Drives & Controls Magazine July/August 2023

50 CONTENTS n Drives & Controls is a controlled circulation publication. If you live in the UK and want to subscribe phone 0333 577 0801 or fax 0845 604 2327. Alternatively for both UK and overseas subscriptions please subscribe online at www.drivesncontrols.com. If you have any enquiries regarding your subscription, please use these numbers. The content of this magazine, website and newsletters do not necessarily express the views of the Editor or publishers. The publishers accept no legal responsibility for loss arising from information in this publication. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced or stored in a retrieval system without the written consent of the publishers. Paid subscriptions UK: £110 per annum Europe: £145 per annum Rest of World: £180 per annum Printing: Warners Midlands PLC., PE10 9PH ISSN 0950 5490 Copyright: DFA Media Group 2023 NEXT ISSUE The September issue of Drives & Controls will contain a special section on energy efficiency, as well as a feature covering developments in the food and beverage industry, and a look at what’s been happening in the world of service and repairs. UPDATE 14 Comment 17 ABB Back to Basics 56 Gambica column 58 New Products 62 Design Data and Multimedia 185 Products & Services IN DEPTH Follow us on Twitter @DrivesnControls Drives Magazine Web site www.drivesncontrols.com Follow us on LinkedIn @ Drives & Controls Join us on Facebook Drives & Controls Drives& Controls REGULARS DfA media group 38 36 28 18 5 62 DRIVES & CONTROLS July/August 2023 Vol 39 No 7 Editor Tony Sacks t: 01732 465367 e: tony@drives.co.uk Consultant Editor Andy Pye t: 07808 137312 e: andy.pye@dfamedia.co.uk Production Manager Sarah Blake t: 01233 770781 e: sarah.blake@dfamedia.co.uk Operations Manager Emma Floyd t: 01732 370340 e: emma.floyd@dfamedia.co.uk Marketing Executive Hope Jepson t: 01732 370340 e: hope.jepson@dfamedia.co.uk Financial Finance Department t: 01732 370340 e: accounts@dfamedia.co.uk ADVERTISING Sales Director Damien Oxlee t: 01732 370342 m: 07951 103754 e: damien.oxlee@dfamedia.co.uk Sales Manager Andy Wylie t: 01732 370341 e: andy.wylie@dfamedia.co.uk DFA Direct Ian Atkinson t: 01732 370340 e: ian.atkinson@dfamedia.co.uk Italy Oliver & Diego Casiraghi e: info@casiraghi.info t: +39 031 261407 f: +39 031 261380 Managing Director Ryan Fuller t: 01732 370344 e: ryan.fuller@dfamedia.co.uk Chief Executive Officer Ian Atkinson t: 01732 370346 e: ian.atkinson@dfamedia.co.uk Reader/Circulation Enquiries Perception-MPS Ltd t: 01825 701520 e: cs@perception-sas.com HEAD OFFICE DFA Media Group 192 High Street, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1BE t: 01732 370340 f: 01732 360034 e: info@dfamedia.co.uk www.drivesncontrols.com 5 News A round-up of the latest business and industry developments from around the world. 18 Technology Cutting-edge innovations in motion, power transmission, controls and related technologies. 28 Automatica Show After a few years of Covid-induced disruption, the German Automatica robotics and automation exhibition returned in June with numbers of exhibitors and visitors that approached pre-pandemic levels. We look at some highlights from the show. 30 Robotics and Automated Manufacturing Four experts consider whether automation is heading for a tipping point. Plus we report on a UK project that is using robots to embed wiring in complex components, examine how ‘the world’s most remote robot’ is being used to plant seedlings in the Amazon jungle, and consider functional safety in a digital world. 38 Transportation Industrial automation and motion technologies are increasingly being applied to all forms of transportation, on roads, in the air and on the water. We report on some recent developments, including a pair of electric boats that are hitting high speeds riding on hydrofoils, and a UK project that is using motion controls to help make tilt-rotor aircraft more stable. 46 Clean Energy We examine some of the ways that industrial technologies are helping to capture and store energy, including a German scheme that is heating and cooling an industrial park using water drawn from an abandoned mine. Plus we look at some of the technologies being used to automate the labour-intensive business of building solar farms. 55 PPMA Preview The UK’s largest processing and packaging machinery, robotics and industrial vision event, PPMA Show 2023, will be returning to the Birmingham NEC next month. We look ahead to what visitors can expect to see. 60 46 20,042 Average net circulation January to December 2021 56 55 63 ANNUAL BUYER’S GUIDE This issue contains the 2022/2023 edition of the industry “bible” for power transmission, automation and motion engineers, telling you who sells what and how to get in touch with them.

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