Machine Building

Pilz works with machine builder to implement new safety concept

German company Herbst was working on the delivery of a specialist horizontal mixing machine when some of the fundamental framework conditions changed close to the delivery date - meaning that the safety concept for the machine had to be adapted as quickly as possible. Within a few days, Pilz worked with Herbst to incorporate the PSENmlock safety gate system, which met the new requirements.

24th January 2020

Spelsberg GRP enclosure installed in UK's deepest mine

Over a kilometre under the North Sea - 8 miles from dry land - sits a Spelsberg GRP enclosure. It is installed at the face of the UK's deepest mine as part of an Air Spectrum dust suppression system - this an environment so alien that NASA rovers, dark matter experiments and underground labs all call this place home. This is Boulby Mine, the frontline of Cleveland Potash Limited's polyhalite mining operations.

24th January 2020

Slimline short-stroke linear position sensor in race car clutch

With a housing diameter of just 19mm, customised stroke range of anything from 2mm to 50mm and linearity to +/- 0.25 per cent, Positek's P118 series pushrod style linear position sensors are well suited to precision measurement tasks where space is at a premium and where durability, reliability and affordability are key factors.

24th January 2020

Robot applies labels accurately to strapping instead of pallets

Canned drinks are big business worldwide and the numbers involved are staggering. For example, just one of the better-known soft drink brands claims to sell 1.9 billion cans every day across the globe, and around 2.5 billion are produced annually in the UK alone. In the manufacturing and supply chain, getting the cans to the consumer makes use of proven processes that have evolved over time and which are constantly being refined as user demand and legislation changes.

24th January 2020

Hub drives - the next step for modular robots

Philip Norman, from Ross Robotics, has made his modular robots even more modular by utilising maxon motors and gearboxes. Ross Robotics specialises in remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) that are modular. The robots are designed to be made from generic parts to build robots small, medium and large. Tools and sensors are modular too and can be plugged on to suit the application. One robot can then perform different functions, which is highly unusual in the robotic world.

22nd January 2020

Bürkert delivers savings for new life science facility

Creating a new hygienic production facility that includes ATEX zone 1 areas is a complex task, especially when the facility will need over 1,400 control valves. Hygienic process systems specialist Briggs of Burton PLC called in Bürkert to help deliver a large-scale manufacturing facility for a Life Sciences company Purolite.

22nd January 2020

igus supplies machine tool maker with long-travel energy chains

Large gantry-style milling machines are the specialty of machine builder Kao Ming from Taiwan. The long travels of up to 13m provide challenging requirements for the supply of power and data. By choosing the guidelok from igus, Kao Ming decided in favour of a system that is reliable, robust and operates without support.

15th January 2020

Safe integration of tending robots with moulding machines

A collaboration between Sick and Fanuc has pioneered new safety integration for robot machine tending that points the way towards simpler, more cost-effective and adaptable systems in future. Mark Harries, a specialist Sales Engineer for Robotic Applications with Sick, explains how in this article.

10th January 2020

Heason components used in hexapod-based robotic camera system

Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC), a Nikon Company, is an award-winning designer and manufacturer of motion control hardware and software widely used in the film, television and professional photography industries. Its extensive range of camera robot systems enable high-speed, pixel-accurate and highly repeatable compound movement that is essential in enabling technology for the special effects and visual imagery we all enjoy today.

10th January 2020

Carlsberg Fredericia achieves zero accidents with cobots

Universal Robots (UR) reports that the Denmark division of Carlsberg, one of the leading brewery groups in the world, has significantly improved staff safety and taken steps towards achieving zero accidents since integrating cobots into its Fredericia-based factory.

9th January 2020