Drives & Controls April 2022

n TECHNOLOGY April 2022 www.drivesncontrols.com 24 p igus says it is the world’s first cable manufacturer to be UL AWM-certified for TPE cables that do not need added fire- retardant halogens. This is the first time that UL has recognised that halogen-free TPE cables can offer fire protection. Until now, only products using flame retardants such as chlorine, fluorine or bromine, were approved. But this can change the chemical structure of the coating and reduce its mechanical strength. Igus’ alternative focuses less on preventing the spread of fire, and more on the origin of the fire through the cable. The TPE jacket mixtures resist high mechanical loads as well as external influences. They can be used in tight spaces, on dynamic, short-travel distances with accelerations of 100 m/s², or over long distances experiencing wide temperature variations. p KEB Automation has supplemented the ASCL (asynchronous closed-loop) function for encoderless control of asynchronous motors, with a new function called AsiCL (asynchronous single current closed-loop), said to achieve high torque at low speeds. Good shaft performance is possible from the lowest to the highest speeds. High- speed spindle motors for machines without speed encoders can benefit. Even with changing loads – due, for example, to torque fluctuations – the speed can be controlled continuously. This is said to be a big advantage where different tools are used in the main spindle. www.keb.co.uk p Safran Aero Boosters has awarded GE Power Conversion a contract to supply a VSD system for an aircraft motor compressor test bench at the new BeCover aerodynamics test centre that Safran is building in Belgium. The facility, due to open in 2023, will offer “unique” capabilities in Europe for testing compressors for next- generation civil and military aircraft engines. GE is supplying two MV7315 3.3kV, 6.1kA drives, a 30MW induction motor and auxiliary equipment, as well performing electrical studies, and installing and commissioning the system. p The Foresight Williams Technology Fund – a joint venture between Foresight and Williams Advanced Engineering – has invested £2.5m in a UK-Canadian business, Kognitiv Spark (KS) , which develops software that provides 3D data to support field service workers in remote locations. Its RemoteSpark augmented reality software is claimed to be the only commercially product that allows real-time sharing of 3D data between desk-based experts and field- based workers. It can maintain stable video connections even in low bandwidth environments, and offers defence-grade security. The experts can share PDFs, 3D images and animations in real-time with the field workers. www.kognitivspark.com TECHNOLOGY BRIEFS IGUS HAS ADDED A Scara (selective compliance articulated robot arm) robot to its Low Cost Automation (LCA) family of robots and other devices designed to boost the productivity of tasks such as electronic assembly and laboratory work, while cutting costs. The drylin Scara robot, priced upwards of £3,000, joins existing delta, multi-axis and gantry linear robots in the LCA range, that perform basic high-speed, low-payload automated tasks. Igus originally developed the Scara robot in response to a customer request for a machine that could pick strawberries. The 20.6kg robot has a 2kg payload, offers four degrees of freedom, and can perform 30 picks per minute. To help keep costs down, it incorporates existing igus technologies, such as belt drives, and uses stepper motors with encoders to achieve the required accuracy and speed. It is programmed using the same igus Robot Control (iRC) system as the company’s other automated systems. The standard Scara model offers 300mm of vertical travel and 560mm of axial reach. There are variants including splashproof IP44 versions for applications where water or fluid ingress may be a risk, and a version that offers 3m of vertical travel. The arm can be used with third-party end-effectors such as grippers, as well as machine vision systems. LCA product manager, Adam Sanjurgo, believes that the new arm, together with igus’ other low-cost robot technologies, will be “a game-changer”. He sees the Scara robot’s main attractions as being its “compact structure with a relatively large working area, for its vertical size, while being able to operate in a fast and flexible way.” He adds that people who have seen demonstrations of the new arm“instantly see the potential to increase productivity. We are talking to electronics manufacturers, food packers and medical companies who want to know how drylin Scara can deliver their small scale, but high-volume, assembly work.” One of the first UK adopters of the Scara arm is the Cambridge-based innovation consultancy Innvotek which is using it in a Government-backed collaborative project called Batt2TheFuture, which aims to automate the sorting of used batteries to build high-quality second-life battery packs. The idea is to use ultrasound technology and AI algorithms to inspect spent battery cells, and to grade them according to their State of Health (SoH) and State of Charge (SoC). The Scara robot technology will allow the cells to be picked up, tested and inspected automatically at a rate of about one per second, thus avoiding the high costs of dismantling and inspecting batteries by hand, which has previously made such recycling uneconomic. In particular, the technology will be used to inspect and test spent EV (electric vehicle) batteries, which must be replaced after 7-10 years of use but may still hold up to 80% of their capacity, making them suitable for other applications. www.igus.co.uk Low-cost Scara robot brings automation to new sectors The compact Scara robot makes extensive use of engineering plastics and is aimed at low- cost pick-and-place applications such as electronics production and medical labs ProfiSafe module links safety sensors to controls via IO-Link IFMELECTRONICHAS announced a device that allows users to operate standard safety sensors and actuators via IO-Link. The AL200S module uses a special ProfiSafe telegram to provide“tunnelled”communication with a safety controller. This allows it to meet SIL3 and PLe safety requirements. The module connects to ifm’s AL1400 or AL1402 IO-Link masters and provides eight safe OSSD inputs, as well as four safe outputs that are powered from a separate 24V DC supply via an L-coded M12 connector. The outputs can be configured as PNP or NPN and each has a 2A current rating, allowing the module to be used with powerful actuators. The maximum load is 6A. If the module needs to be replaced, the new device can be configured quickly and easily using the optional ProfiSafe E7700S address plug, which is simply inserted into the replacement module. The stored ProfiSafe address is transferred automatically. https://www.ifm.com/gb/en