself."

Forming an unofficial collaboration, Sappok and Bromberg began constructing a proof-of-concept sensor that measured not soot but wooden toothpicks stuck in a filter -- which have the same nonconductive properties as soot. "We found out we could count how many toothpicks were in a filter," Sappok says, laughing. "We presented at a conference that we could count toothpicks."

From there, Sappok built a suitcase-size sensor out of his basement, which he and Bromberg hauled around to OEMs worldwide for testing -- which made clear the sensor's commercial potential. "The fact that OEMs were willing to pay for us to come out with our prototype and conduct measurements," Sappok says. "That's when we thought there was some real interest."

In 2008, Sappok and Bromberg launched FST and entered the $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, "which was a crash course on the whole operational and financial side of a business," says Sappok.

The co-founders also went through the MIT Venture Mentoring Service's VentureShips program, which matches startups with entrepreneurial MIT students who work through business problems and other issues. In turn, the students learn tricks of the trade from the startup founders.

Published February 2016

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