n TECHNOLOGY July/August 2023 www.drivesncontrols.com 20 p The Japanese metals specialist Proterial (formerly Hitachi Metals) has developed a prototype electric vehicle motor using magnets that do not contain the rare-earth material neodymium. The magnets consist mainly of ferrite materials. Previously, ferrite magnets have had a strength only a tenth as much as neodymium magnets, but Proterial says it has developed a novel magnet arrangement that results in a motor powerful enough for an EV. It does not plan to make motors itself but will sell the magnets and other materials to motormakers. p At the Automatica show in Germany, Universal Robots demonstrated a software package which makes it easier to program and implement machinetending cobot applications. The Polyscope X software allows users to split code into sections which can be re-used. Each section can be optimised or adapted rapidly. Changeover times are also reduced a few minutes. www.universal-robots.com p Bristol-based Vertical Aerospace has achieved the first untethered flights of its VX4 eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft, designed to carry a pilot and four passengers up to 160km at speeds of up to 240km/h. The craft is powered by four electric propulsion systems developed by Norfolk-based Equipmake. Each system contains a lightweight, powerdense electric motor and an inverter. The aim is to certify the VX4 by the end of 2026. p The German company Realtime Robotics, which specialises in collisionfree autonomous motion planning for industrial robots, has secured an extra $9.5m million of funding for its RapidPlan software which, it claims, cuts the cost of robotic automation by two-thirds and makes robot programming up to five times faster, while eliminating collisions and removing most time-consuming manual adjustments. p An Austrian company, Blue Danube Robotics, has developed a pressuresensitive skin for robots that allows high payloads and long reaches to be combined with collaborative operation, without needing protective fences. At the recent Automatica exhibition, it demonstrated its Airskin technology on a Kuka Quantec robot, turning it into “the largest fenceless robot to date”. With Airskin, the Quantec robots can safely carry up to 300kg and reach 3.2m, at speeds of up to 2m/s. TECHNOLOGY BRIEFS Software-based EtherCat motion controller is ‘transformative’ THE TAIWANESE EDGE computing specialist Adlink Technology has announced a software-defined EtherCat motion controller that, it claims, overcomes the limits of hardware-based controllers, extending maximum axis counts from 64 to 128 axes and achieving cycle times as short as 125μs. The company says that its SuperCat technology marks “a significant advancement in EtherCat control”, enhancing performance, and streamlining the integration of automation processes, while offering cost-effective hardware and “effortless” software configuration. It adds that the “transformative” technology overcomes hardware limitations such as computing power and bandwidth, enabling seamless communication within systems and boosting performance and productivity in industries such as semiconductors, optoelectronics and electrical manufacturing. The short cycle times will help to optimise jitter control and synchronous I/O performance, especially for vertical automation applications. SuperCat can be integrated with RTOS (Realtime Operating System) to allow efficient multitasking, ensuring precise, deterministic execution. Several development teams can work simultaneously on motion control, vision, and data processing and analysis functions. SuperCat is said to be flexible in both its software functions and hardware configuration. The software offers three functional levels: point-to-point; interpolation; and application-ready packages. It is available in both USB and file license versions, for industrial PCs using Intel Atom to Xeon processors. “Our software-defined EtherCat solution redefines the possibilities of motion control and system integration, allowing our customers to unlock unprecedented performance, accelerate development cycles, and achieve significant cost savings,” says Simon You, director of Adlink’s Smart Machine Business Product Centre https://www.adlinktech.com/en/soft-motioncontrol-ethercat Adlink says its software-based motion control is easy to connect to EtherCat-supporting devices ABB HAS ADDED four new energy-saving models and 22 variants to its large robot family, claiming that they will achieve energy savings of up to 20%. The new IRB 6710, 6720, 6730 and 6740 models are suitable for payloads from 150–310kg, and reaches from 2.5–3.2m. They made their debut at the Automatica exhibition in Germany, where they were shown performing spot welding, loading and unloading tasks in a fully functional battery production cell on ABB’s stand. The improved energy efficiency is achieved using ABB’s OmniCore controller in combination with robots that are up to 10% lighter. The controller also delivers high motion control accuracy, achieving a “classleading” repeatability with a minimum deviation of 0.03mm, according to ABB. These capabilities make the modular robots ideal for complex tasks such as spot and laser welding, screwdriving and riveting. According to Marc Segura, president of ABB’s Robotics Division, the new robots offer “more choice and greater flexibility for more sustainable production. These new robots will help our customers build resilience across a range of industries including automotive, general manufacturing, foundry, food and beverage and logistics.” Energy-saving robots promise ‘class-leading repeatability’ ABB’s new industrial robots are up to 20% lighter than previous models
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ0NzM=