Machine Building

Robot mannequin "˜Porton Man' moves with igus

A robotic mannequin has been recently developed by a British engineering company, i-bodi Technology, a subsidiary of Crawley Creatures Ltd, to help the Ministry of Defence test chemical and biological (CB) protective suits and equipment for its Armed Forces. The "˜Porton Man' uses state-of-the-art technology to simulate the full leg, arm and head movements of a human, as well as breathing. This allows tests of how protective clothing stands up to such action without exposing the wearer to the dangerous substances.

14th October 2014

Industrial robot controls positioning and silicone application

Robots are playing their part in making Stretchline Holdings world leaders in the development and manufacture of textile elastics. The innovative use and application of silicone material, for compression or grip, to textiles for fashion, medical, sports wear and every day garments has been made cost effective by the flexibility and control offered by industrial robots.

10th October 2014

One-stop coding shop for Hotel Chocolat

Hotel Chocolat, which owns more than 70 stores in the UK and is engaged in an expansion programme in the USA and Middle East, is a leading premium chocolatier and the only UK company to grow cocoa on its own plantation. Working with Markem-Imaje, Hotel Chocolat has recently installed eight new coding machines at its factory in Huntingdon as part of a project to further improve print quality on the production line and overall operational efficiency, as well as improving environmental performance and reducing waste.

10th October 2014

Machined springs meet the needs of downhole measurement system

Abssac has developed a machined spring design for a customer needing to measure a compressive/tensile load of over 22kN in a very constrained spatial envelope.

8th October 2014

Festo's CPX platform - complete automation

Much like the mainland UK, Guernsey has been ravaged by the forces of nature this year. But thanks to a remotely controlled, pneumatically operated pumping station that was completed last year, one area of the island has escaped damage from the resulting floods.

8th October 2014

Custom designed temperature probes meet high quality standards

SPA Design is one of the UK's leading suppliers to the worldwide motorsport industry, designing and manufacturing very high-quality digital and analogue instrumentation products, speciality electronics systems and accessories for original autosports equipment manufacturers, competition vehicles, motorcycles, kit and custom cars, trucks, motorcycles, motorsports boats and more. As part of this comprehensive range, SPA supply various combinations of digital temperature monitoring gauges that provide highly accurate information in real time with the ability for outputting user-programmed alarms such as LED indicators, changing LCD backlight colour or digital output to ECUs.

7th October 2014

Multi-biofuel heating plant parallels 2022 emission targets

A world-class 30MW multi-biofuel plant in Hjørring, northern Jutland, Denmark achieves exceptionally low emission levels, and at the same time is one of the most efficient plants of its kind in the world. Its competitive status as one of the most internationally efficient biofuel plants ever built is achieved by high demands placed on all equipment. These demands include maximal implementation of the newest IE4 synchronous reluctance (SynRM) motor technology, driving the numerous pumps and fans throughout the plant. Performance of each SynRM motor is enabled by Danfoss frequency converters.

7th October 2014

Unidrive M driving the future of rotary perforator systems

As 21st century technology evolves it might appear that the once great-perforated "˜lick and stick' postal stamp is disappearing in favour of self-adhesive variations. However in certain areas of the world, this is far from the case and this long-established industry is still growing.

3rd October 2014

Shielded ABB motor helps wind tunnel avoid overheating

An excessive temperature rise within a new £55 million wind tunnel is avoided by encasing a specially adapted ABB motor within a special shield. The wind tunnel built by Mercedes AMG Petronas at Coventry University's engineering and computing facility is used to model a wide range of objects from F1 racing cars to bicycles.

2nd October 2014

Linear chain takes the heat at BMW Mini

The capabilities of the Linear Chain Actuator from R. A. Rodriguez have assisted Maypole Engineering in the design and manufacture of a turnkey conveyor and oven system for the main BMW Mini wiring loom. Its compact design and ability to operate without pneumatics helped ensure the success of the project. In fact, the system could become a BMW standard - Maypole reports it now has enquiries for further systems from South Africa, China and the Netherlands.

1st October 2014