Motion Control Web

Motion Control – Medical Application

Motion Control – One advanced technology company is taking on the challenge of developing hand-held, robotic surgical instruments to help patients hurt less and heal faster.  High torque maxon motors ensure jerk-free movement of the tool.

Fall River, MA — Motion Control – It may sound unbelievable, but some tools that physicians use to perform invasive surgery were originally developed in the 1930s and have gone through minimal updating since.

Most often, these tools have been efficient enough to do the job, even if patients took a long time to heal.

Motion Control – FDA/USDA Compliant Application

E. Longmeadow, MA – — Motion Control – Application. What do you do when you’re linear actuator bearings are including cheese debris? Particularly when your cheese slicing system requires FDA/caustic washdown compliance and FDA inspectors are on site reviewing all process operations for included debris which can propagate harmful bacteria.

Motion Control – Micro-Sized Servo Drives!

Vaughan, Ontario, Canada — Motion Control  — ADVANCED Motion Controls has released 7 new micro-sized FlexPro servo drives rated to output 60A continuous. The 60A continuous current rating is 33% higher than previous models for the same size making these our highest power-density servo drives to date. This offering includes PCB Mount, Machine Embedded, and Development Board-factors.

Motion Control – Vertical Lift Stage

Van Nuys, CA – — Motion Control Components – The AT20-100 Motorized Vertical Lift Stage from Optimal Engineering Systems, Inc. (OES) is a very stable, high precision, high load vertical lift stage that can be easily integrated into almost any application. The large 120 mm x 180 mm (4.72 in. x 7.08 in.) drilled and tapped platform has a vertical travel of 100 mm (3.93 in.) and features: 3.315 µ (non- Micro-Step) resolution, 5 µ repeatability, and 15 µ positional accuracy. The precision ground lead screw, precision linear bearings, and the rigid box construction of the moving component of the elevator stage assures smooth, flat (parallel to mounting surface) vertical motion.

Motion Control – Yaw-Pitch-Roll Stages

Van Nuys, CA – Motion Control – Three new high accuracy Yaw-Pitch-Roll stages have been introduced by OES (Optimal Engineering Systems, Inc.), the YPR100-10-15-01 (stepper motor driven – pictured), the YPR100-10-15-02 (brushless servo motor driven) and the YPR100-10-15-03 (DC servo motor driven). These Yaw-Pitch-Roll stages are ideal for the precise measurement of compound angles or the curvature of an object. 

The Yaw axis (bottom stage) is capable of rotation of large angles and features a 180:1 ratio gear.

Motion Control – Voice -Coil Stage

Van Nuys, CA – Motion Control – Components -– Moticont’s VCDS-051-032-01 series of linear motion control voice coil stages features a voice coil motor, a ball bearing linear slide, home switch, and an integral optical quadrature encoder with differential outputs. Measuring 5.000 in (127.0 mm) long x 2.00 in. (50.8) wide x 2.875 in. (73.0 mm) high, the VCDS-051-089-01 series stages have a linear travel of 0.97 in. (24.6 mm); a continuous force of 6.3 lbs (28.2 N) and a peak force of 20.0 lbs (89.9 N) (at a 10% duty cycle).

Innovative Motion Control – Mars Helicopter!

Innovative Motion Control – The Mars helicopter team is awarded the Collier Trophy for being the first aircraft to achieve powered, controlled flight on another planet. NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter flies with electric motors from the Swiss company maxon, a provider of precision drives. This prestigious award was presented on June 9th in Washington DC by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA)

The Swiss specialist for quality drives maxon is a developer and manufacturer of brushed and brushless DC motors, as well as gearheads, encoders, controllers, and entire mechatronic systems. maxon drives are used wherever the requirements are particularly high: in NASA’s Mars rovers, in surgical power tools, in humanoid robots, and in precision industrial applications, for example. To maintain its leadership in this demanding market, the company invests extensively in research and development. Worldwide, maxon has 3,059 employees at nine production sites and is represented by sales companies in more than 30 countries.

Taunton, MA — Innovative Motion Control – Application – Sachseln, Switzerland – NASA’s Mars helicopter is the first controlled aircraft in history to be used on a planet other than Earth, laying the way for future airborne exploratory missions to other planets. The pioneer project has been developed by a team of engineers, including from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), AeroVironment and maxon.

Motion Control – Zirconia Ceramic Radial Bearings

E. Longmeadow, MA — Motion Control – LM76 has announced the release of their new line of Radial Ball Bearings featuring ZrO2 (Zirconia) Ceramic balls. To Complement LM76’s broad range of Linear Bearings that are FDA/UDSA/3A Dairy compliant, as well as linear bearings for extreme environments; they have added Deep Groove bearings which accommodate radial and axial loads, Angular Contact bearings for simultaneously handling radial and axial loads, Spherical Bearings which are self aligning, and Thrust Bearings for high axial loads. Each of the four types of metric bearings are available in a wide range sizes.

The advantages of ZrO2 ceramic balls are: FDA/USDA/3A Dairy/Caustic washdown compliant, lighter than steel balls and can be used at extreme RPMs, they withstand higher loads without spalling, have a lower coefficient of friction, are inert to chemicals, have no magnetic signature, and are non conductive.

Motion Control – Brushless AC Servo Motors!

Motion Control – These enhanced, high-performance motors are MilSpec 810E rated and IP67 sealed. They are supplied standard with a stainless-steel shaft and chemical agent-resistant paint for reliable duty in harsh environmental conditions.

Vaughan, Ontario, Canada — Motion Control – Kollmorgen has recently introduced the new EKM series of Enhanced, High-Performance, Brushless AC Servo Motors. EKM Series Motors are Mil-Spec 810E rated and IP67 sealed for duty in harsh environmental conditions.

Motion Control – Maxon Application!

In 2022, Olympic silver medalist Mathias Flückiger rides for the Thömus-maxon cross-country racing team.

Taunton, MA — Motion Control – Swiss bicycle manufacturer Thömus and drive specialist maxon are entering into a partnership in cross-country cycling. As part of this cooperation, maxon is providing its e-bike platform to Thömus as the basis for an electric mountain bike for World Cup training. They also plan to make this bike available to the retail trade in the future.

Motion Control – Frameless Servos for Robots

Vaughan, Ontario, Canada — Motion Control – Components — Kollmorgen has introduced the new TBM2G series of frameless servo motors, introducing features that simplify the design of collaborative, surgical, aerospace and defense and other robots while delivering optimal performance in a lighter, more compact package. These new motors will complement Kollmorgen’s existing TBM and KBM series of frameless motors.

Resulting from several years of research, testing and customer feedback, the TBM2G series offers high-performance torque in an extremely compact electromagnetics package. These next-generation motors enable robots with lower joint weight, higher load-carrying capacity, improved energy efficiency, lower thermal rise, and faster, smoother movements.

Motion Control – Vertical Rotary Stage

Van Nuys, CA – — Motion Control – The precision AR59-AV Motorized, 30 mm Clear Aperture Vertical Rotation Stage from Optimal Engineering Systems, Inc. (OES) features a 180:1 precision worm drive and deep grove ball bearings for a high resolution of ± 0.001O when microstepping (10 micro steps-per-step). The parallelism of the table is less than 50µm. The AR59-AV vertical rotation stage is ideal for: Micro robotics, metrology, vision systems, positioning of mirrors and lasers, laser machining or scribing, electronic assembly, testing, and photonics.

Motion Control – Precision Positioning Stages!

Van Nuys, CA —– Motion Control – Build-to-Order High Precision XZR Positioning Stages (X-axis, Z-axis, and Rotary- axis) are the newest addition to the OES (Optimal Engineering Systems, Inc.) family of motion control stages.  When specifying an XZR stage a user can select from a combination of linear stages with travel lengths of 15 mm, 30 mm, 50 mm, and 75 mm for the X and Z axes that feature high precision 1 mm per turn lead screws.  For the rotary axis a 60 mm diameter rotary table or 100 mm diameter rotary table are available.

Motion Control Innovation – Solar Powered Drone

Motion Control Innovation – XSun designs and manufactures a drone that is both energy-independent and can make its own decisions, for fully-automated missions. The company needed reliable, high-performance sub-assemblies to design it’s SolarXOne. This is why the start-up approached maxon for the propulsion system.

Fall River, MA — Motion Control Innovation -Benjamin David, benefiting from a decade of experience at Airbus Defense & Space, created the company XSun based on a rather simple idea: Adapting space technologies for use at lower altitude. This approach produced SolarXOne: A solar-powered, electrical, self-contained drone with a tandem wing design. SolarXOne, with its dragonfly-like design, has excellent aerodynamic performance and a large surface area of solar panels, to collect as much solar energy as possible. This is all within a very high-performance, fully-electric environment.

To see YouTube video click HERE

Motion Control – FDA/Dairy Washdown System

E. Longmeadow, MA – — Motion Control – Application  – Dairy machinery manufacturers are under intense scrutiny by FDA inspectors when it comes to FDA material and caustic washdown compliance. Recently, LM76 was called by a large US dairy packaging company to review a problematic portion of their filling line. After each shift, the filling line is washed-down, has a caustic foaming agent applied to kill bacteria and then is final rinsed. The caustic foaming agent was destroying – literally eating – the aluminum shaft supports while shafting exhibited pitting and showed signs of minor corrosion. Additionally, there were areas where product got trapped and these locations were havens for bacterial growth. Because this system was in-place and our customer was the end-user, LM76 engineers had to use direct drop-in replacement com¬ponents. What to do?

Motion Control –  Right Angle Gearheads

Vaughan, Ontario, Canada — Motion Control — ADVANCED Motion Controls has released a new 60A continuous FlexPro servo drive model FM060-60C-CM. This model is the second “machine embedded” version in this power range adding CANopen communication to the previously released EtherCAT version.

The 60A continuous current rating means the servo drive can operate at the 60A peak rating continuously with no need for current foldback.  This feat is impressive because the new model is in the same package size as our “micro-sized” FlexPro models meaning up to four units can fit within the footprint of a business card.

Motion Control – High Precision Elevator Stage

Van Nuys, CA – — Motion Control Components – The AZ60-A Motorized Vertical Elevator Stage from Optimal Engineering Systems, Inc. (OES) is a low profile, compact 183.7 mm x 80 mm x 38 mm x 42mm (raised), (7.232in x 3.150 in. x 1.496 x 1.654 in.) low cost, high resolution, wedge type, vertical elevator stage for applications requiring precise vertical positioning. The 60 mm x 95 mm (2.362 in. x 3.740 in.) drilled and tapped stage has a vertical travel of 4 mm (0. 157 In.).

Motion Control – Electric Cylinder!

Van Nuys, CA — motion control – Moticont has introduced their highest force linear actuator in their DDLM Linear Actuator Series. The DDLM-038-051-01Linear Actuator is a low cost non-commutated linear actuator that is easily integrated into new and existing applications, and is the ideal choice when upgrading from a pneumatic system. Compact, clean, and quiet, this fully enclosed linear actuator, also referred to as an electric cylinder, is 1.500 in. (38.1 mm) in diameter with a housing length of 2.00 in. (50.4 mm) long.

Motion Control – Application – Underwater Inspection

Motion Control – Application – Inspecting flooded pipes of power plants requires skilled, high-precision handling. And the robotic vehicles have to be optimized accordingly, for example to dive 20 m deep. The new seawater manipulator is capable of maneuvering underwater in pipes, where it can be used to perform inspections. RE motors by maxon are responsible for the dynamic drive of the robot.

Taunton, MA — Motion Control Application – In robotics, manipulators are those devices that enable physical interaction with their surroundings. For this interaction, the robotic vehicles are equipped with appropriate tools, gripper systems or measuring devices. In the case of the seawater manipulator, this equipment largely consists of high-performance cameras used for pipe inspection. Ibass, from Augsburg in Germany, develops, manufactures and distributes manipulators for various in-pipe applications: inspection, grinding, welding, retrieval or suction.

E. Longmeadow, MA – Motion Control – Low cost, SAIBO SB-LGV Straight and Curved Rail & Roller Block Systems are available exclusively from LM76 in three widths, and two styles to meet load requirements up to 7200 N. (1619 lbs). These low profile linear and curved rail systems feature: Low noise, smooth travel, high speed, low weight, high accuracy, sealed radial low friction bearings, low cost, and easy installation into new and existing applications. Long life, SB-LGV Straight and Curved Rail & Roller Block Systems are available in lengths to 2000 mm (79 in.) and curved sections with radiuses from 79.5 mm (3.13 in.) to 516.5 mm (20.3 in.) in 90O, 180O, and 360O sections.