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Overhung load adaptors provide load support and contamination protection

Overhung load adaptors (OHLA) provide both overhung radial and axial load support to protect electrified mobile equipment motors from heavy application loads, extending the lifetime of the motor and alleviating the cost of downtime both from maintenance costs and loss of production. They seal out dirt, grime, and other contaminants too. Zero-Max OHLAs are available in an extensive offering of standard models (including Extra-Duty options) for typical applications or customized designs.
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Why choose electric for linear actuators?

Tolomatic has been delivering a new type of linear motion technology that is giving hydraulics a run for its money. Learn the benefits of electric linear motion systems, the iceberg principle showing total cost of ownership, critical parameters of sizing, and conversion tips.
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New AC hypoid inverter-duty gearmotors

Bodine Electric Company introduces 12 new AC inverter-duty hypoid hollow shaft gearmotors. These type 42R-25H2 and 42R-30H3 drives combine an all-new AC inverter-duty, 230/460-VAC motor with two hypoid gearheads. When used with an AC inverter (VFD) control, these units deliver maintenance-free and reliable high-torque output. They are ideal for conveyors, gates, packaging, and other industrial automation equipment that demands both high torque and low power consumption from the driving gearmotor.
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Next-gen warehouse automation: Siemens, Universal Robots, and Zivid partner up

Universal Robots, Siemens, and Zivid have created a new solution combining UR's cobot arms with Siemens' SIMATIC Robot Pick AI software and Zivid's 3D sensors to create a deep-learning picking solution for warehouse automation and intra-logistics fulfillment. It works regardless of object shape, size, opacity, or transparency and is a significant leap in solving the complex challenges faced by the logistics and e-commerce sectors.
Read the full article.

Innovative DuoDrive gear and motor unit is UL/CSA certified

The DuoDrive integrated gear unit and motor from NORD DRIVE-SYSTEMS is a compact, high-efficiency solution engineered for users in the fields of intralogistics, pharmaceutical, and the food and beverage industries. This drive combines a IE5+ synchronous motor and single-stage helical gear unit into one compact housing with a smooth, easy-to-clean surface. It has a system efficiency up to 92% and is available in two case sizes with a power range of 0.5 to 4.0 hp.
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BLDC flat motor with high output torque and speed reduction

Portescap's 60ECF brushless DC slotted flat motor is the newest frame size to join its flat motor portfolio. This 60-mm BLDC motor features a 38.2-mm body length and an outer-rotor slotted configuration with an open-body design, allowing it to deliver improved heat management in a compact package. Combined with Portescap gearheads, it delivers extremely high output torque and speed reduction. Available in both sensored and sensorless options. A great choice for applications such as electric grippers and exoskeletons, eVTOLs, and surgical robots.
Learn more and view all the specs.

Application story: Complete gearbox and coupling assembly for actuator system

Learn how GAM engineers not only sized and selected the appropriate gear reducers and couplings required to drive two ball screws in unison using a single motor, but how they also designed the mounting adapters necessary to complete the system. One-stop shopping eliminated unnecessary components and resulted in a 15% reduction in system cost.
Read this informative GAM blog.

Next-gen motor for pump and fan applications

The next evolution of the award-winning Aircore EC motor from Infinitum is a high-efficiency system designed to power commercial and industrial applications such as HVAC fans, pumps, and data centers with less energy consumption, reduced emissions, and reduced waste. It features an integrated variable frequency drive and delivers upward of 93% system efficiency, as well as class-leading power and torque density in a low-footprint package that is 20% lighter than the previous version. Four sizes available.
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Telescoping linear actuators for space-constrained applications

Rollon's new TLS telescoping linear actuators enable long stroke lengths with minimal closed lengths, which is especially good for applications with minimal vertical clearance. These actuators integrate seamlessly into multi-axis systems and are available in two- or three-stage versions. Equipped with a built-in automated lubrication system, the TLS Series features a synchronized drive system, requiring only a single motor to achieve motion. Four sizes (100, 230, 280, and 360) with up to 3,000-mm stroke length.
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Competitively priced long-stroke parallel gripper

The DHPL from Festo is a new generation of pneumatic long-stroke grippers that offers a host of advantages for high-load and high-torque applications. It is interchangeable with competitive long-stroke grippers and provides the added benefits of lighter weight, higher precision, and no maintenance. It is ideal for gripping larger items, including stacking boxes, gripping shaped parts, and keeping bags open. It has high repetition accuracy due to three rugged guide rods and a rack-and-pinion design.
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Extend your range of motion: Controllers for mini motors

FAULHABER has added another extremely compact Motion Controller without housing to its product range. The new MC3603 controller is ideal for integration in equipment manufacturing and medical tech applications. With 36 V and 3 A (peak current 9 A), it covers the power range up to 100 W and is suitable for DC motors with encoder, brushless drives, or linear motors.
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When is a frameless brushless DC motor the right choice?

Frameless BLDC motors fit easily into small, compact machines that require high precision, high torque, and high efficiency, such as robotic applications where a mix of low weight and inertia is critical. Learn from the experts at SDP/SI how these motors can replace heavier, less efficient hydraulic components by decreasing operating and maintenance costs. These motors are also more environmentally friendly than others.
View the video.

Tiny and smart: Step motor with closed-loop control

Nanotec's new PD1-C step motor features an integrated controller and absolute encoder with closed-loop control. With a flange size of merely 28 mm (NEMA 11), this compact motor reaches a max holding torque of 18 Ncm and a peak current of 3 A. Three motor versions are available: IP20 protection, IP65 protection, and a motor with open housing that can be modified with custom connectors. Ideal for applications with space constraints, effectively reducing both wiring complexity and installation costs.
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Closed loop steppers drive new motion control applications

According to the motion experts at Performance Motion Devices, when it comes to step motors, the drive technique called closed loop stepper is making everything old new again and driving a burst of interest in the use of two-phase step motors. It's "winning back machine designers who may have relegated step motors to the category of low cost but low performance."
Read this informative Performance Motion Devices article.

Intelligent compact drives with extended fieldbus options

The intelligent PD6 compact drives from Nanotec are now available with Profinet and EtherNet/IP. They combine motor, controller, and encoder in a space-saving package. With its 80-mm flange and a rated power of 942 W, the PD6-EB is the most powerful brushless DC motor of this product family. The stepper motor version has an 86-mm flange (NEMA 34) and a holding torque up to 10 Nm. Features include acceleration feed forward and jerk-limited ramps. Reduced installation time and wiring make the PD6 series a highly profitable choice for machine tools, packaging machines, or conveyor belts.
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U.S. National Reconnaissance Office looks for more commercial services: radar, imagery, launch

By C. Todd Lopez, U.S. Department of Defense

In May, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) announced the award of three contracts to private-sector companies for commercial imagery. It's something the agency would like to do more of, said its director.

"Certainly, we are looking for more commercial services, Chris Scolese said, during a discussion Aug. 4 with the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. "We kind of have a motto of 'buy what we can, build what we must.' But really what it comes down to is the commercial market has really grown. And we're seeing a lot of capability out there that the commercial companies are providing."

The 45th Space Wing supports United Launch Alliance's successful launch of the NROL-37 spacecraft aboard a ULA Delta IV-Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37B June 11, 2016. The rocket is carrying a classified national security payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. [Credit: Photo by United Launch Alliance]

 

 

 

 

Looking to the private sector to provide satellite imagery, he said, can be less costly but equally valuable than what the NRO might do with its own assets, Scolese said. It also means the NRO can direct resources toward intelligence gathering that's important to the warfighter but has no commercial value.

"It ... allows us to focus on those things ... that are critically important that have either no commercial value at all, but have incredible intelligence value, that we need to go off and do," he said. "And oftentimes, those are extremely complex systems that would be very expensive to develop and therefore ... the lack of commercial interest in them."

Right now, Scolese said, NRO's relationships with the three companies it signed to contracts in May are going well. But he said the NRO is looking forward to bringing in new entrants and new capabilities, and that the agency has a plan for that.

"About yearly we're going to ... go off and ask for commercial companies to come in with their ideas so that we can engage early, prior to having to award of contract, so they can understand what the government's needs are and we can understand what their capabilities are," he said. "When it comes time to go off and have a contract like we have for electro-optical imagery, for radar, they'll be ready and we'll be ready."

Commercial imagery isn't the only place NRO has opted to work with partners. Launch is another such area. The U.S. continues to launch capabilities into space from both the Eastern and Western Ranges, which include locations such as Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

But the NRO has also now partnered with New Zealand to launch smaller assets into space and will soon work with the U.K. on air-launching assets as well. Scolese said it gives his agency more flexibility as it tries to proliferate the number of assets it has in orbit.

Team Vandenberg supported the successful launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV heavy rocket from the Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA, Jan. 19, 2019. [Credit: Photo by Air Force Airman 1st Class Aubree Milks]

 

 

 

 

"Having the capability to launch pretty much from almost anywhere in the world gives us great flexibility," he said. "It adds to our resilience, because we're not relying on just one or two launch bases. It allows us to reconstitute if we want to do that. It gives us a greater flexibility because we now have the opportunity to sort of pick launch bases."

Also, he said, launching from locations like New Zealand or the U.K. has another added benefit as well.

"I think it sends a message to the world that we really value our partnerships with our international communities," he said.

Learn more about NRO activities at nro.gov.

Published August 2022

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