February 1, 2010
Features
Variable frequency drives: Shaped control + efficiency
Adjustable or variable frequency drives AFDs or VFDs use rectifiers to convert ac powerline electricity into direct current. Then inductor-capacitor filters...
Conveyors deliver products, people across many settings
From grocery store checkout lanes and ski lifts to moving sidewalks and airport baggage systems, conveyors are part and parcel of modern life. Within...
Talent knows no color line
In the 1950s, the decade in which Motion System Design was first published, our inaugural issues were what some might call plain vanilla. Paging through...
Virtual modeling: Measure twice; cut once
Virtual modeling with software verifies components concurrent with other development tasks, while virtual integration can prevent inferior quality or...
Lifting limitations with air bearings
Conventional stages with rolling steel bearings exhibit friction and other mechanical nonlinearities; they are also dependent on servo-loop filters (including...
Go long: Rack and pinion systems
Linear motion is indispensable to moving machines; it transports tools and products efficiently and controllably. The mechanisms that generate linear...
Making sense of Temperature sensing
Temperature measurement basics Tips from Omega Engineering Inc., Stamford, Conn. Temperature can be measured using a diverse array of sensors, all of...
Editorial
Help for Haiti from engineers, others
Tragedy has a way of putting things into perspective. While most Americans were safe and living in relative comfort but fretting about our lackluster...
In response
Memo to Emerson's CEO It was good to see that two of your readers recognize the problem with the economy, whereas the CEO of Emerson is still playing...
What's New
CC-Link IE extends Industrial Ethernet to field device level
Although not as widely installed as DeviceNet, Profibus, or Profinet in the U.S., CC-Link is the number one device-level network in Asia and one with...
Safety symposium to focus on cyber security
The International Society of Automation, Research Triangle Park, N.C., announces that the 2010 Industrial Automation Safety and Security Symposium, sponsored...
Win cash prizes in cable carrier contest
Cable carriers ensure the safe supply of energy, data, and other media, and a new contest aims to honor the engineers who make the most of them....
Biz bits
Cognex appoints new president Cognex Corp., Natick, Mass., a supplier of machine vision systems, announces the promotion of Robert Willett to president...
Resistive magnet record returns to Florida
Scientists who do research at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla., once again have a new world-record...
GREEngineering
Green gearmotors
means different things to different people. For most, it refers to energy efficiency, and that's probably the easiest way to think about it: Minimize...
Products
Brushless dc motor
The brushless EC 25 dc motor is designed for high-speed applications up to 70,000 rpm and has low-vibration characteristics and minimized scale...
Flanged gearbox
The RW8 gearbox with NEMA-23 input flange features 1:1 to 120:1 ratios, torques to 40 lb-in., and input speeds to 5,000 rpm...
Standard rack and pinion drives
Both helical and straight (spur) tooth rack and pinion drives are available in an assortment of sizes, materials, and quality levels, to meet almost any axis drive requirements...
Integral connector
An integral connector makes integrating TorquePower Plus rotary stepper motors and AxialPower Plus linear actuators easier...
Planetary-gear reducers
The PE Series of planetary gear reducers, for servo or stepper-motor applications, come in 50 to 118 mm and NEMA-17 to 42 output faces...
Low-inertia servocouplings
High-torque BKZ bellows servocouplings support faster and more efficient manufacturing...
Linear actuator
The G4 Canstack linear actuator uses optimized teeth geometry and high-energy neodymium magnets...
Actuators combine motor, electronics, mechanics
MDrive linear actuators are available in three NEMA motor sizes (14, 17, and 23) and two shaft styles (captive and noncaptive)...
Infrared probe
The TS 642 touch probe features a mechanical activation microswitch in the taper shank for applications that don't permit infrared activation...
Nanopositioning stage controllers
Nanopositioning stage controllers with 24-bit resolution allow better than 100 picometers of command resolution for long travel...
Linear slides and stages
New lineup of manually driven positioning slides and stages are available...
