Brushing Up: the Wiegand Effect
The Wiegand effect, a phenomenon discovered in the 1970s, is the unusually useful behavior of magnetic fields in specially designed wire that outputs...
20 Minute tune-up: Forward march
This month’s Tune-Up column, which concludes a three-part series on position loops, addresses feed-forward gains...
Functional safety Part 2 of 2
Functional safety accounts for time to build on existing safety structure (category) approaches. As we explored last month in this article series, accounting...
Functional safety Part 1 of 2
Keeping up with changing safety standards is nothing new for machine builders. However, recent changes to the European Commission's new Machinery Directive,...
Standards update: Motion control
Modern life would not exist as we know it without standards. Consumer-appliance power cords would vary by manufacturer, cars would be relatively unsafe,...
Fun with Fundamentals: Problem 219
Sinking your teeth into a situation doesn't always get you up the hill, as this month's problem by Wesley Richardson of Lexington, Ky., demonstrates...
Keeping your career on track: Tips for introverts
Are you more comfortable in front of your computer than at lunch with your coworkers? When you present a new design to colleagues or clients, do you have...
Centrifugal and centripetal force
An object traveling in a circle, even at constant speed, is accelerating. That's because its direction is constantly changing to point to the center of...
Why so many bearing greases?
The right grease can prolong the life of rolling-element bearings in expensive equipment, cut downtime, and improve performance. Guess what the wrong grease can do...
Course Audit: Motion control made easy
One thing engineers learn very quickly about position control systems is that they are inherently unstable. Consider a typical closed-loop system, consisting of a motor, current amplifier, and position sensor...
Golden triangle: Distributors, system integrators, and you
An innovation network is a web of people, institutions, or companies outside of a firm that helps it solve problems or come up with new ideas. Recently,...
Fun with Fundamentals: Problem 170
Snap judgement and Solution to Problem 169. Spare the rod and you can end up spoiling the whole show, as this month's problem by E.A. Engebretson of St. Paul, Minn., demonstrates...
Totally turbulence
Fluid dynamics comprise one wild frontier in physics that has not yet been fully tamed. Where Newton's laws neatly describe macroscopic behavior of discrete...
Add financial oomph to your designs
Engineers, scientists, and technical people are subject to stereotypes. Super-smart, hard worker, and problem solver stand out as positive labels, while...
Distributors play vital training role
Experts warn of an impending shortage of qualified workers. Worse yet, the world of motion stands to be one of the hardest hit areas. We face a perfect...
More on entropy
As a measurement of a system's randomness, entropy has specific scientific meaning. Last month, we saw how entropy can be scientifically defined in terms...
Solving problems when things go wrong
The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem. Theodore Isaac Rubin, American...
Segway segue
Check it out, Dean Kamen: Forty years before the Segway, in 1959, a young student at the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology,...
A rip in time makes nine
From the erosion of a grain of sand off a cliff to the unbounded expansion of the Universe, Nature tends towards disorder. This tendency has a name entropy....
The right distributor relationship
One question that motion control users have pondered for years is this: Is it better to select one strategic partner or use my business as leverage to...
Special report: U.S. manufacturing
As this magazine marks its 50th year in print, we explore how U.S. manufacturing has changed over this last half century. The trends are dramatic and (despite current economic woes) encouraging as well....
IEEE celebrates 125 years
Tracing its roots to the founding of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) and the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE), today's IEEE celebrates...
Investigating IP codes
IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) Publication 60529 Classification of Degrees of Protection Provided by Enclosures provides a system for...
Moving rod ends
Similar to ball-and-socket joints, rod ends integrate a spherical bearing with a threaded shaft to make a support structure for other pivoting or moving...
Molecular motors
In some of the smallest motion systems in nature, scientists are now identifying how viruses sweep material inward. ...
Graphene holds promise for nanoelectronics
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered a novel method for controlling the nature of graphene, bringing academia and industry one step closer to realizing the mass production of graphene-based nanoelectronics....
Back to school: Industrial automation
During economic downturns, machine designers, operators, and maintenance personnel can improve their marketability with updated skills by taking training courses. ...
Preview of long-awaited math reference debuts
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a five-chapter preview of the highly anticipated online Digital Library of Mathematical...
Bearings under oscillation
Oscillating motion can quickly destroy even over-sized bearings. Understanding and treating the problem, rather than the symptoms, is the cure...
Controlling web tension with load cells: Part 2 of 3
The more you know about selecting and sizing load cells, the better your chance for success in your web tension application...
Securing a starting lineup
Base your next carrier system on standard components for a straightforward, cost-effective design...
Applying shaft seals
Advanced learning at your desk, at your pace // Part 2 of 2...
What’s in a name?
I was recently thumbing through an industrial catalog when several items caught my attention...
New twist on precision spring forming
Precision spring manufacturing has never been exact because of the inconsistencies in the wire feed stock and normal wear that occurs in the forming tool...
Electric automation event headed to Chicago
A number of companies have already signed up to take part in SPS Electric Automation America, scheduled for May 2005 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill...
In Response
Bargain shopping I read with interest the “Good Buys” editorial (October 2004), and I must share with you two stories that members of my family had with Wal-Mart...
Without a scratch
Heavy-duty idlers help save galvanized steel strip from damage...
Report clears up bearing confusion
The sheer diversity of linear bearing products can be confusing to those who want to use the products in their machine designs...
How to grade the election
Taken from a speech delivered by Sen. Zell Miller, D-Georgia, at the 2004 Republican National Convention...
Service & support
Motion System Design talks to industry experts about the importance of service and support...
In Response
I was enjoying the useful information in August’s Motion System Design until my reading session was ruined by your In the Loop column...
Good guys
A hundred and sixty years ago, the market in Europe and America for tea, silk, and porcelain was booming, but preindustrial China needed few products from the West...
Packing in automation
Packaging machinery is one of the highest growth markets for automation products in Europe, according to a new report from IMS Research...
MSD 101: Rotating cylinders
They’re relevant whenever an apparatus must accelerate and response is crucial...
Lifetime & reliability
Motion System Design turns to industry experts for some tips on how to get long life and high reliability from a design...
Fasteners in space
When the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft entered Saturn’s orbit this summer, it had to be able to handle the vibration, shock, and temperature extremes of a rocket launc...
Power goes from steam to dream
A retrofit of a paper mill increases capacity and delivers encoderless operation...
Stop the press
Skyscrapers rise to incredible heights and stand in impressive glory thanks in large part to an unseen network of columns, beams, and trusses...
Precision and accuracy
Motion System Design talks with industry experts to find out exactly what you need to know about precision and accuracy...
Journal bearing stiction
A simple one-piece sleeve is sometimes better for reducing friction than complex rolling-element bearings...
U.S. manufacturing poised for growth
Here’s some news you’re unlikely to find in any of the mainstream media outlets: The Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) predicts a major upswing in North American manufacturing within the next 12 months...
Taking bombs away
An Ordnance Disposal Robot (ODR) is being used in Iraq to secure and transport hazardous, dangerous, or suspicious materials to places where they can be safely disarmed or destroyed...
MSD 101: Quadrature encoder signals
The sensing mechanism in an incremental optical rotary encoder consists primarily of a light source, code wheel, and optical detector...
When all else fails — Part 2
Over the course of their careers, most engineers adopt somewhat of a routine or systematic method for solving problems...
Under-the-ocean motion
Whether exploring sacred underwater caves in the Yucatan or pursuing elusive Arctic sharks, tiny ROVs, or remotely operated vehicles, are reaching new depths. But VideoRay LLC, Exton, Pa., holds the distinction of making the world’s smallest ROV...
Robotic metal detector may save lives
The United Nations estimates there are more than 100 million land mines worldwide, and that more than 2,000 people are killed or maimed by explosions each month...
MSD 101: Bellows coupling stiffness
On faster servo systems even small powertrain flexibility variations can compromise positioning accuracy...
What you need to know about mechanical torque limiters
Advanced learning at your desk, at your pace...
Off to a Good Start
Conveyor drive technology offers several choices for reliable, performance-driven systems. Depending on budget constraints, cost may have a greater influence than technology. Regardless, the best designs are those that beat or meet starting and running criteria...
Eye on Connectivity
Opportunities for factory-floor automation open up with industrial Ethernet...
Rolling up their sleeves
Graphite-matrix journal bearings are doing battle to extend the limitations of extreme temperature, load, and washdown environments...
Field Report: Project: Personal CNC router
Stepper and driver package increases positioning and cutting speeds of small, personal CNC routers to that of much larger machines...
MSD 101: Oil Misting
Lubricant is an integral part of bearings. In critical applications where speeds run high, sometimes a constant spray of oil (or an oil-bath to the bottom rolling element middle)...
Better by Design: Alpha Dog
Couplings transmit power perfectly — when shafts are perfectly aligned. Flawed installations cause parallel and angular offsets leading to vibration and fatigue...
Design by Objective: Vibration & noise
Excessive vibration and noise are not viewed as marks of a high-quality product. Motion System Design asked industry experts how to deal with the shakes and rattles...
In the Loop: When all else fails - Part 1
You will find in this issue, on page 46, a tribute to Nobel Prize winners who made their mark in physics from 1901 to 1950...
Course Audit: Introduction to closed-loop control
All motion control systems aim to maneuver loads down paths with a predefined motion. If this intended motion is achieved by comparing actual load motion to desired motion and then making corrections, the system is closedloop...
Field Report: Scalpel...clamp...actuator?
Medical equipment designers look for a miniature linear solution...
Field Reports: On a Roll
A disc coupling that can accommodate misalignment solves a paper plant's frequent equipment failures...
Better by Design: Makes Sense
A new type of feedback device employing an inductive scanning mechanism rivals low-end absolute encoders in terms of performance, and resolvers in terms of price...
In the Loop: Chalk one up for Math
When Thomas Edison founded the General Electric Company in 1886, he wanted to staff up as quickly as possible with top engineering talent...
Silver Linings
Slewing bearings offer an elegant solution to applications, large and small...
Better by Design: Swing It
Dc chokes are often used to reduce ac motor-drive harmonics. Although they operate effectively when the motor is at full load...
Design by Objective: Efficiency
Sometimes misused components drag systems down; other times compromised setups limit output. With the need for improved efficiency, the editors of Motion System Design asked industry experts how efficiency can be increased...
Field Report: Matters of the heart
Stent-manufacturing machines use encoders for precise segmental compression at high speeds...
Field Report: Robotic remedy
A SCARA robot with vision guidance loads pharmaceuticals into cavity blister packs with little scrap...
Industry Viewpoint: Design-Driven Manufacturing Saves Jobs
C ompeting on price alone is suicidal for companies in the developed world. "It is impossible to compete with lowwage countries" is heard everywhere...
Simulation Station: Fields of Glory
3Delectrostatic simulation software helps in the design and analysis of electronic equipment and components, including striplines, high-voltage insulators, MEMS, bushings, and shielding...
In the Loop: Well wishes for the healthcare industry
Severals years ago, my mother-in-law went to her doctor for a routine checkup. A health-conscious, active woman, then in her early fifties, she was told everything was fine...
Brushing Up: Ohm Sweet Ohm
In 1827, George Simon Ohm, a German physicist, published a paper titled, "The Galvanic Circuit Investigated Mathematically"...
Oh, baby! Device measures delivery force
When the birth of a baby does not proceed smoothly, how much force should a doctor or midwife apply? If a complicated delivery takes too long...
Field Report: Easier to convey
A versatile drive replacement package cuts downtime on auto assembly conveyors...
Little pump finds big success
Spurred on by a leading Fortune 100 medical system corporation, Hargraves Technology Inc., Mooresville, N.C., has improved pump head efficiency for its line of micro vacuum pumps and compressors...
Breathe easy with proportional flow control valves
The Matrix 860 series air/gas proportional flow control valve, known for its versatility and accuracy, finds application in critical care breathing apparatus...
COC film sterilization gains steam
Ticona, the technical polymers business of Celanese AG, has developed the first cycloolefin copolymer (COC) blends that allow blister packaging made from Topas COC film to be steam sterilized...
Motor stators help kids spend less time in the hospital
Children who have lost part of their leg bones to cancer are benefiting from a new procedure that eliminates years of painful surgery...
MSD 101: Servocoupling dynamics
There's a Japanese saying that the nail that sticks up will be hammered down. Servocouplings were developed when servodrives and positioning feedback got accurate enough to make the backlash...
In the Loop: Public Relations 101
I recently received an unsolicited manuscript for publication, billed as a design story on how to apply linear motors. In reality, the article is about a commercial line of linear stages...
Design by Objective: Rough neighborhoods
What's considered an "extreme" environment today? In what sorts of applications are extreme environments most likely to appear, and why...
Eye Spy
Locating and positioning work, tracking the flow of parts, and inspecting output for quality and consistency — easy enough, right...
Design by Objective: High Speed
In today's world, faster equals better. With the need for speed increasing, the editors of Motion System Design asked industry experts for application tips and guidelines when designing a high-speed motion system...
Course Audit: Brushless linear motors
Advanced learning at your desk, at your pace / Multi-part series...
Power Transmission: Even the Worm Will Turn
Think worm gearing is a moderately efficient way to get motion done? The humble worm gear is proving that its full potential has not been realized just yet...
Power Transmission: Taking one for Science
A linear slide on a microarray and analyzer endures forces in excess of 20 gs...
A stitch to save time
Improving on semiautomated processes - machines that require operators to guide framed quilts by hand - the new systems can stitch almost any pattern all by themselves...
Packaging Focus: Ac motor "brakes" into unwinding
Traditionally, mechanical brake and air-supply systems have provided brake control to processors unwinding or holding back a strand or web. But air brakes and their air-supply system...
Automation Solution Provider: Weathering the Tough Times
Gene Kalhorn fondly remembers the day four years ago that he and his wife purchased TAPCO, a Cincinnati- based Automation Solution Provider...
Dynamic ceramics
Ceramic balls have world-famous surfaces and precision geometry...
Powers of Induction
A kind of electrical inertia, inductance is a circuit’s ability to store energy in electromagnetic fields...
Inductive leap
One way to sense linear displacement is through the relative movement of an optically grated glass scale...
