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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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Hydrogen fuel cell advance: UCLA team exceeds DOE-set targets for fuel cell performance and durability

CNSI-affiliated researchers beat Department of Energy targets thanks to tiny graphene pockets.

As important as the internal combustion engine has been for societal progress, it is also a major contributor to pollution that damages human health and carbon emissions that help drive the climate crisis. Close to 30% of U.S. carbon emissions come from transportation, and 95% of transportation uses fossil fuels.

One element of a potential remedy would be to power vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells, which emit only water vapor. However, this sustainability solution has an ironic, built-in aspect that's unsustainable: The catalysts necessary to draw power from hydrogen involve rare and expensive metals such as platinum. In amounts used for today's technology, widespread adoption would require quantities of these metals beyond what humankind can source.

A recent study in Nature Nanotechnology led by a UCLA professor may represent a turning point. The researchers reported on an approach that enabled them to meet -- and beat -- ambitious targets for high catalyst performance, high stability, and low use of platinum that were set by the Department of Energy. Their record-breaking technology used miniscule crystals of a platinum-cobalt alloy, each embedded in a nanopocket made of graphene, described as a two-dimensional material because it comprises a layer of carbon one atom thick.

Compared to the stringent DOE standards for catalysts -- unmet till now -- the authors' graphene-wrapped alloy yielded extraordinary results:

• 75 times more catalytic activity.
• 65% more power.
• About 20% more catalytic activity at the expected end of the fuel cell's life.
• About 35% less loss of power after testing that simulates 6,000 to 7,000 hours of use, beating the target of 5,000 hours for the first time.
• Almost 40% less platinum per vehicle.

"This has never been done before," said corresponding author Yu Huang, professor and chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, and a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA (CNSI). "This discovery involved some serendipity. We knew we were onto something that might make smaller particles stable, but we didn't expect it to work this well."

Today, half of the total global supply of platinum and similar metals is used for catalytic converters in vehicles powered by fossil fuels, a component that makes their emissions less noxious. Somewhere between 2 and 8 grams of platinum are required per vehicle. By comparison, current hydrogen fuel cell technology uses about 36 grams per vehicle.

At the lowest load of platinum tested by Huang and her team, each hydrogen-powered vehicle would need only 6.8 grams of platinum.

So how did the researchers get more power out of less platinum? They broke the platinum-based catalyst up into particles an average of 3 nanometers long. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, and the nanoparticles were so small that it would take more than 30,000 laid end to end to span the thickness of a single sheet of paper. Smaller particles mean more surface area, and more surface area means more real estate where catalytic activity can occur.

There's a catch, though, that has stymied previous attempts to get better performance by going small with hydrogen fuel cell catalysts. On their own, tinier particles are also far less durable, because they tend to pull off of a surface or crowd together into larger particles.

Huang and her colleagues addressed this limitation by armoring their catalyst particles in the 2D material graphene. Compared to bulk carbon as commonly seen in coal or pencil lead, such thin layers of carbon have surprising capacities, conducting electricity and heat efficiently and showing strength 100 times that of steel at similar thickness.

Their platinum-cobalt alloy was reduced to particles. Before being integrated into a fuel cell, the particles were surrounded by graphene nanopockets, which acted as a sort of anchor to keep the particles from migrating -- necessary for the level of durability needed in commercial vehicles. At the same time, the graphene allowed for a tiny gap, of about 1 nanometer, around each catalyst nanoparticle, which meant that key electrochemical reactions could occur.

"It's sort of intuitive," Huang said. "If you put a cap on the particle that allows the reaction to go on but confines the particle in that place, it will resolve the durability problem which is, however, very challenging to achieve at such small scale."

This latest advance follows a recent collaborative study led by Huang that produced a model for predicting the catalytic activity and durability of a platinum-based alloy that can be used to guide the design of catalysts -- the first of its kind. She and her team are working to translate their experimental results into practical technology that can be taken to the market and, hopefully, add to green energy and sustainability efforts.

Source: California NanoSystems Institute

 

 

The study's co-first authors are postdoctoral researcher Zipeng Zhao and doctoral student Zeyan Liu, both of UCLA. Other UCLA authors are doctoral students Ao Zhang, Wang Xue, and Bosi Peng; and Xiangfeng Duan, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCLA College and a member of the CNSI. UC Irvine faculty member Xiaoqing Pan and his postdoctoral researcher Xingxu Yan helped with imaging graphene nanopockets.

The research received funding from the U.S. Office of Naval Research.

Source: California NanoSystems Institute

Published September 2022

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