Industrial Technology

Give breakers a break

The experts at Murrelektronik offer advice on how to better protect your 24V DC control circuits.

23rd November 2016

Connect with success

Design engineers often see terminals as a necessary evil. They need them but, unlike many of the complex components that make up modern automation systems, they don’t do anything particularly interesting. So why spend a lot of time thinking about them? The answer, says Peter Croucher, product manager at Weidmüller UK, is that choosing the right terminals leads to financial and time savings out of all proportion to their cost.

23rd November 2016

Fast data acquisition for robots

Cameras and scanners are steadily replacing sensors in many fields of factory automation. Whereas a variety of proximity sensors were previously used to guide a robot arm, for example, that job is now being done by 3D cameras and 3D laser scanners. Selwyn Corns of Multi-Contact outlines what this means for connectors.

23rd November 2016

Controller for logic and motion needs no cooling

Suiting decentralised control cabinets, Lenze has upgraded its 3200C controller platform. The performance of the new DIN rail mounted motion control units has been boosted with new processors. Up to double the processing speed means more computing power for the control of more co-ordinated axes, for example robot cells. Because the new controllers use less current than before, heat losses are minimal so the control cabinets can be made without expensive cooling systems.

23rd November 2016

Intelligent Ethernet extender system

Phoenix Contact’s Ethernet extender system allows managed and unmanaged extenders to be connected at a distance of up to 20km using plug-and-play technology for the first time. This integration enables diagnosis of all subscribers and lines via IP as well as cost-effective connection of extensive IP networks.

17th November 2016

Rittal to build world"s most advanced production plant

Rittal is expanding its production capabilities and building the world’s most advanced production plant for compact enclosures in Haiger, Germany, with completion scheduled for 2018. Total capital expenditure will amount to 250 million euros, making it the largest single investment in the company’s history.

8th November 2016

Rittal Blue e+ cooling unit wins international award

Rittal’s Blue e+ range of cooling units have achieved another milestone by winning the 2016 Cooling Award, beating stiff competition from across the industry.

1st November 2016

Circuit protection is a vital consideration

Dr Peter Terhoeven of Eaton details how circuit protection ensures operator safety, machine uptime and manufacturing OEM profitability.

24th October 2016

Flexible design combined with high throughput

Increasing quality requirements and the desire for resource efficiency necessitate autonomous fault detection through comprehensive product and production data. In the area of quality control, goods in the production process and value chain must be reliably and uniquely identified so that they can support efficient automated control. An increasing number of these digital automation solutions are finding their way into the fashion and clothing industries, with the work of fashion leader Gerry Weber Group being a good example.

24th October 2016

To guide and protect

Choosing the right hose or cable carrier for your equipment can help prevent kinks, tangles, and other damage as machine parts extend and retract. This prevents downtime and repair costs. Justin Leonard of Igus looks into how such solutions perform under the harshest of conditions.

24th October 2016