DESIGN WORLD SEPTEMBER 2021

www.designworldonline.com

September 2021

inside: MOTION CONTROL: Standard versus custom: Which motor is right for your application?

p. 152

LINEAR MOTION: The many faces of position sensing

p. 158

THE ROBOT REPORT:

How Atlas runs, flips & vaults p.

80

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2022 indications bode well for manufacturing At the National Fluid Power’s annual International Economic Outlook Conference, Alan Beaulieu of ITR Economics spoke on “U.S. & Global Macro Trends and Impacts,” and the overall outlook is positive for the manufacturing world. In examining the U.S. economic leading trends, it seems clear that there will be a slowing ascent in the next calendar year. But Beaulieu insisted that today’s anxieties (such as supply chain issues) will ease in 2022, and next year will be a more measured business that manufacturers will enjoy — and prosper in.

Interestingly, he explained that we shouldn’t worry about interest rates; they aren’t going up anytime soon, and when they do, it will not be by a large amount. In fact, he implored the business owners in the audience to “go out there and make an acquisition now.” Beaulieu said to be aggressive with their businesses but not to use too much cash — instead, borrow money and take advantage of these low interest rates.

Concerning the physical in astructure bill that’s moving through Congress, he thinks that it will come to uition and the money will be spent in the next 5-7 years. Beaulieu, while not a fan of deficit spending, said that very little investment in in astructure has been a trend for years, and it is really needed. He described himself as a big fan of the bill, because we’ve ignored in astructure for so long. And the coming in astructure work will be a shot in the arm for the construction and related fields, positively impacting mobile equipment manufacturers.

Other interesting comments om Beaulieu included: • There is a lot of deficit spending that we’re getting away with now that we won’t be able to in the future. When inflation really heats up, it will become a disaster.

This is not a “today” problem, but it’s a future problem.

• If you believe the partisan logic that “the other party” is responsible for massive deficit spending, the data simply doesn’t support that. Both parties are equally guilty, especially when measured over decades.

• There’s a political emphasis on climate change that won’t be going away any time soon.

• What we’ve gone through over the last 18 months has made us agile and has shown us that we can change.

• There are record high new orders through 2023. Manufacturing in this country is kicking it … it’s an exciting forecast for the coming year.

• The U.S. is the second largest manufacturing and exporting nation in the world (China is number one). People who say we don’t manufacture anything here anymore, “don’t know what they’re talking about.”

• Right now, it is the workforce that is in power. You’re going to have to play that game for years to come. If you don’t like that, your options are to automate — or quit.

• You can make a very good living in the trades, and we’re finally starting to understand that in this country. If you get your child to learn a trade, they’ll be in as good of a position as that kid with a four-year college degree who graduates with a bunch of debt … and they’ll be primed to make a good living and someday retire successfully. DW

Te c h n i c a l S u p p o r t Paul J. Heney - VP, Editorial Director pheney@wtwhmedia.com

(408) 460-1345

On Twitter @wtwh_paulheney

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September 2021

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DESIGN WORLD

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Teschler on Topic

Fire in an EV is probably not something to worry about fires in 2018 where there is no loss of life, any kind of EV fire seems to make page-one headlines. Ditto for car-maker recalls of EVs to correct manufacturing defects that boost the chance of a visit from the fire department.

Nevertheless, much of the hand wringing about EV fires is probably unwarranted. To put things into perspective, statistics are that about one in every five active vehicles has been subject to some kind of recall in recent years, making an EV recall a so-what event. There aren’t enough EVs on the road to accumulate data about the likelihood of EV fires. But initial indications from the NFPA are that fires in EVs may be less common than in those with a combustion system.

The reasons aren’t difficult to understand. One interesting NFPA statistic is that only 21% of all modern-day vehicle fires have a root cause in the vehicle electrical system.

With that datum in mind, it might be reasonable to think that EVs are only about 20% as

likely as ordinary cars to have a fire.

And the fires they have may not be particularly lethal. It takes time for enough energy to accumulate and trigger thermal runaway in a battery, unlike my 1970s beater where a gas leak combined with a hot manifold quickly put the car in flames. So it’s rational to expect EVs will incorporate heat detectors able to head off such scenarios. Knowing that fires become more common as vehicles get old, a combination of safeguards and inspections can probably minimize fire risks in old EVs. All in all, one behavioral change an EV revolution should bring is less concern about fires. For myself, I still get needled occasionally by those riding with me about keeping a fire extinguisher in my back seat. DW

By petovarga | AdobeStock.com

I recently passed an unfortunate soul on the highway whose vehicle was engulfed in smoke. This incident brought back memories of my own car fire back in the 1970s. I was driving along when suddenly the guy behind me began laying on his horn for some reason. I soon learned why: He probably could see flames shooting out from beneath my car.

It turns out I had an engine fire that was probably due to a leaky fuel system, usually cited as the most common cause for car fires.

Fuel leaks can develop as a car ages and, in hindsight, was something I probably should have been looking out for, given the elderliness of the rust bucket I drove.

Fortunately the number of vehicle fires has dropped dramatically since my own incident. The National Fire Protection Association estimates the number of highway vehicle fires in 2018 was 60% lower than in 1980, and the rates of fires per billion miles driven and fire deaths per 100 billion miles driven were 81% and 65% lower, respectively. Overall, the NFPA says U.S. fire departments responded to about 212,500 vehicle fires in 2018 which killed roughly 560 civilians.

That brings us to fires in electric vehicles. While news outlets generally ignored most of the 212,500 vehicle

Leland Teschler • Executive Editor lteschler@wtwhmedia.com On Twitter @ DW_LeeTeschler

6

September 2021 www.designworldonline.com

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Technology Forward

Into a groove Not so long ago, the hot topic of conversation in additive manufacturing revolved around what would be the killer application that would enable this industry to achieve high growth. It turns out, so far, that there is likely more than one.

Applications best suited to additive technology involve custom, complex parts or a need to make less than 10,000 parts. Also, applications that need to manage weight and that can benefit from consolidated parts work well with additive manufacturing. Plus, applications that can use special materials are also a good fit for additive technology.

Those applications are aerospace, automotive, and medical.

The aerospace industry has been working with additive technology probably longer than other industries.

This industry is a near perfect fit for extracting the value that additive manufacturing can deliver. By taking advantage of more organic shapes through generative design techniques, engineers can reduce the weight of parts and manufacture them through additive technology more easily than through other manufacturing methods. One example is optimizing heat exchanger performance for aerospace. A number of examples exist of aerospace’s use of additive technology to reduce the number of components of a part from several

hundred to just a few. In addition, additive helps aerospace designers develop complex parts using super alloy materials such as Inconel that can withstand extreme heat.

For aerospace, every single one of these applications is a value-add to the performance of aircrafts and spacecrafts. Plus, the aerospace industry tends to produce products in low volumes, making additive cost competitive relative to traditional manufacturing processes. From that perspective, it’s logical that aerospace adopted 3D printing/ additive technology early.

The aerospace industry has enough confidence in additive technology that it is shifting from just using it for small parts to including the production of larger parts.

The automotive market is a few years behind aerospace in the adoption of additive technology, although it has a lot of potential.

Many applications in the auto sector tend to be dominated by prototyping-use cases, especially in electric vehicle and autonomous driving system companies that are in a race to get their products to market fast.

While you may not think of motor sports as needing high production, companies in this industry have a finite number of resources and a

finite amount of time to develop parts for their vehicles and put them to track. Motor sports has guided the developers of additive equipment in how to prepare a build, and how to handle post-processing and curing.

But automotive offers challenges to additive technology. With consumer segments, like passenger vehicles, production volumes tend to be high, which makes additive technology less useful in terms of cost effectiveness. And weight savings for this industry is not at the same level as it is with aerospace. Thus, combined with higher production volumes, additive has a larger barrier to get over.

Then, there is the medical industry, which is ahead of the curve relative to many other industries. There is high value for personalized medicine, implants, and so on, and additive makes that value more possible.

The need for personalized medical application pushed engineers to move into additive early.

In general, most industries are still in their infancy with additive and there’s a lot to learn. These industries must answer such questions as when to use additive, how to train engineers to be effective at designing for additive, and how to manage quality and validation for production.

But additive technology is certainly finding its application groove. DW

Leslie Langnau llangnau@wtwhmedia.com On Twitter @ DW_3Dprinting

8

September 2021 www.designworldonline.com

Tech.Forward.9-21_Vs2.LL.indd 8

DESIGN WORLD

9/7/21 3:13 PM

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Green Engineering

Seals help hydrogen production via electrolysis

By providing seals for electrolyzers, Freudenberg Sealing Technologies is contributing to sustainable hydrogen production based on solar and wind power. The seals are designed for automated production, enabling a rapid buildup of high manufacturing capacities.

The global production capacity for green hydrogen could increase to more than 250 gigawatts by 2030, according to a study by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The technologies needed to split water by using green power — experts are calling this electrolysis — are already well-advanced. Experts believe that membrane electrolysis, which in principle works like a fuel cell in reverse, is particularly suitable for intermittent production with a highly fluctuating power supply.

However, like the established process of alkaline electrolysis, systems for polymer membrane electrolysis so far have only been built in small quantities. Series production has only become attractive with the increased climate protection plans in China, Europe and the United States. By now, the first manufacturers are

10

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planning gigafactories, where electrolyzers with a high degree of automation can be built at significantly lower costs.

This kind of production concept, however, requires components that are designed for mostly automated assemblies om the start. This applies especially to seals, which provide reliable media separation during the electrolysis. The component size itself is one of the challenges: in some cases, seals with a diameter of up to one meter are used. Not only does this make the seals more difficult to handle, it also places high demands on the installation quality to ensure that the surface pressure is uniform and the tightness is guaranteed for the entire service life.

One of the solutions pursued by Freudenberg is based on molding the sealing material directly onto the functional part. The company is already using a similar process to produce gas diffusion layers in fuel cells. Alternatively, the

www.designworldonline.com

DESIGN WORLD

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seal can be applied to or inserted into specialized carriers, which in turn are easy to transport and install.

“In principle, we face similar challenges as when we seal large battery housings in electric vehicles,” said Technical Director Gaskets, Robert Lidster.

“That’s why we can transfer our expertise to the electrolyzer market.”

Through its work on fuel cell components, Freudenberg has also gained more than 20 years of experience in handling hydrogen. At its Munich development center in Germany, the company is even developing complete fuel cell systems now for use in commercial vehicles and ships.

Individual development, standardized production “There is no catch-all solution yet, regardless of how the electrolyzer is designed,” said Artur Maehne, Global Segment Manager, Hydrogen Technologies. “That’s why we always offer individual seal development to our customers for their specific systems.”

To this end, Freudenberg experts have developed materials with very low permeability for hydrogen.

These include special rubbers based on EPDM or fluoroelastomers (FKM). Extensive testing of the materials against aggressive media combinations in electrolysis is underway. For polymer membrane electrolysis, materials that promise a long service life of over 50,000 operating hours are already available. DW

Freudenberg Sealing Technologies www.fst.com 12

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September 2021

DESIGN WORLD

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Contents 9 • 2021

•

vol 16 no 9

•

designworldonline.com

A Supplement to Design World - September 2021 www.therobotreport.com

INSIDE: • Novanta acquisition a win-win for ATI employees ....................................................................... 58 • Metallic glass gears up for collaborative robots .............. 62

How Atlas runs, flips &

• Designing a durable cobot arm joint .................................. 68 • Quadruped learns to adapt to changing terrain in real time ................................................................ 72

• Tips for choosing your robot’s motors ............................... 88

vaults

page 80

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57-103

152 _MOTION CONTROL Standard versus custom: Which motor is right for your application?

Machine builders have a lot to consider when designing solutions for a specific application. One key consideration is to determine whether it is better to design around a standard, off-theshelf motor, or to design a custom motor that precisely matches the application requirements.

158 _LINEAR MOTION Position sensing with the multifaceted encoder

Inductive encoders and ring encoders join more common position measuring techniques and component configurations to solve position-sensing challenges.

164 _ELECTONICS The top ten free engineering math programs

Numerous open-source software packages now provide engineering math capabilities once available only from programs that could be on the pricey side.

| Shutterstock.com

158

Engineering September 2021

How data and automation

170 _INTERNET OF THINGS Handling tablets as industrial HMIs

Industrial automation systems can incorporate consumer-grade tablets as powerful HMIs, using a specialized component to provide a secure grip and maintain safety.

176 _MECHANICAL Handling radial and thrust forces in bearings

Creating cryogenic environments for electronics

can improve production processes

COVER_FE 9-21_FINAL.indd 105

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105-134

Medical www.designworldonline.com

Where accuracy is required, it is essential to consider the forces acting on a bearing. Because a bearing typically supports the free motion of a shaft about an axis of rotation, two forces normally act on the bearing: a radial load and a thrust load.

180 _SENSORS

A supplement of Design World

A Supplement to Design World - September 2021

How bioengineers tackled the leaky mask problem Medical Tips cover 9-21_V1.indd 137

Researchers from Harvard and MIT have formed a company to mass-produce a more effective three-ply mask for everyday use.

Page 138

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137-150

This series has gone to extremes and looked at “electronics that operate in extreme heat” (up to 800°C) and “electronics that operate in extreme cold” at cryogenic temperatures.

ON THE COVER GOLD REGIONAL AWARD

Krispy Kreme lists Siemens’ variable frequency drives and controls as a secret ingredient for the company’s new manufacturing facility in Times | courtesy of Siemens Square.

asbpe.org

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September 2021

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www.designworldonline.com

DESIGN WORLD

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9.21

• contents departments 04

Insights

06

Teschler on Topic

08

Technology Forward

10 Green Engineering

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Design Notes

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CAE Solutions

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Internet of Things

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Product World

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Ad Index

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September 2021

DESIGN WORLD

9/7/21 8:28 AM

DESIGN WORLD

Follow the whole team on twitter @DesignWorld

EDITORIAL

VP, Editorial Director Paul J. Heney pheney@wtwhmedia.com @wtwh_paulheney Senior Contributing Editor Leslie Langnau llangnau@wtwhmedia.com @dw_3dprinting Executive Editor Leland Teschler lteschler@wtwhmedia.com @dw_leeteschler Executive Editor Lisa Eitel leitel@wtwhmedia.com @dw_lisaeitel Senior Editor Miles Budimir mbudimir@wtwhmedia.com @dw_motion Senior Editor Mary Gannon mgannon@wtwhmedia.com @dw_marygannon Associate Editor Mike Santora msantora@wtwhmedia.com @dw_mikesantora

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Medical Design & OUTSOURCING DESIGN WORLD

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Ball screws Miles Budimir

| courtesy HIWIN

Recall that ball screws are mechanical devices that translate rotational motion to linear motion. There are three main components of a ball screw; a nut, a screw with grooves and balls, which can be made of steel, ceramic, or hard plastic. The balls rotate between the nut, screw, and grooves when either the nut or screw rotates.

More generally, power transmission applications use one of two primary types of screw drives: those that rely on sliding contact (lead screws), for applications that require corrosion-resistance, self-locking operation, and customizable nut designs, and those that use re-circulating balls (ball screws) or rollers, for applications that require high rigidity, excellent positioning accuracy, and high duty cycles.

Among ball screws, there are two primary divisions based on the manufacturing method; ball screws with ground threads and ball screws with threads formed by rolling.

Ground ball screws have traditionally been the choice for high-precision applications, whereas rolled screws offered an economical solution for general industrial and automation applications.

In addition to some basics of ball screws such as the differences between rolled and ground ball screws, the fundamentals of preload, and ball screw standards, this installment of Motion Control Classroom also covers some basic calculations involved with preload as well as ball screw whip and how to account for shock and vibration in ball screw drives. There’s also information on types of seals for ball screws as well as some basics of ball screw operation in harsh environments.

You’ll find these and many more resources on a wide array of motion control components and systems, including other MC Classroom installments, at www.designworldonline.com/mc2/.

This educational installment sponsored by:

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DESIGN WORLD

9/2/21 2:06 PM

Linear Guides Profiled-rail linear guide

| courtesy IKO Intl.

Lisa Eitel

In a new Motion Control Classroom, the editors of Design World detail a variety of linear-guide technologies — including roller rail guides. These use cylindrical or barrel-shaped rollers instead of spherical balls for the load-bearing elements and are typically associated with machine-tool applications. But the performance benefits that rollers bring to machining centers can be worthwhile in other applications as well.

Higher load capacity: When subjected to a load, rollers form line contact with the guide surface, which is much larger than the point contact that is formed when balls are subjected to a load. This gives roller rail guides higher load capacities than ball rail guides of the same size.

NORMAL LOAD F

L CYLINDRICAL ROLLER

2b d

LINEAR TRACK (RACEWAY)

Ability to downsize: The higher load capacity and longer life of roller bearings mean that designers can o en use roller bearings that are one or two sizes smaller than the ball bearings that would be needed to get an equivalent travel life.

Downsizing of the linear bearings can be especially beneficial in multi-axis or gantry applications, where weight saved on one axis has a trickle-down effect on the supporting axes, potentially saving tens of thousands of dollars in component costs.

Case in point: In a three-axis Cartesian or gantry system, reducing the mass of the Z axis reduces the static and dynamic forces on the Y axis, which means that the Y axis can potentially be downsized. Likewise with the X axis, reducing the mass of the Y and Z axes may allow downsizing of the X axis, because the forces acting on it are reduced. This downsizing applies to the linear guides and drive mechanism (whether linear motor, ball screw, or otherwise) and motor along with other components such as couplings, gearboxes, and cable carriers. This provides savings in material cost, energy usage, and space.

Higher rigidity: The line contact formed by rollers also provides higher rigidity than the point contact formed by balls, which is the primary reason that roller rail guides are so widely adopted in machine tools. One caveat is that the line contact that rollers form with the raceway leaves nowhere for the debris to go outside the load zone, so any debris that makes its way into the bearing will degrade life and performance …

This educational installment sponsored by:

Read more on this linear-guide topic (and access other MC2 installments) by visiting designworldonline.com/MC2.

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Design for Industry Aerospace/Military

More processing power for real-time tactical decision making

The SCFE6931 processing module incorporates integrated artificial intelligence (AI) processing functionality. Featuring dual Xilinx Versal AI Core adaptive compute acceleration platform (ACAP) processors, the 6U OpenVPX heterogeneous processing module delivers performance improvements up to 20× more than today’s fastest FPGA implementations and 100× more than today’s fastest CPU implementations.

The result is more processing power for a variety of digital signal processing-intensive (DSP) applications such as radar, 5G wireless, electronic warfare (EW) and signals intelligence (SIGINT).

The Versal ACAP AI processing power and novel architecture maximizes performance, regardless of application or data type, by incorporating scalar processing, vector processing and next-generation FPGA fabric into a single 6U module. Designed to be delivered in a variety of cooling options, the SCFE6931 suits applications that require high-performance operation in harsh environments.

Additionally, the module’s OpenVPX, SOSA-aligned design enables agile system integration. Like all Mercury FPGA boards, the SCFE6931 module is built around EchoCore IP to provide design verification testing in astructure functionality right out of the box, optimizing time-to-market and reducing development time.

Versal ACAPs have been architected to achieve new thresholds of system-level performance for a variety of aerospace and defense applications where size, weight and power (SWaP) are critical. DW Mercury Systems Inc. www.mrcy.com 22

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9/2/21 2:40 PM

POWER TRANSMISSION

RETAINING DEVICES &

Aerospace/Military

maintenance & assembly tools BEARLOK

SHOELOK

BEARLOK Shrink Disc

BEARHUG

CLAMPNUT

TANGENTLOK

Tiny but mighty servo drives For applications requiring high power in a small size, these “mini”-sized servo drives can output more than double the current and operate on higher voltage than existing microsized FlexPro drives. The mini versions have a continuous current rating of 50 amps and a peak current rating of 100 amps. This power density makes these drives suitable for use in higher power applications, unlocking new possibilities in robotics, warehouse automation, machining, aerospace.

FlexPro drives operate within a network, but like previous digital drives, they can also operate stand-alone via stored indexes and sequences with I/O. They’re capable of brushed, brushless, stepper, and linear motor control. DW

PRECISION NUTS & WASHERS

INCH and METRIC THREADS LEFT HANDED as well as RIGHT -HANDED

ADAPTER SLEEVE ASSEMBLIES

Materials of: CARBON, ALLOY and HARDENED ALLOY STEELS Materials of: ALLUMINUM and CORROSION RESISTANT STEEL

Advanced Motion Controls www.a-m-c.com NUTS & WASHERS

HARDENED TONGUE WASHERS

SPLIT COLLAR

RETHREADING DIES

ADJUSTABLE SPANNER WRENCH

BEARING ASSEMBLY SOCKET

W

HI

TT

ET

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IG

GI

NS US

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WHITTET-HIGGINS manufactures quality oriented, stocks abundantly and delivers quickly the best quality and largest array of adjustable, heavy thrust bearing, and torque load carrying retaining devices for bearing, power transmission and other industrial assemblies; and specialized tools for their careful assembly.

Visit our website–whittet-higgins.com–to peruse the many possibilities to improve your assemblies. Much technical detail delineated as well as 2D and 3D CAD models for engineering assistance. Call your local

or a good distributor.

DESIGN WORLD

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33 Higginson Avenue, Central Falls, Rhode Island 02863 Telephone: (401) 728-0700 • FAX: (401) 728-0703 E-mail: info@whittet-higgins.com Web: www.whittet-higgins.com

9/2/21 2:40 PM

Design for Industry Aerospace/Military

Get the timing right 5G technology requires time sources to be synchronized throughout a packet-switched network ten times more accurately than 4G requirements.

This requirement is achievable through a single-chip, highly integrated, lowpower, multi-channel integrated circuit (IC) coupled with IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) and clock recovery algorithm so ware modules.

The ZL3073x/63x/64x network synchronization platform implements measure, calibrate and tune capabilities, reducing network equipment time error to meet the 5G requirements. The architecture is flexible for implementing the necessary channel density. Low-jitter synthesizers help simpli the design of timing cards, line cards, Radio Units (RU), Centralized Units (CUs) and Distributed Units (DUs) for 5G Radio Access Networks (RAN).

These systems achieve International Telecommunication Union – Telecommunication (ITU-T) Standard G.8273.2 Class C (30ns max|TE|) and the emerging Class D (5ns max|TEL|) time error requirements. The architecture provides flexibility, offering up to five independent Digital Phase Locked Loop (DPLL) channels while consuming only 0.9 W of power in a compact 9 x 9-millimeter package that simultaneously reduces board space, power and system complexity.

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DESIGN WORLD

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Precision Control for Your Operations

With five ultra-low-jitter synthesizers, this platform offers 100 femtosecond (fs) root mean square (rms) jitter performance required by high-speed interfaces in the latest 5G RU, DU and CU systems.

The network synchronization platform so ware includes its ZLS30730 high-performance algorithm coupled with its ZLS30390 IEEE 1588-2008 protocol engine. Both are widely deployed in 3G, 4G and 5G networks with precise timing capabilities. DW

Microchip Technology Inc. www.microchip.com

Clutches, Brakes and Motion Control Products Clutches and brakes for complete motion control, designed to meet exact specifications. From ultra-precise medical procedures to heavy equipment across a variety of industries – CJM is everywhere.

• electrical, mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic models • system design and integration • expert engineers working on every order

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Engineering Solutions for Clutches & Brakes

Connect and discuss this and other engineering design issues with thousands of professionals online

www.cjmco.com Phone: 860-643-1531 291 Boston Tpke, Bolton, CT 06043 DESIGN WORLD

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Design for Industry Food & Beverage

Couplings deliver non-contact connection between motors and shafts Magnetic couplings suit machine designs involving food, pharmaceutical and laboratory applications requiring clean, non-contact connection between motor and sha s.

The mechanically isolated magnetic coupling transmits torque through the air. This occurs through both input and output hubs of the coupling that contain powerful rare-earth neodymium magnets. These magnets create a magnetic field that transmits torque through plastic, glass, aluminum and other minimally ferrous materials without physical engagement.

This non-contact design is important where cleanliness and motor isolation is required in the mixing system design.

The coupling is clean and operates without vibration. There is no dust, debris or mechanical wear compared to conventional couplings. Also important, this coupling has a “so er” start/stop function compared to conventional, general-purpose couplings. In addition to mechanically isolating the connecting

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sha s and motor, the coupling also isolates thermal and electrical occurrences.

These magnetic couplings have an intended engineered torque limit at a specific air gap. The transmittable maximum torque may be adjusted by increasing / decreasing distance between coupling hubs. Depending on model, size, and installed air-gap, the magnetic couplings’ maximum torque limit may be exceeded without mechanical damage.

The hub simply slips to the next magnetic pole, without noise or mechanical wear.

While the magnetic field between the two hubs will transmit rotational force, it can also act as a torque limiter in an over-load event. The transmittabletorque and slip-torque may be metered by adjusting the distance between the hubs. A er slipping, the hubs will re-engage each other and continue to transmit torque. This feature produces no mechanical wear on components.

The magnetic couplings are available in different configurations including

www.designworldonline.com

sha -to-sha , parallel cylinder, perpendicular and well as stainless and plastic clad versions for food/washdown environments.

Basic specifications are: • 4 different models in multiple sizes available • Torque: 2.66 in.-lb to 1610 in.-lb (0.3 Nm to 182 Nm) • Bore size range: 8 mm – 55 mm on butt sha configurations DW

Miki Pulley www.mikipulley-us.com

DESIGN WORLD

9/2/21 2:41 PM

Food & Beverage

Shock absorbers solve energy absorption problems When handling products in food and beverage applications, sometimes excess energy om transportation systems must be absorbed. This line of small-bore, shock-absorbers, the PXR (Platinum Extended Range) Series solves critical energy absorption needs with RoHS-compliant materials in a small package.

The PXR Series uses environmentally iendly materials and can accommodate a range of operating conditions with varying masses or propelling forces. The tamper-proof design provides consistent performance, maximum energy absorption, and high cycle rates for applications requiring best-in-class energy absorption technology. The shock absorbers also perform well in hostile environments.

Features include: • Small-form factor fits diverse application requirements • Threaded cylinders accommodate flexible mounting options • Wrench flats provide for ease of installation • Larger urethane striker cap optimizes stopping ability • Nickel-plated surface is environmentally iendly and RoHS-compliant • Tamper-proof, non-adjustable design provides additional security • Integrated positive stop capabilities reduce the need for additional hardware • Series adheres to ISO quality standards DW

Enidine Industrial, a subsidiary of ITT Inc. www.enidine.com/

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Design for Industry Food & Beverage

Cables are certified for washdown Multiple TPE-jacketed control and motor cables are certified by ECOLAB for use during washdown processes found typically in the food and beverage industries. The cables were subjected to a 28-day test using such cleaning/disinfecting substances as Topactive 200, Topactive 500, P3topax 66, P3-topactive OKTO, and P3-topax 990 along with demineralized water (used for zero-reference value).

The cables that passed include: • PVC/Nylon Insulated, TPE Jacketed, NFPA 79 Compliant Control Cables TRAYCONTROL 550 TPE TRAYCONTROL 670 HDP / TRAYCONTROL 670-C HDP

• XLPE Insulated, TPE Jacketed, NFPA 79 Compliant VFD Motor Cables TOPFLEX 650 VFD TOPFLEX 1000 VFD TOPSERV 600 VFD TOPSERV 650 VFD These cable families were tested in accordance with ECOLAB test PM 40-1, which requires cables to be completely immersed in the various cleaning/ disinfecting substances for up to 28 days at constant room temperature.

Upon completion of the immersion test, cables are then subjected to visual inspection to see if any swelling, brittleness or discoloring has occurred in comparison to the cables immersed in demineralized water.

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The complete list of ECOLAB approved cables are: • Control Cables • TRAYCONTROL 300 / TRAYCONTROL 300-C • TRAYCONTROL 300 TP / TRAYCONTROL 300-C TP • TRAYCONTROL 500 / TRAYCONTROL 500-C • TRAYCONTROL 530 / TRAYCONTROL 550 TPE • TRAYCONTROL 600 / TRAYCONTROL 600-C • TRAYCONTROL 670 HDP / TRAYCONTROL 670-C HDP • TRAYCONTROL X • MULTIFLEX 600 / 600-C

• VFD Motor Cables • TOPFLEX 600 VFD • TOPFLEX 650 VFD • TOPFLEX 1000 VFD • TOPSERV 600 VFD • TOPSERV 650 VFD DW

HELUKABEL USA, Inc. www.helukabel.com/us/

DESIGN WORLD

9/2/21 2:42 PM

Food & Beverage

Removing metal contaminants safely A part of safety involves ensuring the removal of metal contaminants in many packaging applications. These two stronger plate magnets, Xtreme Rare Earth+ and Rare Earth+ plates, incorporate an improved magnetic circuit design making them stronger than previous rare earth models.

The plate magnets have a proven history of capturing metal contaminants in chemical, food, packaging, pharmaceutical and other processing applications where product purity is vital. These magnets help against dangerous metal contamination, while also avoiding costly shutdowns and machinery damage.”

The plates show an increase in both surface gauss value and pull test strength when compared to previous generation of rare earth plates. Gauss and pull testing, the standard methods for testing a magnet’s strength, indicate a magnetic separator’s ability to deliver a pure, contaminant- ee product.

TL Design World V1.pdf

1

6/17/19

These rare earth plate magnets will be implemented in all Deep Reach, Round Pipe and Hump-Style magnetic separators.

Plate magnets can be installed in chutes, spouts, ducts, pipes, or suspended over conveyors to remove tramp iron.

These separators create a powerful magnetic field that virtually eliminates wash-off, making them suitable for shallow burdens in applications where fine magnetic particles can cause product contamination.

As a standard, these magnets use a ½-in. high 400 series stainless steel step to provide a magnetic and physical barrier to allow for removal and retention of fine ferrous contamination. DW

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Design for Industry Packaging

Keeping cool under rapid speed changes

Fan Cooled Posidyne clutch brakes allow rapid and precise stopping, starting, speed change and positioning even in harsh environments such as high heat, high cycle rates, and high inertia loads. Oil Shear technology transmits torque through lubricated surfaces so there is no wear, and no heat build-up, so the clutch brakes require no maintenance or adjustment. By adding fan cooling the housing is continuously cooled, providing as much as 4.5 times the cooling capacity of non-fan models.

The addition of a fan is recommended for applications where the input sha rotates at high speed (1800 or 1200 rpm). Elevated ambient temperatures will adversely impact the radiation cooling effect. If additional cooling is required, options available include liquid cooling, external cooling packages, and forced lube cooling. Fan cooled Posidyne clutch brakes allow cycle rates of up to 300 cycles per minute, increasing production rates with less downtime. They suit applications with equent start/stop cycles, such as indexing conveyors that feed palletizers, rotary tables, batch feeders, rotary coal samplers, cutoff machines, and more.

M

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DESIGN WORLD

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U

Faster production rates and significantly longer service life than traditional (dry) clutch/brakes (o en 5 to 10 times longer) yields increased uptime, productivity and ROI. Posidyne clutch/brakes are field proven in diverse applications such as packaging lines, food and chemical processing facilities, lumber mills, shingle plants, fiberglass insulation production, metalworking, and many more.

Designed with low inertia cycling components makes the Posidyne clutch brake more efficient, requiring less motor horsepower to accelerate the load, and less torque to stop the load. Their totally enclosed design is impervious to dust, chips, chemicals, coolants, caustic wash down, weather, and more, making them ideal for hostile environments.

Posidyne clutch/brakes feature a multiple disc design that produces high torque om a small package. Recirculating the fluid dissipates the heat of engagement, which is a common cause of downtime with other clutch/brake assemblies.

A simple actuation system allows torque in the clutch and brake to be precisely controlled. Adjustment for rapid or so starts and stops is easily accomplished. Manifold mounted

control valves reduce response times by eliminating hoses and fittings, and are recommended for high cycle applications. By reducing the high starting inrush currents and the associated power factor imbalance in the motor these unique clutch/brakes can also reduce energy costs.

The Posidyne clutch brake can be actuated by air or hydraulic pressure for use in a plant or outside remote applications. The hydraulic actuation package includes a hydraulic pump, solenoid valve, regulators, and a filter. A heat exchanger can be added for additional cooling.

The Posidyne is explosion proof with the addition of an explosion proof actuation valve, or locating the valve in an explosion proof cabinet. Multiple sizes are available to suit particular applications om ½ to 350 HP (99 lb-in. to 79,000 lb-in.) with cooling options, control logic and mounting arrangements to simpli and speed installation. DW

Force Control Industries, Inc., www.forcecontrol.com

HALL EFFECT ENGINEERING CUSTOM GRIP CONTROLS SOLUTIONS JOYSTICK TOGGLE PUSHBUTTON MADE IN

USA

847.428.7171 | www.otto-controls.com

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Design Notes

Recipe for Success: doughnut maker is a machine builder first

Edited by Mike Santora • Associate Editor

The Krispy Kreme store in New York’s Times Square features a vertical cooling conveyor that was engineered and built by the company entirely in-house.

Control integration was provided

by Think PLC automation consultants using Siemens drives and controls.

From its early beginnings, the Krispy Kreme company has designed and built the proprietary machines that have given “rise” to their equally safeguarded doughnut recipe. The company’s headquarters in Winston Salem, NC., is where a 105,000 square foot manufacturing facility houses research, design, testing, engineering, and production.

The machines and processing equipment being built there use Siemens drives and controls, collaboratively integrated by Think PLC, the automation engineering partner to Krispy Kreme. (continued on page 37)

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DESIGN WORLD

9/13/21 11:00 AM

Power REVIEW THE POWER BRANDS IN POWER TRANSMISSION

Vol. 10 | No. 3 | 2021

www.AltraMotion.com

Follow Altra Motion on:

Altra Provides Full Drivetrain Solutions for Food & Beverage Applications INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Power Transmission Solutions for Food & Beverage Applications Ameridrives American Made Products for American Mills Boston Gear Expands Stainless Steel Offering with New Product Portfolio Altra Certified Rebuild Service - Marland, Formsprag, & Ameridrives

For more information contact us at: info@altramotion.com

Scan to download the interactive version of the Power Review

Altra Industrial_#1_9-21.indd 33

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Power Transmission Solutions for Food & Beverage Applications The industry-leading global brands of Altra Motion provide precision engineered power transmission components to meet the most demanding washdown requirements for all types of food and beverage processing applications. Altra offers a full range of drivetrain solutions including geared motors, speed reducers, air motors, clutches & brakes, torque-limiting devices, couplings, bearings and shaft accessories.

Altra Motion utilizes advanced technologies, materials and coatings together with extensive application expertise and world-class engineering capability to provide custom-designed, efficient, cost-effective solutions to our customers. For this reason, many of the world’s leading food and beverage producers and OEMs choose Altra products for their power transmission needs.

Highly engineered Altra products provide exceptional performance in a wide range of applications including bakery & snacks, meat & poultry, fruits & vegetables, dairy, candy and bottling & capping.

Altra brands that support the food and beverage market include Bauer Gear Motor, Boston Gear, Formsprag Clutch, Huco, Kilian, Stieber, and Warner Electric.

EXTREME WASHDOWN DUTY Equipment positioned above exposed food product For installations where the drive system is located above the food product, there is a higher risk of product contamination. For these installations, special attention must be given to drive design & materials, so that bacterial growth on surfaces will be avoided. Drive systems with the most extreme protection, such as stainless steel and aseptic units, are most often utilized in these applications.

STANDARD DUTY Equipment positioned away from exposed food product In areas of the plant where there is no contact with open product flow or drivetrains are enclosed within machines or equipment, the hygiene requirements are typically less strict, allowing for standard finish drive products.

LIGHT TO MODERATE WASHDOWN DUTY Equipment positioned near or below exposed food product For installations located near but below the food line, exposure is less likely but still possible. Therefore, it is recommended that the drive units be readily accessible, easy to clean, and have resistance to commonly used cleaning products. In these applications, specially coated or stainless steel drive systems are often used. on Altra Moti

Bauer Gear Motor Boston Gear Formsprag Clutch Huco Kilian Stieber

to A Global Footprint Around Support Customers the World

Warner Electric

Power Transmission Solutions for Food & Beverage Applications

Altra Headquarters Altra Engineering &

Service Centers

Altra Manufacturing

Facilities

The Brands of Altra Couplings Ameridrives www.ameridrives.com Bibby Turboflex www.bibbyturboflex.com Guardian Couplings www.guardiancouplings.com Huco www.huco.com Lamiflex Couplings www.lamiflexcouplings.com Stromag www.stromag.com TB Wood’s www.tbwoods.com Linear Systems Thomson www.thomsonlinear.com

Motion Geared Cam Limit

Switches

Stromag www.stromag.com Engineered Bearing

Assemblies

Kilian www.kilianbearings.com Electric Clutches

& Brakes

Matrix m www.matrix-international.co Stromag www.stromag.com Warner Electric www.warnerelectric.com Belted Drives TB Wood’s www.tbwoods.com

Heavy Duty Clutches Twiflex www.twiflex.com

& Brakes

Stromag www.stromag.com Svendborg Brakes www.svendborg-brakes.com Wichita Clutch www.wichitaclutch.com Gearing & Specialty Bauer Gear Motor www.bauergears.com Boston Gear www.bostongear.com Delevan www.delevan.com Delroyd Worm Gear www.delroyd.com Nuttall Gear www.nuttallgear.com

Components

Systems Engine Braking Jacobs Vehicle Systems com www.jacobsvehiclesystems.

Precision Motors

& Automation

Kollmorgen www.kollmorgen.com Miniature Motors Portescap www.portescap.com Overrunning Clutches Formsprag Clutch www.formsprag.com Marland Clutch www.marland.com Stieber www.stieberclutch.com

For more information, download P-8891-C from www.AltraLiterature.com

Altra Industrial_#2_9-21.indd 34

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Ameridrives American Made Products for American Mills Ameridrives Americardan U-Joints and Amerigear gear couplings and mill spindle shafts are designed and manufactured in the USA. Ameridrives is the only company that makes all its gear couplings, spindles and U-joints in the USA. Their dedicated teams in Erie, Pennsylvania and San Marcos, Texas utilize advanced testing, analysis and manufacturing processes to ensure that the quality products provide long-lasting performance in tough hot and cold mill applications.

AMERIDRIVES ADVANTAGES FOR US MILLS: • Unique, high-quality mill-proven solutions • Faster response and delivery compared to off-shore competitors • Expert mill application engineers available to provide analysis of repeated coupling/spindle/ U-joint problems on any mill machines • Visits to your facility (or ours) can be easily arranged

• Metric-sized solutions available to fit all OEM mills • Fast-turnaround repair and maintenance service for Ameridrives and competitive brand U-joints and products

Altra Motio n

American Mad e Products for American Mills Ameridrives Americarda n U-Joints and Amerigear gear couplings and mill spindle shafts are designed and manufactured in the USA American ingenuity and quality are built into all our products We provide real value to metal producing and processing mills in the US. Our experienced application engineers routinely develop solutions that reduce mill downtime and improve productivity.

Ameridrives is the only company that makes all its gear couplings, spindles and U-joints in the USA. Our dedicated teams in Erie, Pennsylvannia and San Marcos, Texas utilize advanced testing, analysis and manufacturing processes to ensure that our quality products provide long-lasting performance in tough hot and cold mill applications.

Ameridrives advantages

for US mills:

• Unique, high-quality mill-proven solutions • Faster response and delivery compared to off-shore competitors • Expert mill application engineers available to provide analysis of repeated coupling/spindle/ U-joint problems on any mill machines • Visits to your facility (or ours) can be easily arranged • Metric-sized solutions available to fit all OEM mills • Fast-turnaround repair and maintenance service for Ameridrives and competitive brand U-joints and products www.ameridrives.com 1802 Pittsburgh Avenue Erie, PA 16502 - USA 814-480-5000 P-8890-AC

6/21

For more information, download P-8890-AC from www.AltraLiterature.com

Boston Gear Expands Stainless Steel Offering with New Product Portfolio Boston Gear products meet the most demanding washdown requirements for all types of food processing and beverage applications. The expanded product line now offers an even greater selection of sizes, styles and options to meet all of your stainless steel requirements.

New AQT AquaTRUE™ Planetary Gearhead • RediMount™ design for use with servo motors in precision applications • 4 frame sizes with ratios from 3:1 thru 100:1 New SS Hiflex Helical Bevel Gear Motors • 3 frame sizes with integrated motor options including asyncrhonous and permanent magnet • Non-vented, totally-enclosed exterior with ability to integrate a brake or encoder New Sizes of SS2000R Series - Helical Bevel • Compact 2033R frame size with full compliment of mounting options • Rugged 2073R frame size has expanded torque capacity and hollow output shaft bore sizes up to 2.000 inches

New Helical Multiplier • C-Face mounts to any SS700, SS2000R or SS2000 product for more flexible ratio expansion • Range of low ratios can be used as compact, stand-alone speed reducer for low reduction requirements New Accessories for SS700 • Economical Torque Arm (bracket-style kit) now available for all sizes • 2-Bolt mount to either left or right Base Holes makes installation quick and easy

For more information, download P-1998-BG from www.AltraLiterature.com

Altra Certified Rebuild Services – Marland, Formsprag, & Ameridrives MARLAND: Your old, worn Marland clutches can be refurbished for substantially less than the cost of a new replacement clutch. Our economical rebuild service applies to all Marland Clutch BCMA, CECON and CEBMAG models. The local Marland Rebuild Service team will perform the following to restore your clutch to likenew condition: Inspect and replace seals, energizing springs, alloy steel rollers, aluminum cages, bearings and fasteners as required, inspect and precision grind the outer race and cam if required, assemble and test to meet Marland original design and performance specifications, paint and prepare for shipment. For more details on our cost saving certified Marland Rebuild Program, call 1-888-216-3515.

FORMSPRAG: Send Formsprag your old clutches to make them like new again. The difference is not just cosmetic. Consider these advantages: Price – A guaranteed savings of at least 30% or more versus new product, Speed – Clutches are received, inspected and rebuilt in the shortest possible time frame, Warranty – 1 year on labor and materials, same as new clutches, and Emergency Breakdown Program – All products that are air freighted into the Warren plant are processed immediately and, in most cases, are able to be rebuilt within a 24-hour period. For more information download Application Guide P-1465-FC from www.AltraLiterature.com. n Altra Industrial Motio

I N T R O D U C I N G

Ameridrives Rebuild Service

Ameridrives remanufactured couplings look like new, perform like new and are warrantied like new For more information call (814) 480-5095 or visit www.Ameridrives.com.

The Ameridrives Rebuild Service Team will conduct a comprehensive inspection of your coupling and perform the following to restore your coupling to its original specifications with a new coupling warranty: • All potential wear components – metallic and gear flex elements, shims, and fasteners are refurbished or replaced to new performance standards.

• Magnetic Particle Inspection (MPI) on all torque transmitting components.

• Removal and repair of surface defects on a lathe and glass bead blasting as appropriate while maintaining original coupling integrity.

• Precision dimensional and Total Indicator Run-out (TIR) measurement • Rebalancing to original API 671 certification if applicable. This recertification requires the return of the entire coupling structure.

your old, worn couplings for Ameridrives Rebuild Service can refurbish replacement coupling. The economical ® substantially less than the cost of a new , Ameridrives couplings including Ameridisc rebuild service applies to all ® high speed couplings used primarily Ameriflex® and Amerigear high performance, applications in the power generation, on turbomachinery, compressor and pump brands are accepted on a case-byoil & gas and marine industries. Other coupling case basis.

Ameridrives has the team, facilities, As a leading global coupling manufacturer, experience to rebuild and replace and nearly 100 years of inspection and repair are completed to meet the exacting all coupling components as required. Repairs standards of the original coupling.

AMERIDRIVES: Ameridrives Rebuild Service can refurbish your old, worn couplings for substantially less than the cost of a new replacement coupling. The economical rebuild service applies to all Ameridrives couplings including Ameridisc®, Ameriflex® and Amerigear® high performance, high speed couplings used primarily on turbomachinery, compressor and pump applications in the power generation, oil & gas and marine industries. Other coupling brands are accepted on a case-by-case basis. For details on the rebuild program, call 1-814-480-5095, download P-7948-AC from www.AltraLiterature.com or visit www.Ameridrives.com.

in the shortest possible time frame.

Couplings are received, inspected and rebuilt down schedule.

We will work to accommodate your shut call (814) 480-5095 or visit For details on our cost-saving program www.Ameridrives.com. www.ameridrives.com 1802 Pittsburgh Avenue Erie, PA 16502 - USA 814-480-5000 Fax: 814-453-5891

P-7948-AC

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American Made Products for American Mills Ameridrives is the only company that designs and manufactures all its gear couplings, spindles, and U-joints in the USA. Our dedicated teams in Erie, Pennsylvania and San Marcos, Texas utilize advanced testing, analysis, and manufacturing processes to ensure that our quality products provide long-lasting performance in tough hot and cold mill applications.

• Unique, high-quality mill-proven solutions • Faster response and delivery compared to off-shore competitors • Expert mill application engineers available to provide analysis of repeated coupling, spindle, or U-joint problems on any mill machines • Visits to your facility (or ours) can be easily arranged • Metric-sized solutions available to fit all OEM mills • Fast-turnaround repair and maintenance service for Ameridrives and competitive brand U-joints and products

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(continued om page 32)

“In my 20 years of experience, I’ve never seen an end-user build such high-quality machines in-house like they do,” said Bobby Cole, president of Think PLC. “They engineer and manufacture all of their production machines, om the extruders and conveyors through to the packaging.”

Every Krispy Kreme store is a high-tech doughnut manufacturing facility. The speed at which an extruded doughnut moves through the store is a very big deal, Cole said. Throughout the process, the shortening is kept within an exact range of temperature. Doughnuts are cooked on both sides for a precise number of seconds on each side — the cooling conveyor cycles through the store at a set number of minutes.

Patrick Betson is Krispy Kreme’s director of equipment manufacturing.

Having gathered insights om the company’s service technicians, store managers, and customers, he had initiated a range of improvements leading to increased uptime and mean time between failure. Those early strides pointed to the need for the latest drive technology, related so ware conversions, and safety integration.

“Before there was much publicity about Industry 4.0 and IoT, Bobby Cole and I o en talked about the data that could be generated by more advanced machine monitoring,” said Betson. “It became increasingly clear that by integrating the latest Siemens drives and controls on our machines and connecting them using Profinet communications, we could start putting that data to work.”

Krispy Kreme’s decision to use Siemens control automation would support an aggressive roll-out of new stores and the swi retrofitting of existing stores. Integrating the latest Siemens variable equency drive (VFD) technology was an easy decision. The hard part would be to figure out how to conduct those retrofits in the shortest and most costefficient way in over 600 stores worldwide.

That’s when Betson and Bobby Cole came up with the idea of a retrofit kit, one that would enable every store DESIGN WORLD

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John Priddy, Krispy Kreme Fabrication Manager, installs a newly developed G120 kit into the fryer section of a doughnut machine.

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Design Notes

The integration of the Siemens SINAMICS G120 drive is essential to the retrofit strategy developed by Patrick Betson (left), Krispy Kreme’s director of equipment manufacturing, and Bobby Cole, president of automation consultancy Think PLC.

to quickly add new components and so ware to existing hardware, making massive technology conversion acceptable to all, and therefore actionable in short order.

Bobby Cole said the concept of a kit was inspired by the realization that while the Siemens drives and controls installed around 2001 were now starting to show their age, they all shared a farsighted onboard feature: an SD card. This would prove to be a time-saving, cost-cutting advantage because the SD cards in the older Siemens drives and PLCs have been maintained to match each store’s unique set of machining and processing parameters.

In addition, each kit would include all that was needed for a local contractor to upgrade the legacy control panels, including parts for safety and power wiring. A bill of material having 15 parts would be reduced to seven. This would mean fewer parts to wear, troubleshoot, and stock in the future.

“The main purpose of the kit was to replace the older Siemens Micromaster drives with their SINAMICS G120 drives,” Cole explains. “The SD card in the kit has so ware that we modified, and with a couple flips of some switches, the drive is automatically programmed. Someone with absolutely no control experience can reload the new so ware into the new drives and the new PLCs.” To prove the retrofit kit concept, Krispy Kreme and Think PLC tested the kit’s installation and use in their manufacturing plant in Winston Salem, followed by tests at various stores in the region. The new drives and PLCs were installed smoothly.

Their SD cards automatically updated and matched all previous store parameters.

A er two months, the stores reported the trial a success. But to further test the

Retrofitting with ease: Betson and Cole found that they could retrofit every store in Australia in five days using their technology retrofit kit concept.

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Design Notes

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Design-Notes-9-21-Vs4.LL MS.indd 40

concept themselves, Cole and Betson made a whirlwind trip to retrofit every store in Australia over five days using the kits.

The retrofit kit concept had worked. It enables a store to replace its drives and controls in about two hours. This compared to the hours invoiced by a control technician to travel to a Krispy Kreme store to do the same. A time/cost difference that would be even greater were the SD card not a feature of the Siemens drives and PLCs, Cole said.

During the doughnut ying process, the efficient pumping of heated shortening is critical to maintaining optimal doughnut quality and product count. When the flow rate is not at the desired constant, the wide range of viscosity becomes a problem.

The melted shortening will not be filtered of dough bits and pieces. Temperature variances will soon occur, causing hot spots at any point in the ying process, including inside the yer vat itself.

Behind the scenes, the Siemens SINAMICS G120 drive addresses all of these pump motor concerns while visually reporting the operational status of each motor. Moreover, the drive ensures that all of the pump motors are keeping their cool, below the threshold for heat damage.

In many pumping applications, motor overheating is probably the number one service issue, Cole said. That problem is being removed by the drive’s ability to set and hold a curve that assures the most efficient flow, at a low speed and at a high speed, om 7 hertz to 90 hertz. The accuracy of the y time is also being increased by 12%, resulting in a more consistent product with less waste yield.

“A big advantage of the drive is that it can run a motor slow without the usual rise in motor temp,” Cole explains. “When you run a motor at very low hertz, it generates a lot of eddy current.

It gets so hot that you can’t touch the motor. And when you overheat the laminations of a motor, you greatly decrease the life of the motor. But we can monitor each drive through the Siemens TIA (Totally Integrated Automation) portal. We’ve seen the amperage reduced by almost 17%, and the motor’s temperature reduced by 34%. We expect this will more than double the life expectancy of every pump.”

The successful grand opening of the Krispy Kreme store in New York’s Times Square was not without the occasional behind-thescenes drama for new store commissioning. A sudden pumping issue, it was the kind of problem that can happen at any hour, at any of the 500-plus global stores owned by the company. But it is also a concern that can be quickly solved on-site – or om thousands of miles away.

“The situation was addressed in a matter of minutes,” said Bobby Cole. “I just went online through the Siemens secure TIA portal to see what the Siemens G-120 drive was showing me.

While setting up one of the machines, a motor had been miswired.

I could quickly tell the local setup contractor where to look.”

Cole likens the TIA portal experience to standing in the store at the drive’s operator interface. When you open the door to the drive, a large display presents any fault messages. Select a fault

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message, and you are given the related fault code that you would in the past need to look up in the user’s manual. Now, all of the information you need, the details, what to check, how to reset, are on the display. Diagnostic screens help you debug the problem. And beyond this, faults and alarms can be data logged in the cloud. Trends can be studied over the course of a year. Faults for a particular machine can be identified and addressed. A shortening pump that is tripping more o en can be replaced during the store’s next on-site inspection.

“I can, on my mobile phone right now, pull up a store in another country,” Cole said. “I can look at how many cuts were made on the extruder today. I can look at how many faults occurred throughout the day on that machine.’”

The SINAMICS G120 drive supports the design of machines and processes that have triple-quadruple redundancy, said Bobby Cole. Especially in areas where the yer is exposed, employee safety is being reinforced. The new drives and PLCs being retrofitted into every store integrate with the existing Siemens safety monitoring circuitry, inclusive of automated safety mechanisms and E-stop buttons. For example, if a hose were to break on the shortening pump, the flow stops within 100 milliseconds, Cole said.

Patrick Betson sees the big picture being made clear by the data now flowing through the Siemens TIA portal.

Along with the ability to remotely use each store’s data to plan for machine maintenance and prevention, the data can routinely be studied to measure and improve the design of the company’s machines and processes.

Having anticipated the emergence of Industry 4.0 and IoT, he now also sees how data can guide employee training and best practices for human-machine interaction. Continuous improvement and operational excellence can be studiously amplified store-wide and in stores worldwide.

“The data we are capturing now and herea er strengthens us in many ways,” Betson said. “It’s important to us as a machine builder because it also reinforces our culture and Krispy Kreme’s identity in our global marketplace.” DW

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Design Notes

How locking assemblies help fan applications keep their cool Edited by Mike Santora • Associate Editor

High-volume, low-speed (HVLS) fans play an important role in many applications, om agricultural processing to warehousing. These ceiling-mounted units can move large amounts of air due to their size, which generally exceeds 7- . in diameter. In terms of their design, these fans have a geared motor that connects to a forged hub, which includes the fan blades. The entire unit must then be fastened to the motor sha as it hangs vertically. Should this connection fail, any personnel on the floor below could be injured — or worse.

You might not think about the components that can make or break such a critical connection in HVLS applications. These heavyduty machines require sha -hub connections that can transmit high torques, as well as axial, radial, and bending loads, with the utmost safety and reliability. Here, we explore how locking assemblies are the proper devices for the job.

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HVLS fans have a large structure that includes a mounting system on the top to enable ceiling mounting, and the main drive — which is the heart of the fan system.

HVLS fan functioning principle and advantages HVLS are predominantly found in the agricultural and food industries to control temperatures and prevent perishables om spoiling. They also boost employee comfort on shop floors and in warehouses, and they can dissipate condensation and humidity in manufacturing environments to reduce the rate of rusting on metal machines and parts.

At slow speeds, HVLS fans produce a column of air that moves downward vertically. This air column then moves sideways and turns upward as soon as it meets a side wall. HVLS fans work on the principle of destratification, or the process of mixing air to evenly distribute heat. Destrati ing

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a room brings the heat down to the floor level, keeping people comfortable and reducing ceiling temperatures, which in turn minimizes the loss of energy through the roof and saves energy costs.

HVLS fans work efficiently no matter the season — whether summer or winter.

By mixing the warm air at the ceiling with cool air at the floor level, these machines even out the temperature in a given space. This capability eliminates the need to install large, costly cooling systems in the summer and heating systems in the winter. In addition to reducing energy costs, these fans can help manufacturers meet their energy efficiency goals, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and minimize their carbon footprint.

Fan construction and requirements HVLS fans have a large structure that includes a mounting system on the top to enable ceiling mounting, and the main drive — which is the heart of the fan system. The geared motor connects to a forged hub, which incorporates the blades along its periphery. The resulting heavyduty unit is then fastened to the motor sha — a connection that requires the utmost reliability. Compared to horizontal connections, the heavy fan assembly, consisting of the hub and blades, relies on this connection as the unit hangs vertically. A connection failure would not only be costly in terms of materials, but it would injure people on the floor below.

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Locking assemblies boost connection reliability Although keyed sha connections are common in HVLS applications, demands for greater reliability and safer torque transmission due to the heavy air columns are increasing.

Some locking assemblies are beginning to replace the keyed connections in these applications because of their reliable approach to torque transmission.

These components feature a pair of double-tapered thrust rings that expand radially when tightened, creating a compression fit between the sha and its mating component and locking the two together. And, unlike keyways, which concentrate stresses along a single line of contact, locking assemblies like those om Ringfeder distribute stresses evenly over 360° of contact. This uniform stress distribution eliminates the wear and maintenance costs associated with keyways to deliver a highly reliable connection.

These locking assemblies are quick and easy to assemble and offer complete eedom om maintenance and wear, and they provide backlash- ee power transmission in HVLS fan applications.

With these features, they’re suitable for all hubs — whether toothed gears, running wheels, chain sprockets, levers, cam discs, belt and brake discs, slip-on gears, couplings, sha s, or axles.

www.designworldonline.com

These components feature a pair of double-tapered thrust rings that expand radially when tightened, creating a compression fit between the shaft and its mating component and locking the two together. And, unlike keyways, which concentrate stresses along a single line of contact, locking assemblies like these from Ringfeder distribute stresses evenly over 360° of contact.

With their iction-fit press connection, these locking assemblies can withstand the highest torques, and they transmit axial, radial, and bending loads safely and reliably. The keyless locking assemblies are, therefore, a better alternative to conventional shrink-fits, wedge, keyway, and polygonal connections, and they offer good concentricity and resistance to alternating torsion. Units are available in many standard designs and sizes. DW

Ringfeder www.ringfeder.com

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Design Notes

How to keep a bullet train on target Edited by Mike Santora • Associate Editor

An example of a planetary roller screw.

When the East Japan Railway Company was looking to improve the comfort and stability of its Shinkansen, or bullet trains, they reached out to precision control component manufacturer and integrator, Moog Inc. Moog provided electromechanical actuators (EMAs), planetary roller screws, and drive systems for the active sway control system of the company’s E5 and E6 train series. The fully electric system reduced sway by up to 50% compared to past conventional pneumatic and hydraulic solutions.

Other Japanese bullet train rail companies use semi-active sway controls, relying on a variable oil damper to adjust damping force. When the East Japan Railway Company decided to increase the maximum running speed of its trains to 225 mph (360 km/h), engineers had to apply more force across a wider equency band to reduce vibration for passengers.

“East Japan Railway has continually chosen Moog’s electromechanical design because of the compactness of our control system’s envelope,” said Enrico Bagnasco, Product Content Developer for Moog. “Our EMA, or electromechanical actuator, provides

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Shinkansen Schematic with Sway System

faster responses and higher thrust.

Replacing old oleo-pneumatic sway control systems with less cumbersome electromechanical ones also drastically improves reliability and makes them easier and quicker to maintain.”

In the current systems, when an accelerometer detects lateral sway of a train carriage due to the rails, airflow, and other factors, the appropriate thrust to counter the sway is calculated. Then, a drive sends a signal to a motor inside the EMA that applies it rapidly and precisely.

Each wheel truck (i.e., the bogie or chassis with two axles, four wheels) on the train has one EMA and a passive damper to attenuate lateral vibration.

At the core of each actuator is a roller screw. Those screws provide an exceptional level of mechanical rigidity and movement precision thanks to the number of contact points between the rollers and the lead screw. This enables the actuator to handle higher loads than some linear motion actuators, which are larger in size and o en experience overheating issues.

“Moog prides itself on being technologyneutral, as we possess a deep know-how of all the strengths and weaknesses of different motion technologies,” added Bagnasco. “This is absolutely critical when choosing a partner that will help you switch om one technology to another.” DW

Moog www.moog.com

The Moog DM2020 flexible drive platform and control system.

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CAE Solutions

Model-Based Definition or The Perils

of Disconnected Detours Brian Thompson • DVP and GM, CAD Segment • PTC

When I speak with manufacturers, they o en tell me that moving towards becoming more model-based is at the top of their priority list. Initially, they might have started down this path to eliminate the extra work required to build 2D drawings off of their 3D models. Now, manufacturers want to make the 3D model itself the gravitational center.

The disconnect between the 2D drawing and 3D model is hobbling both their internal efficiency and external competitiveness.

More formally known as model-based definition, MBD is about creating rich “Technical Data Packages (TDP),” which include the 3D model and associated data elements. At the core of the TDPs is the 3D model, along with its associated dimensioning and tolerancing to clearly communicate design intent and geometric form control. Thanks to the TDP, users who sit downstream om engineering can understand and use that model without needing separate 2D artifacts – the information is in the model itself.

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MBD is not another way of spelling ‘paperless engineering,’ as if mere convenience were the reason for such a strategic shi . The manufacturers we work with are talking about a broader and grander idea: a different way of approaching the product development, manufacturing, delivery, operations, and service processes so that the 3D model is the source authority.

By implication, these manufacturers are also talking about innovation, and how they might use breakthrough technologies such as simulation, additive manufacturing, and generative design to design better products faster. MBD is as much an approach to corporate strategy as it is an approach to design, product development and manufacturing.

That’s the exciting part - the vision that gets people to commit their time and resources to the effort. I would offer this advice to those who aspire to

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a model-based journey. Think of a rock climber scaling a cliff face. As he or she ascends, that climber will need to put an anchor in the rock through which to pass the rope.

Your 3D model is that anchor. Start there.

3D model as Anchor This is no getting around it: every MBD journey starts by looking at your modeling practices and ensuring that your model truly reflects your design.

One customer discovered, as they implemented MBD, that they had to train their engineers to know where and how to apply drafts to their injection molded parts, instead of relying on the manufacturing team to do it. Another found that simulation results would be inaccurate unless certain critical features were modeled in complete detail, instead of leaving some geometry details to notes.

Today, I look at the model itself as a precise database for all PMI rather than as a supporting item to create a 2D drawing quickly.

A geometrical product specification is gold for manufacturers A word of caution Next, examine your own mental models and beware of outdated beliefs.

We sometimes see those who have

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(unknowingly) gone halfway with MBD – only to stop on the manufacturing floor.

In the past, a certain amount of rework was part of the design process, as was the willingness to accept change at the worst possible and most expensive time.

Allow me to be candid. With MBD, your experts on the shop floor will need to learn to place the 3D model at the center of everything they do, too. This will surely help them streamline industrialization of the design, minimize mistakes, and produce the highest-quality output.

This will definitely be a change for the manufacturing team, but everyone I’ve talked to has said this is worth it.

Disconnected detours The worst choices in business are ones you don’t know you’re making. With that in mind, consider whether an MBD journey would, in fact, be less costly in time, money, materials and morale than situations such as the scenario described below.

At one manufacturer, final drawings were made into pdfs and put on a server where all could access them. Not surprisingly, CNC machines soon were decorated with marked-up pdfs showing late-breaking changes. As the model evolved, there was no way other than person-to-person to get the changes to the manufacturing floor. One employee jokingly referred to the ‘sneaker net’. The www.designworldonline.com

manufacturing engineers encountered the same situation, and the changes they made on the shop floor often didn’t get to the designers, who unknowingly proliferated errors.

In our opinion, becoming modelbased is a journey. To prepare, commit to making the 3D model the source of all authority and then take a moment to reexamine your modeling practices.

This will take time, but your reward will be more value for the investment you’ve already made, confidence that engineers can now spend their valuable time doing what you paid them to do, and circumstances more favorable to innovation. That’s what our customers are seeking. DW

PTC www.ptc.com

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Connect and discuss this and other engineering design issues with thousands of professionals online

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CAE Solutions

Multidisciplinary design for industrial electrical and

automation creations

NX Automation Designer so ware and NX Industrial Electrical Design so ware create a central design application for industrial electrical and automation design. These tools can designers manage design complexity, shorten development lifecycles and increase the quality of their designs. Direct integration with Teamcenter so ware for product lifecycle management (PLM) and the entire NX design so ware portfolio creates a unified multidisciplinary design environment for production systems engineering.

NX Automation Designer and NX Industrial Electrical Design offer functions for efficient electrical and automation design of industrial equipment. Electrical engineers can complete their work faster with enhancements to connection handling and reporting, new OOTB symbols for IEC, ANSI and fluidics and 2D cabinet dimensioning. Automation engineers benefit om extended so ware generation capabilities for sequences and safety programs.

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This release enables customers to get started in the world of functional design, by enabling them to start their electrical and automation design work without Teamcenter. This allows customers not looking for a complete PLM system to benefit om the electrical and automation design capabilities.

“Today, in order to maintain profitability, you have to realize more projects with the same number of employees. Furthermore, you need to quickly react to different and complex customer requirements,” says Karl

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Stieler, Owner STiMA GmbH & Co. KG. “This means we need the close interaction of mechanical design, electrical design and automation technologys.”

STiMA chose the NX platform to combine various disciplines – mechanical, electrical, and automation – into one environment to more efficiently manage projects and improve quality.

With the help of NX and particularly NX Automation Designer, STiMA reduced their engineering time by 45% through consistent data across the different areas and a more efficient workflow. The scalability of NX benefits customers like STiMA by allowing them to start with a single module or combine different modules with each other. The NX Automation Designer and NX Industrial Electrical Design applications can work natively (without Teamcenter) or in managed mode with Teamcenter in the background. DW

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FP 70 is well-suited for a range of applications including medical technology, inkjet and 3D printing, and analytical instruments. With its introduction, the KNF smooth flow pump series now boasts a flow rate range of 120 ml/min to 12.4 l/min.

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Internet of Things

What increasing IIoT connectivity requirements mean for design engineers Bryan Christiansen, founder and CEO • Limble CMMS

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of interconnected devices that leverage data om actuators or sensors installed on physical objects or machines. Through IoT, assets can establish direct communication with humans or with each other to transfer information about their health and surroundings. In the last decade, IoT has gained rapid recognition, especially in the design engineering sector as it becomes cognizant of the importance of data and reliability engineering in developing intelligent product designs.

Disadvantages of ‘old’ data collection methods The use of data to develop and validate engineering designs is not a new concept. It was prevalent even in the earlier design engineering practices when internet technology was not widespread. At that time, the field staff o en had to go to machines to visually inspect the health and collect their data. Moreover, other data about the machine design parameters such as weather, temperature, humidity, and so on would require collection om independent stakeholders through long and tedious engagement processes.

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Finally, the collected data would then be compiled by the office clerk into manual registers before being sent to design and reliability engineers for future learning.

Since the entire chain of data collection was oriented around human capabilities, the data received by design engineers were o en systematically biased and lacked transparency. The outcomes om this situation were quite obvious at that time – neglecting the field data altogether and developing designs based on designers’ judgments and expertise.

The impact of IoT on design engineering IoT has transformed design engineering principles in the sense that a variety of accurate and unbiased

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Internet of Things

data are readily available. Simple and cost-effective sensors or transducers can be installed that can collect parameters both internal as well as external to the machines.

For example, a pressure sensor can advise about the discharge pressure of the centrifugal pump and provide its real-time status on the cloud dashboard.

The consistent retrieval of data about the discharge pressure can produce trends and provide vital insight into pump health. Similarly, other sensors such as temperature, flow, and so on can also be installed to retrieve or derive additional design parameters as they are needed during design engineering.

Currently, with the advancements of Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) and similar so ware, features are available that can integrate real-time data om field sensors with the CMMS database. The merging of assets’ real-time data om IoT with their maintenance and repair history om CMMS provides invaluable insights into the overall performance of assets. The combined IoT-CMMS-driven database also provides the capability to develop predictive models that can forecast the future performance of the asset over their life cycles.

design verification stage can inform design engineers about past issues for similar machines at this stage. Since the machine design is not finalized yet, incorporating data-driven feedbacks can enable economic fixes of critical design issues which could become a major challenge at the later stages if it remains unattended.

For example, the quality of material for the design of a pressurized vessel may be

verified through material endurance testing before further design of the vessel is carried out. If the IoT sensors are installed during such tests on a batch of existing in-service vessels, it can provide critical information about material performance and enable design engineers to address the relevant failure modes.

Similarly, validation is typically the final stage of product development. At

Using IoT provided data to support V&V While the data obtained om IoT sensors can inform engineering at pretty much every stage of product development, the stage that is particularly useful is validation and verification (V&V), where machine design is cross-checked to make sure that the design complies with the technical specification.

Validation and Verifications are two distinct terms or stages and IoT-driven data can bring benefit to both. Design verification is carried at different stages of product development before the design is finalized. This is to make sure that the machine design is flowing in the right direction. The data available at the

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this stage, the final product could be subjected to real-like operational conditions to see how the equipment behaves if deployed widely. Because most product failures occur here, IoT can be particularly useful to collect critical equipment failure data for design engineers to use to modi the product design.

How big data can strengthen continuous improvement The process of continuous improvement is another aspect where data, in general, can be useful. Simply put, continuous improvement is the process where the feedback om different stakeholders related to the machines is systematically collected and used to improve the performance of machines during their operational lives. Some of the stakeholders would include maintenance, operations, asset managers, operational reliability engineers, and health & safety professionals.

The variety of data coming om these stakeholders are o en compiled by the continuous improvement team and shared with product development and design engineering teams for improving future designs. The data collected om IoT sensors increases the level of transparency available om stakeholders and improves the design feedback process.

For example, instead of relying on a site operator to inform about machine failure, a simple and uneconomical sensor can be installed that can trigger a message on CMMS every time the machine fails. Similarly, the scripts or codes can be embedded within CMMS so ware that automatically and periodically generates reports of past asset failures. Such scripts can also be used to automatically suggest continuous improvement initiatives through advanced predictive algorithms. Moreover, through rapid information sharing features, the analytics and insights can be quickly disseminated to various teams engaged in similar design works thus reducing repetition of work and improving production efficiency.

The integration of IIoT with the design process Altogether, the integration of IIoT with design has made this process more intuitive and faster in cross-functional industries.

Through shared information, the connected enterprises can undertake proactive initiatives as opposed to reactive or firefighting strategies. While advantages are many, below are some highlighted developments that are recently happening in the IoT sector: Edge computing: where data are stored in small centers. By storing data locally, they can be processed faster, cheaper, and in the most efficient way. Data can be made available immediately to an IIoT device, reducing the network stress and bandwidth.

Connected smart cars: Most of the advanced cars including electric cars are configurable through smartphones. The

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Internet of Things phone collects relevant information in the mobile application and transfers it to the cloud or server. From this data, manufacturers gather useful information on key vehicle parameters such as tire pressure, oil level, fuel consumption, etc.

In case of an anomaly, the driver gets a message on his or her application with a recommendation to address the issue. In some smart cars, the report is also directly sent to the automobile manufacturer which can dispatch the technician directly to the user’s doorstep and also inform the vehicle engineering team about the potential failure.

Smart cities: From the context of smart cities, traffic lights are o en provided with an IoT device that monitors the city’s situation. If any anomaly occurs,

the system notifies the utility companies so that they can send a technician to solve the issue. This methodology is established to make the neighborhood safe, convenient, and comfortable. IoTbased street lights are widespread in major cities to record everything om the use of a shared car and traffic conditions to law-and-order enforcement.

the success of most projects. Design engineering ones aren’t any different.

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Healthcare: By using IoT-based wearable products, the healthcare providers can gain the patient’s vital health data such as its blood pressure, heart rate, activity rate, etc. These parameters are o en used by healthcare professionals to forecast patients’ health deterioration and dispatch aid in a timely fashion.

At the end of the day, accurate and timely information is crucial for

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A Supplement to Design World - September 2021 www.therobotreport.com

INSIDE: • Novanta acquisition a win-win for ATI employees ....................................................................... 58 • Metallic glass gears up for collaborative robots .............. 62

How Atlas runs, flips &

• Designing a durable cobot arm joint .................................. 68 • Quadruped learns to adapt to changing terrain in real time ................................................................ 72

• Tips for choosing your robot’s motors ............................... 88

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The Robot Report

Novanta acquisition

a win-win for ATI employees ATI offers an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, a federally-qualified ERISA benefit plan that makes employees owners in the company.

| AdobeStock

Steve Crowe | Editorial Director, The Robot Report

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Less than one week a er announcing it’s acquiring Schneider Electric Motion USA for $115 million in cash, Novanta said it’s acquiring ATI Industrial Automation for $172 million in cash. The price could increase if ATI hits certain financial goals in 2021. The acquisition is expected to close in Q3 2021.

Founded in 1989, ATI is a leading developer of end-of-arm tooling, including robotic changing systems, force/torque sensors, and collision sensors for industrial, collaborative, and medical robotic systems. Raleigh, North Carolinabased ATI has 350-plus employees. In January 2021, for example, ATI released a slew of end-of-arm tooling kits for FANUC’s CRX Series cobot arms.

Novanta said acquiring ATI expands its presence in robotics, adds end-of-arm tooling to its product lineup, increases its customer base, and adds 60 patents to its already strong IP portfolio.

According to Novanta, ATI is expected to generate more than $70 million in sales in 2021. That means the sales price to Novanta is about 2.5x.

“ATI is a fantastic business with proprietary intellectual property in attractive and growing markets. The business adds intelligent technology solutions and expands Novanta’s position in mission critical robotic applications, such as electric vehicle production, medical robotics, and collaborative robotics,” said Matthijs Glastra, CEO and chairman of Novanta. “In addition, the transaction creates a

ATI Industrial Automation is a leading developer of end-of-arm tooling products, including these tool changers. | ATI Industrial Automation

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The Robot Report nearly $250 million Precision Motion Segment with significant engineering competency to further accelerate our growth.”

“We are excited to join Novanta at this stage of our development. We expect the combination of competencies and cultures to create better opportunities for our customers and employees,” said

a ERISA retirement account. After the acquisition closes, the employees will gain performance stock units in Novanta —so employee ownership continues.

ESOP’s role in ATI’s sale Little said ATI wasn’t looking to be acquired. However, when an organization with an ESOP receives an unsolicited

“We are excited to join Novanta at this stage of our development. We expect the combination of competencies and cultures to create better opportunities for our customers and employees.”

— Bob Little, CEO and co-founder, ATI Bob Little, CEO and co-founder, ATI. “We feel confident our shared values, our passion for innovation, and our deep application knowledge will create stronger partnerships with our customers to help us accelerate our strategic goals.”

Acquisition a win-win for ATI employees It turns out the deal is a win-win for most ATI employees, not just the cofounders and higher-ups.

In 2012, ATI established an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). An ESOP is a federally-qualified ERISA benefit plan that makes employees owners in the company. More than 300 of ATI’s employees are based in North Carolina.

All U.S.-based ATI employees that put in a minimum of 1,000 hours of work in the calendar year (six months for a fulltime employee) earn shares in the ATI ESOP. The more time you have worked at ATI, the more shares you own. Non-U.S. employees are not qualified for the ESOP since the program is a U.S. federal plan.

“An ESOP is a fantastic tool for employees to have ownership,” said Little. “I only wish the program benefited everyone outside of the U.S.” After the acquisition is complete, the ESOP shares will be traded to Novanta for cash, which is a publicly-traded company. ESOP owners will have their shares cashed out and transferred into

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offer to be acquired, and that offer is fair, the company has to review the offer. “You can’t just throw the offer in the trash,” he said. “There needs to be a reason to throw it away.”

ATI received a valid, unsolicited offer in 2019. That offer, Little said, wasn’t from Novanta. But the offer caused ATI to open its eyes and understand that companies wanted to acquire it.

“We must have talked to 20-plus companies that were interested in potentially buying us,” Little said. “Being an ESOP, we wanted to make sure that people get the best value and we talk to the right companies, if there’s an acquisition. Most of the offers were unsolicited – they heard through the grapevine that ATI could be acquired.”

“When Novanta came to ATI to examine our capability, I was very excited,” said Little. “I was extremely impressed with Novanta’s technology, and since ATI is known for their robotic technology, I saw a clear fit.”

growing or shrinking? We have a forecast of our growth, and it’s pretty substantial over the next several years. I’m focused not on what ATI can do in the next five years, but what the entire industry can do in the next five years.”

One thing ATI certainly has working in its favor is that it’s not tied to one particular robot or application. “We go where robots go. That is why we have products all over the world and in automotive plants, aerospace facilities, 3D machines, and on Mars. They all have robots.”

“If the robot market isn’t growing, it’s tough for us to grow. But when it is growing, it’s easy for us to grow,” Little said. “I’ve been studying this market for a long time. We reached the bottom of the barrel in 2020, and the robot market has been growing astronomically over the last year. I expect this to continue, not without some dips, but overall the robot market will climb at a really nice rate.

“We know the reason why.

Automation has become so much more important in the horrifying labor pool that we’re in. We can’t get enough workers, and it’s only going to get worse because of the enormous pressure to make things locally. When you make it local, you need to use the local workforce.

And if you can’t hire the local workforce, you need to automate. Expect very strong robot sales in the next several years.”

Little said ATI will maintain its name, branding, facilities and strategy going forward.

“We are flush with two great companies,” he said. “Nothing changes our goals here and what we want to accomplish. We’re still pushing our strategy. That’s why Novanta bought us. You’ll see new product development that Novanta can help with. You’ll see improvements, but our core values customers love us for will not change.” RR

What the future holds for ATI Novanta’s cost of acquiring ATI could increase if ATI hits certain financial benchmarks.

“The acquisition price was not too high or too low. It was on the mark,” Little said. “It’s amazing the ups and downs the robotics market has gone through in the last few years. Is the robot market

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The Robot Report

Metallic glass gears up for collaborative robots Bulk metallic glass could reduce the prices of cobots and lead to advanced 3D printed metals.

Mike DiCicco | Spinoff

Where are the robot assistants we were promised?

For all the space that robots have occupied in the popular imagination for the last hundred years — and although the number of real-world robots has been growing for decades — most people’s interactions with them remain limited to a hands ee vacuum or child’s smart toy.

There are two main reasons for this, according to Glenn Garrett, chief technology officer of NASA spinoff company Amorphology – cost and safety.

Most automated machinery is still only affordable to large manufacturers that can make major investments and expect long-term savings. And while robots take up more and more of the factory floor, they are generally segregated om their human colleagues due to safety concerns — largely oblivious to their surroundings, they are strong and dangerously clumsy.

Collaborative robots In the mid-1990s, two Northwestern University professors patented an alternative concept under a new term — cobots (or collaborative robots). Compared to

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NASA’s Curiosity rover spends about three hours heating up lubricants for its gears each time it sets out across Mars. To help future rovers save time and energy, NASA invested in bulk metallic glass for gears that require no lubrication. | NASA

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Most metallic glass alloys form a hard, smooth surface. This gives metallic glass gears a long lifetime without the need for liquid lubricants, making them appealing for NASA robotics that operate in cold environments, where lubricants need to be warmed before operations. | Amorphology

traditional industrial robots, collaborative robots, which are designed to cooperate with humans, would be smaller, smarter, more responsive, and more aware, with tighter self-control and better mannered all around.

Too costly In the years since, leaps in artificial intelligence and sensors have made these “friendlier” robots a reality. Unfortunately, cost still limits their widespread adoption.

According to Garrett, the largest cost drivers for robots are not always the advanced software and sensors. Instead, it often comes down to some of the most rudimentary machine components — gears, which Garrett estimates account for at least half the cost of robotic arms.

Pasadena, California-based

Amorphology hopes to drop the price of cobots with advances originally made for robots that were never intended for human interaction – NASA’s planetary rovers.

Rovers adapt to Martian climate Gears on NASA’s rovers, like most gears on Earth, are made of steel, which is both strong and wear resistant. But steel gears need liquid lubrication, and oils do not work well in frigid environments like the lunar or Martian surface.

According to Doug Hofmann, principal scientist of the Materials Development and Manufacturing Technology group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), it is for this reason that NASA’s Curiosity rover spends about three hours warming up lubricants every time it prepares to

Flexsplines are thin, flexible, cupshaped gears integral to strain wave gears common in robotics. They’re typically cut, ground, and drilled from steel billets in a process that is long and costly. The flexspline on the right was injection molded from metallic glass in a cheaper, simpler process. | Amorphology

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start rolling. This process uses up about a quarter of the discretionary energy that could otherwise be used for science.

With an eye toward solving this and other materials-related issues, in 2010, JPL hired Hofmann, then a research scientist at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) with a background in materials science and engineering.

NASA funded a new metallurgy facility at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to explore alternatives for gears and develop new metal alloys.

Bulk metallic glass From his days at Caltech, which manages JPL, Hofmann was familiar with an emerging class of specially engineered materials called bulk metallic glass, also known as amorphous metals. These are metal alloys that can be rapidly cooled from liquid to solid before their atoms form the crystalline lattice structure that is common to all other metals. Instead, the atoms are randomly arranged like those of glass, giving the materials properties of both glass and metal.

Depending on their constituent elements — often including zirconium, titanium, and copper — metal alloys can be very strong, and because they are not crystalline, they are elastic.

Most compositions also form a hard, smooth ceramic oxide surface, and these properties together afford gears made of some amorphous metals a long lifetime with no lubrication.

According to Hofmann, it is the unique properties metallic glass alloys that makes them attractive to NASA. Metallic glass gears do not require liquid lubricants. Metallic glass gears can also operate in temperatures below minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit without requiring a heating source.

Affordable robot parts Amorphous metals have another property that makes them attractive for gears on Earth. The alloys used to make metallic glass have low melting temperatures.

Most high-strength metals have high melting points. They cannot be cast with molds because, in molten form, they would simply melt the mold. And steel

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The Robot Report needs to be rolled or forged to strengthen it, which also precludes molding. So, gears typically start as steel billets that are ‘machined’ — cut, ground, milled, and drilled — into their final shape. Tiny gears, like those for small cobots, are especially challenging — and costly.

The low melting point of alloys used to make metallic glass, together with their native strength, and the fact that their volume hardly changes upon solidifying, makes bulk metallic glasses easy to use in injection molding. Injection molding can dramatically reduce the cost of making parts like gears.

Flexsplines The most difficult, expensive gear component to machine from a steel block is one of the most common in robotic arms — the flexspline. Flexsplines are extremely thin-walled, flexible cups with a toothed rim.

Flexplines are the centerpiece of what is known as a strain wave gear assembly. Strain wave gears provide better precision, higher torque, and lower backlash than other gear sets.

This eliminates positioning errors which would be compounded in a robotic limb with multiple joints.

According to Hoffman, it is injection molding of strain wave gears with amorphous metals that promises the greatest savings. Injection molding costs about half as much as machining strain wave gears from steel.

Amorphology’s business plan Molding small, high-performance planetary and strain wave gears became the central business plan for Amorphology, which Hofmann cofounded in 2014. Through Caltech, the company licensed several patents for technology he had developed for NASA. Meanwhile, Hofmann and colleagues continued pursuing new materials for spacecraft at both the metallurgy lab and JPL’s Additive Manufacturing Center.

A number of patents and technologies led Hofmann to found a second spinoff company focused on using amorphous metals in coatings, 3D printing, and other non-gear-related applications.

Both were backed by the same venture capital group, and in 2020 they

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A strain wave gear converts the fast, low-torque rotation of an engine into slow, precise, forceful motion. As the oblong wave generator at the center spins, it deforms the flexspline around it, shown in red, which engages with the teeth of a fixed outer spline. The interaction causes the flexspline to rotate in the opposite direction of the wave generator, moving only two teeth for each turn of the motor. | Jahobr, CCO 1.0

merged under the Amorphology name, combining about 30 patents and patent applications for the technology from JPL. A market beyond Mars Also in 2020, the merged company finished its move into a new, 13,000-square-foot manufacturing facility where about 15 people now work, mostly making and testing prototype pieces for small gear assemblies for several customers.

Amorphology’s first and largest customer is one of the world’s foremost manufacturers of strain wave gears. In addition, at least one other customer has hired the company to coat consumer electronics parts with metallic glass, making them more durable, indicating another market with immediate potential. Hofmann noted that gears that can operate without lubrication are also of interest to businesses like food manufacturing, where lubricants can become contaminants.

Meanwhile, many of the company’s other patents for JPL technology — all licensed from Caltech – are probably still years away from commercialization,

www.therobotreport.com

although they are in fields that are gaining heavy interest. Among these are new alloys and advanced metal 3D printing technologies, from thermal spray additive manufacturing to ultrasonic welding.

NASA technology transfer NASA has a long history of transferring technology to the private sector, and Amorphology is not the first company to commercialize innovations in bulk metallic glass from JPL and Caltech. But Garrett notes that creating a startup based on new materials is notoriously difficult. If lubrication-free gears or lowcost flexsplines find a long-term market.

“That would be a huge step towards sustained commercial success for bulk metallic glass,” he said. RR

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The Robot Report

Designing

a durable cobot arm joint The design had to meet industry-leading cobot requirements, including high levels of functional safety, high load-bearing capacity with increased arm speed.

David Dumoulin | TE Connectivity

Collaborative robots (cobots) represent one of the fastest growing segments in industrial automation, increasing by around 11% year-over-year.

While cobots enhance efficiency in the workplace, designing robot components, especially robot arms, is not an easy task. From the need to operate in harsh environments and small spaces to oftentimes unique customized solutions, robotic arms present an engineering challenge.

A major robotics company came to an engineering team at TE Connectivity with a big request — to help optimize the design for its next generation of cobots.

The design had to meet industry-leading cobot requirements including high levels of functional safety, high load-bearing capacity with increased arm speed, and a lightweight design while still being compact and safe and capable of complex functionality.

In addition to these requirements, this specific application needed to ensure additional temperature stability. The joint was located near a motor, subjecting its components to frequent changes in temperature. Therefore, the solution needed to minimize thermal sensitivity to maintain a high level of accuracy.

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To meet the customer’s requirements of temperature stability, increased accuracy and complex functionality, TE Connectivity designed an arm joint with the use of its durable torque sensor.

Designing a durable arm joint Robotic arm joints are particularly difficult to design. Aside from temperature stability, the joint is often subject to extreme axial loading, tilting movements and force. A major challenge is ensuring sensors maintain accurate measurements without becoming subject to torque. Additionally, the arm joint often operates in a compact space, which means components must be durable enough to withstand high repetition and torque while working.

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Typically, the arm joint consists of a torque sensor, a motor drive or position sensor, a gear unit or gear drive, a power converter for the electric motor and power supplies. The number of components alone increases the complexity. However, this particular project took the challenge one step further by requiring all the cables for these components to be fed through one hole 8 - 10 mm in diameter.

A microfused torque sensor To meet all the challenges and opportunities of this cobot, TE used a combination of torque sensors, additional connectors and cable assemblies. The robot’s arm design met the OEM’s need for high load-bearing www.therobotreport.com

capacity by offering overload capabilities made possible with microfused technology.

The torque sensor solution measures the deformation of a diaphragm under external pressure using highly sensitive silicon strain gauges in a bridge configuration. Using microfused technology, silicon is bonded onto stainless steel using glass. This creates a reliable and stable bond, well suited for the application’s thermoregulatory needs. The bond also transfers strain from the steel into the silicon, ensuring more accurate torque measurements over long-term use. The microfused technology produced repeated survivability rates at 200% and structural failure rates at 500% of load.

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The Robot Report Prioritizing safety Another important feature of the sensor solution was dual redundancy. TE’s torque sensors use electrically segregated channels in their gauging. Two data channels are fed through a single chip, which also has segregated channels, thus preserving the integrity of the independent data outputs.

This enables two separate measurements om different locations on a single structure, increasing accuracy, confidence and safety.

Dual redundancy also allows for crosschecking. As the cobot operates, the machine compares the independent measurements om the data channels and stops operating if the two measurements are not within a small window of variability, further improving safety and reliability.

This specific torque sensor solution was also engineered to reduce cross-load errors.

By controlling the steel geometry and its specific location as well as the dimensions of the sensing region, TE was able to further enhance dependability and safety.

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Connectors and cables To ensure reliability for this application, low deflection (or high stiffness) is required in the cables as the torque is measured by the sensor. TE used connectors and cable assemblies throughout the cobot arm to reinforce functional safety to meet the OEM’s needs. To streamline and strengthen the solution, TE assembled all the components together on each sub-functional unit of the cobot.

By working with the same manufacturer for components, TE engineered the internal connections and communications systems to work together om joint to joint, adding an additional level of reliability to the project.

In addition, each TE component is shielded to withstand changes in vibration, shock, temperature and more. TE components were also used as a base connector in the endof-arm tool interface, where the DC power, ethernet, sensor element and brake unit are all connected.

Designing the next generation of cobots is not a small task. However, with a focus on reliability, safety and seamless integration, TE Connectivity developed a unique torque sensor solution to meet this OEM’s demands — yet another example in how cross-functional expertise can help create the human/machine hybrid workforce of tomorrow. RR

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•• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• The Robot Report

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Researchers enabled this A1 quadruped from Unitree Robotics to traverse sand, mud, hiking trails, tall grass and dirt piles without falling. | Source: Facebook AI

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Quadruped learns to adapt to changing terrain in real time

Rapid Motor Adaptation uses end-to-end learning all the way, even directly outputting joint positions without relying on predefined leg motions or other control primitives.

Jitendra Malik | Director of Research | Facebook AI

Humans can walk with relative ease over rocks, through mud, up and down hills, on thick carpets, and across bouncy trampolines. We can do so with tired muscles or twisted ankles and while carrying objects of all shapes, sizes, and weights. To accomplish this, we constantly make near-instantaneous adjustments to the changing conditions in our bodies and beneath our feet.

To be similarly successful in the real world, walking robots also must adapt to whatever surfaces they encounter, whatever objects they carry, and whatever condition they are in — even if they’ve never been exposed to those conditions before. And to avoid falling and potentially suffering damage, these adjustments must happen in actions of a second.

Researchers om Facebook AI, UC Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science recently introduced Rapid Motor Adaptation (RMA), a breakthrough that enables legged robots to adapt intelligently in real time to challenging, unfamiliar THE ROBOT REPORT

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new terrain and circumstances. RMA uses a novel combination of two policies, both learned entirely in simulation — a base policy trained through reinforcement learning (RL) and an adaptation module trained using supervised learning.

Importantly, with RMA the robot demonstrates an aptitude fundamental to all intelligent agents — the ability to adapt to factors in its environment, such as the weight of a backpack suddenly thrust on it or the amount of iction on a new surface, without depending on any visual input at all.

Until now, legged robots have either been fully hand-coded for the environments they will inhabit or taught to navigate their environments through a combination of hand-coding and learning techniques. RMA is a learning-based system to enable a legged robot to adapt to its environment om scratch by exploring and interacting with the world.

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The Robot Report

The only way to adjust to all the variations in the real world is to teach robots to adapt.

The researchers said tests demonstrate that an RMA-enabled robot outperforms alternative systems when walking over different surfaces, slopes, and obstacles, and when given different payloads to carry. This requires going beyond even sophisticated hand-coding, because it is difficult or impossible to preprogram a robot to adjust to the full range of real-world conditions, whether it’s a different type of rug, a deeper mud puddle, or a bouncier trampoline.

Moreover, to work reliably, robots must be able to adjust not only to carrying different loads but also to expected wear and tear, like a dent on the bottom of its foot, a slightly worn-down part, or the countless other unpredictable changes that happen in the real world. Because its ability is based entirely on what it encounters, an RMA-enabled robot can adjust to situations programmers never even considered.

Not just what robots can do but how they do it Improvements in hand-coding can boost a robot’s performance within a controlled environment, but the only way to truly adjust to the infinite variations found

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| Source: Facebook AI

in the real world is to teach robots to actually adapt, similar to how people learn.

Giving robots this ability to adapt to changing real-world conditions requires teaching them through millions of repetitions, and the best way to do this is not in the real world, where they could get damaged or worn down while learning, but in simulation. RMA uses end-to-end learning all the way, even directly outputting joint positions without relying on predefined leg motions or other control primitives.

However, a number of challenges emerge when these skills are first learned in simulation and then deployed in the real world. The physical robot and its model in the simulator are often different in small but important ways. There might be a slight latency between a control signal being sent and the actuator moving, for example, or a scuff on a foot that makes it less slippery than before, or the angle of a joint might be off by a hundredth of a degree.

The physical world also presents intricacies that a simulator, which is modeled on rigid bodies moving in free space, cannot accurately capture.

www.therobotreport.com

Surfaces like a mattress or a puddle can deform on contact. An environment that’s fairly standardized in simulation becomes much more varied and complex in the real world, moreso when one factors the multitude of terrains that can exist in both indoor and outdoor spaces. And of course, factors in the real world are never static, so one real-world environment that a legged robot is able to master can be completely different from another.

Train in simulation, deploy in real world RMA overcomes these challenges by using two distinct subsystems: a base policy and an adaptation module.

The base policy is learned in simulation with RL, using carefully curated information about different environments (like the amount of friction and the weight and shape of the payload). We set different variables — simulating more slippery or less slippery ground or the grade of an incline — so it learns the right controls for different conditions, and we encode info about those variables as “extrinsics.”

We can’t simply deploy the robot with only this base policy, because we THE ROBOT REPORT

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The Robot Report

Researchers evaluated RMA in out-ofdistribution setups in the real world, comparing RMA to A1’s controller. | Source: Facebook AI

Improvements in handcoding can boost a robot’s performance within a controlled environment, but the only way to truly adjust to the infinite variations found in the real world is to teach robots to actually adapt, similar to how people learn.

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don’t know the actual extrinsics it will encounter out in the real world. So we rely on information that the robot teaches itself about its surroundings — information based on its most recent body movement. We know that the discrepancies between a joint’s actual movement and the expected movement from a command is dependent on these extrinsics. For example, sudden leg obstructions stop the robot’s legs but also reveal information about the ground height around it. Similarly, on a soft surface the leg will extend farther as the foot sinks in, whereas on a hard surface it’ll stop sooner.

Since we know the actual extrinsics the robot encounters in simulation, we can use supervised learning to train the adaptation module to predict them from the recent history of the robot’s state.

Adapting nearly instantaneously With this combination of a base policy and an adaptation module, the robot can adapt to new conditions in fractions of a second.

Robots trained with prior RL-based approaches require several minutes, and sometimes human intervention, to adjust to new conditions, rendering them impractical in the real world.

When the RMA-enabled robot is deployed, the base policy and adaptation module work hand in hand www.therobotreport.com

and asynchronously — the base policy running at a faster speed, the adaptation module running much slower — to enable the robot to perform robust and adaptive locomotion without any fine-tuning. Running both policies asynchronously and at substantially different frequencies also helps deploy RMA with a small onboard computer, as is the case with our robot. The small base policy can keep the robot walking at a high frequency, while the bigger adaptation module can send the extrinsics vector at a low frequency when it’s ready. Running both policies asynchronously also adds robustness to somewhat unpredictable hardware speeds and timing.

Our experiments have shown that the RMA-enabled robot successfully walks across several challenging environments, outperforming a non-RMA deployment and equaling or bettering the handcoded controllers used in a Unitree quadruped. We executed all our realworld deployments with the same policy without any simulation calibration or real-world fine-tuning.

The robot was able to walk on sand, in mud, on hiking trails, in tall grass, and over a dirt pile without a single failure in all our trials. The robot successfully walked down steps along a hiking trail in 70% of the trials. It successfully navigated a cement pile and a pile of pebbles in 80% of the trials, despite never seeing the unstable or sinking ground, obstructive vegetation, or steps during training. It also maintained its height with a high success rate when moving with a 12 kg payload, which amounted to 100% of its body weight.

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The Robot Report Building many forms of more adaptable AI RMA is an exciting advancement for robotics that could enable real-world deployment of new, highly effective, and adaptable walking robots. This work also shows how advancements in AI can transform the field of robotics, enhancing the capabilities of robots while also making those improvements more scalable to new conditions and applications. Methods that rely purely on learning potentially have the capability to work with much cheaper, inaccurate hardware, which would substantially bring down the cost of robots in the future. Increased efficiencies and reduced costs may mean that RMA-enabled robots could one day serve in myriad capacities, such as assistants in search and rescue operations, particularly in areas that are too dangerous or impractical for humans.

More broadly, we hope our work with RMA will help researchers build AI that can adapt in real time to unforeseen, rapidly changing, and highly complex conditions.

Beyond robotics, RMA points the way to building AI systems that can adapt to many difficult challenges in real time by leveraging data on the fly to understand the context in which a particular algorithm operates. This is a broad, longterm challenge that will require progress in many subfields beyond RL. But we are excited to see how the AI research community builds on our work with RMA — both in robotics and beyond. RR

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The Robot Report

How Atlas

runs, flips & vaults How perception and adaptability enable Atlas to perform varied, high-energy behaviors like parkour.

Pat Marion | Boston Dynamics

What does it take for a robot to run, flip, vault, and leap like an athlete?

Creating these high-energy demonstrations is a fun challenge, but our technical goals go beyond just creating a flashy performance. On the Atlas project, we use parkour as an experimental theme to study problems related to rapid behavior creation, dynamic locomotion, and connections between perception and control that allow the robot to adapt – quite literally – on the fly.

Perception for parkour Robot perception algorithms are used to convert data om sensors like cameras and lidar into something useful for decision making and planning physical actions. While Atlas uses IMUs, joint positions, and force sensors to control its body motion and feel the ground for balance, it requires perception to identi and navigate obstacles.

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The Robot Report

Figure 1: A rendering of Atlas with perception outputs

In order to execute an extended parkour course, we give the robot a high-level map that includes where we want it to go and what stunts it should do along the way.

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Atlas uses a time-of-flight depth camera to generate point clouds of the environment at 15 frames per second.

The point cloud is a large collection of range measurements. Atlas’ perception software extracts surfaces from this point cloud using an algorithm called multi-plane segmentation. The output of this algorithm is fed into a mapping system that builds models of the different objects that Atlas sees with its camera.

Figure 1 shows what Atlas sees and how that perception is used to plan actions. In the top left is the infrared image captured by the depth camera.

The white points in the main image form the point cloud. Orange outlines mark the detected rectangular faces of parkour obstacles, which are tracked over time from the sensor observations.

These detected faces are then used for planning specific behaviors. For example, the green footsteps represent a future plan of where to jump and jog next.

In order to execute an extended parkour course, we give the robot a high-level map that includes where we want it to go and what stunts it should do along the way. This map is not an exact geometric match for the real course; it is an approximate description containing obstacle templates and annotated actions. Atlas uses this sparse

www.therobotreport.com

information to navigate the course, but uses live perception data to fill in the details. For example, Atlas knows to look for a box to jump on, and if the box is moved 0.5 meters to the side then Atlas will find it there and jump there. If the box is moved too far away then the system won’t find it and will come to a stop.

We also use 3D visualization tools that show what the robot is seeing and planning as it navigates the parkour obstacle course. Actively tracked objects are drawn in green and fade from green to purple as they go out of view of the robot’s perception sensors. The tracking system continuously estimates the poses of objects in the world and the navigation system plans the green footsteps relative to those objects using information from the map.

Behavior libraries Each of the moves you see Atlas perform during a parkour routine is derived from a template created ahead of time using trajectory optimization. Creating a library of these templates allows us to keep adding new capabilities to the robot by adding new trajectories to the library.

Given planned targets from perception, the robot chooses the behaviors from the library that match the given targets as closely as possible.

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The Robot Report

Atlas vaults over a balance beam at Boston Dynamics’ Waltham headquarters.

Designing behaviors offline via trajectory optimization allows our engineers to explore the limits of the robot’s capabilities interactively ahead of time and reduce the amount of computation we have to do on the robot.

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| Source: Boston Dynamics

Designing behaviors offline via trajectory optimization allows our engineers to explore the limits of the robot’s capabilities interactively ahead of time and reduce the amount of computation we have to do on the robot. For example, the details of how exactly the robot coordinates its limbs to launch and tuck for a backflip can have a major impact on success due to physical constraints like actuation limits.

Leveraging offline optimization allows us to capture important constraints like this at design time and adapt them online using a single, general purpose controller.

Model-predictive control Having identified the boxes, ramps, or barriers in front of the robot and planned a sequence of maneuvers to get over them, the remaining challenge is filling in all of the details needed for the robot to reliably carry out the plan.

Atlas’ controller is what’s known as a model-predictive controller (MPC) because it uses a model of the robot’s dynamics to predict how its motion will evolve into the future. The controller www.therobotreport.com

works by solving an optimization that computes the best thing to do right now to produce the best possible motion over time.

As we described above, each template in our behavior library gives the controller information about what a good solution looks like. The controller adjusts details like force, posture, and behavior timing to cope with differences in the environment geometry, foot slips, or other real-time factors. Having a controller that is able to deviate significantly from template motions simplifies the behavior creation process, since it means that we don’t have to have behavior templates that match every possible scenario the robot will encounter. For example, jumping off of a 52cm platform isn’t that different from a 40cm one, and we can trust MPC to figure out the details.

The predictive property of MPC also allows Atlas to see across behavior boundaries. For example, knowing that a jump is followed by a backflip, the controller can automatically create smooth transitions from one move to another. This again simplifies the THE ROBOT REPORT

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The Robot Report The controller adjusts details like force, posture, and behavior timing to cope with differences in the environment geometry, foot slips, or other realtime factors. Having a controller that is able to deviate significantly from template motions simplifies the behavior creation process, since it means that we don’t have to have behavior templates that match every possible scenario the robot will encounter.

behavior creation problem since we need not account for all possible sequences of behaviors ahead of time. There are of course limits to the innovation we can expect from MPC. For example, attempting to transition to a backflip from a fast forward jogging motion wouldn’t work. In general, we have to strike a balance between controller complexity and behavior library size.

Building a foundation for the future Our work on parkour has given us a strong understanding of how to create and control a wide range of dynamic behavior on Atlas (also including dance).

But more importantly, it created the opportunity to design an extensible software system that will grow with our team as Atlas gains new abilities to perceive and change its environment.

We’re excited to continue building on this foundation as we expand the scope of what Atlas can do. RR About the Author Pat Marion is a senior robotics engineer at Boston Dynamics where he leads perception software development for Atlas. Pat first started working with Atlas in 2013 as a member of the MIT DARPA Robotics Challenge Team. Pat has a Masters in Computer Science from MIT and has previously worked on self driving cars, high performance computing, and scientific visualization.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Connect and discuss this and other engineering design issues with thousands of professionals online

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The Robot Report

Tips for

choosing your robot’s motors

This guide will simplify your motor selection process.

The Robot Report Staff

For hardware startups, picking motors for your robot isn’t a walk in the park. There are many parameters to consider before picking an actuator or motor, and there is no one-stop choice.

Pretty much everything depends on the type of robot you’re going to build.

Even a er finalizing all the specifications, you still have to keep some non-tech factors in mind like price, delivery time, and supplier’s credibility. Estimating all these things may seem a bit overwhelming—and it is. The guide here sets out to simpli the motor selection process.

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www.therobotreport.com

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| AdobeStock

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| AdobeStock

The Robot Report

For hardware startups, picking motors for your robot isn’t a walk in the park. There are many parameters to consider before picking an actuator or motor, and there is no one-stop choice.

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Before choosing a motor Before you set your eyes on a particular motor, you need to understand what exactly your robotic application requires.

To do so, go through this checklist below: • What is the size of your application?

• How will the drive fit?

• What kind of tasks will your robot perform?

• Do you need standard voltage or industrial voltage?

• How much power will the motor consume?

• Will your application be plugged into the wall outlet?

• Do you want the motor to operate at a specific speed?

• What torque will your application require?

• Do you need a high-precision motor?

• What about noise? Do you want the robot to operate as quietly as possible?

• Is there any specific thermal environment?

• What will the duty and life cycle of your application be? www.therobotreport.com

With the checklist in hand, it’s easier to put down some ideas of what you’re looking for in a motor. It isn’t all-encompassing, since every robotic application is different, but it will help you understand your basic motor requirements.

Now, it’s time to learn what motor options you have.

Types of motors in robotic applications There are three main drive types to breathe life into your robot: hydraulic, pneumatic, and electric. Here is a closer look at each type.

Hydraulic motors If you need a robot with great weight-lifting ability, hydraulic motors are your best pick.

Hydraulic motors use fluid to drive the actuator. A special pump helps the fluid create pressure in the pressure line connected to the hydraulic motor, and the drive then converts fluid pressure into a mechanical one.

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The Robot Report

These drives are highly efficient and ensure smooth motion management. These are the main reasons why hydraulic motors are used for industrial robots. Speaking of flaws, they are costly to purchase and maintain. Hydraulic motors also constantly consume energy - not to mention risks of fluid leaks.

Pneumatic motors Aspiring to build a pick-and-place application?

Perhaps this engine is your perfect match.

Pneumatic motors function through compressed air energy. The air compressed by

It’s really hard to make a decision. The most important thing is to get a clear understanding of what your robot needs. You’re picking the very heart of your application, so you’d better focus on the list of requirements for your prototype.

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www.therobotreport.com

the compressor enters the pneumatic lines and then goes to the pneumatic motor.

These engines are simple to use and less sensitive to ambient temperature changes. They are also cheaper than a hydraulic motor. Unfortunately, they are also less efficient. Another con of pneumatic motors pertains to possible heating and cooling of the gas in the compressors, which can lead to several rather unpleasant issues.

Electric motors When it comes to robotics, electric motors are the most sought-after drives.

Their mode of action is clear as day: they convert electrical energy into mechanical. These engines are usually small and lightweight yet powerful enough to activate any robot. An electric drive is also the most environmentoriented solution.

Electric motors are the most popular pick among because their prices are affordable and the selection range is extensive.

THE ROBOT REPORT

9/3/21 2:13 PM

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The Robot Report To avoid unnecessary confusion, we’ll discuss only the most well-known subtypes of electric motors: • AC motors (synchronous and asynchronous) • DC motors (brushed and brushless) • Steppers • Servos

fields—the coil is energized, and the opposite poles of the rotor and stator get attracted to each other. Brushless DC engines are more expensive and harder to grasp, but the price is worth it. They don’t wear off as quickly as brushed motors, are less noisy, and produce great output.

Let’s get a closer look at each of these engines.

Steppers The special thing about steppers is that they rotate differently, in steps, with each step being part of a complete turn.

Robot technicians love these motors for their precise position control, longer lifetime, reliability, and greater lowspeed torque. They are also rather cheap and can be used for a range of robotic applications.

As for the disadvantages, you may find a stepper a noisy and inefficient solution—especially in comparison with servo motors.

AC Motors AC motors run on an alternating current.

You can find these engines mostly in industrial applications since they require being plugged in, and their sizes can be impressive. Most of them aren’t a convenient option for mobile robotics, although there are exceptions.

AC motors can be synchronous and asynchronous. Synchronous AC devices have a rotor that rotates synchronously with an oscillating field or current. These motors are highly efficient, simple to regulate, and are used for applications where precise sustained speed is needed.

In an asynchronous AC engine, a rotating magnetic field is formed by an alternating current of the stator.

They typically weigh less than their synchronous counterparts and are much more compact. However, they also have shortcomings. Asynchronous motors can’t keep the stable rotational speed and overheat under a heavy load.

DC Motors DC motors are perfect for mobile robots and collaborative robots because they run on a direct current. Such an engine may need a gearhead to increase torque in industrial use.

There are two main groups of DC engines: brushed and brushless.

Brushed DC motors are one of the most affordable options a startup can pick. Using brushes to deliver current, these engines are the cheapest and simplest motors you can find. However, they aren’t that efficient and have a short lifespan: you have to replace brushes once they wear off. They can also be extremely noisy, so you can’t use them, for instance, for medical robots.

Brushless DC motors are another story. This drive’s operating principle is based on the interaction of magnetic

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Servo Motors Servo motors are high-power electromechanical motors that move on a signal to a certain position and stay put until the next signal. Servos use a feedback mechanism to fix positioning errors.

So, if some force exerts pressure on the actuator and changes its position, the servo motor will apply force in the opposite direction to make it right. This feature made servo motors a solid option for everyone who needs high positioning accuracy for their robots.

Servo motors can be costly and they require an experienced hand, but they get more and more popular among manufacturers and inspire them to build new solutions.

The Bottom Line On their quest to find the best motor, robot manufacturers can feel like kids in a candy store. It’s really hard to make a decision. The most important thing is to get a clear understanding of what your robot needs. You’re picking the very heart of your application, so you’d better focus on the list of requirements for your prototype. RR

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ADVANCED Motion Controls Miniaturized servo drives with all the features, power, and performance of bigger drives FlexPro® digital servo drives are designed for high power, small size, and the best available servo motor control.

Their small size along with distributed control makes it easy to install them wherever they are needed, including tight integrations like motor casings and robot joints. Their high power density alleviates complications for engineers regarding space and weight that usually come with larger drives.

The “mini” footprint operates from 20-90 VDC, with a continuous current rating of 50 amps and a peak rating of 100 amps.

The “micro” footprint operates from 10-55 VDC, with continuous current ratings as high as 45 amps and peak as high as 50 amps.

ADVANCED Motion Controls 3805 Calle Tecate Camarillo, CA 93012 | USA www.a-m-c.com 1-805-389-1935

CGI Inc. Advanced Products for Robotics and Automation At CGI we serve a wide array of industries including medical, robotics, aerospace, defense, semiconductor, industrial automation, motion control, and many others. Our core business is manufacturing precision motion control solutions.

CGI’s diverse customer base and wide range of applications have earned us a reputation for quality, reliability, and flexibility. One of the distinct competitive advantages we are able to provide our customers is an engineering team that is knowledgeable and easy to work with. CGI is certified to ISO9001 and ISO13485 quality management systems. In addition, we are FDA and AS9100 compliant. Our unique quality control environment is weaved into the fabric of our manufacturing facility. We work daily with customers who demand both precision and rapid turnarounds.

ISO QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS: ISO 9001• ISO 13485 • AS9100 • ITAR SIX SIGMA AND LEAN PRACTICES ARE EMBRACED DAILY WITHIN THE CULTURE

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CGI Inc. 3400 Arrowhead Drive Carson City, NV 89706 Toll Free: 1.800.568.4327 Ph: 1.775.882.3422 Fx: 1.775.882.9599 WWW.CGIMOTION.COM

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Fully Integrated Speed Controller, within 6.2 mm The FAULHABER BXT Flat brushless DC servo motor family has grown; now available in all sizes with a diametercompliant, integrated speed controller. With an additional attachment length of just 6.2 mm, the combination of the BXT H motors with the integrated speed controller is the ideal solution for space-confined applications, particularly if speeds need to be controlled precisely, and high torques are also required. The default factory pre-configuration, along with the Motion Manager software allows for quick and easy commissioning of the system. Typical applications include medical devices, pumps, hand-held instruments, optics systems, robotics & surgical end-effectors.

FAULHABER MICROMO www.faulhaber.com 14881 Evergreen Ave Clearwater, FL 33762 USA

800-807-9166

FESTO Customize KDFP Quarter-Turn Actuators With Ease To fit your unique application requirements, Festo KDFP quarter-turn actuators are available with many features and accessories including pilot valves, sensor boxes, position indicators and mounting adapters. Choose from a wide range of sizes, torques (10–2,300 Newton-meters) and swivel angles to 90 or 180 degrees.

You can order KDFP quarter-turn actuators using our online configurator tool, which makes it easy to find, select, size and order the right unit for your application. This tool also provides access to all prices, delivery times, data sheets and 2D and 3D CAD data in many native and neutral formats.

Festo Corporation 1377 Motor Parkway Suite 310 Islandia, NY 11749 Phone: 1-800-993-3786 Web: www.festo.com e-mail: customer.service.us@festo.com

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FUTEK We make innovation possible FUTEK Advanced Sensor Technology specializes in creating inventive sensor solutions for today’s leading tech innovators: • Load cells • Torque sensors • Pressure sensors • Multi-axis sensors • Instruments • Software Our end-to-end measurement products and services include sensors, amplifiers, and calibration, allowing you to streamline and optimize your system and achieve better results at a lower cost than legacy solutions. All our products are made in the USA. To learn more, visit www.futek.com.

FUTEK Advanced Sensor Technology, Inc. 10 Thomas Irvine, CA 92618 USA www.futek.com +1 (949) 465-0900

GAM GAM GPL: The New Standard in Zero-Backlash Gearboxes GAM’s GPL Series Robotic Planetary Gearbox combines the lowest backlash and high tilting rigidity with vibration-free operation for smooth, controlled motion in robotics and motion control.

• Backlash ≤ 0.6 arcsec (≤ 0.1 arcmin) is 10x better than cycloidal gearboxes

• Backlash does not increase over the 20,000 hours of service live – no • • • •

adjustment necessary Precise, smooth path control and positioning allows for vibration-free continuous coordinated motion Lower cost replacement for direct drive motors with equal or better performance 7 sizes, up to 7000 Nm torque Configurations including solid or hollow flange output, component or fully enclosed with motor mount.

The GAM GPL series robotic planetary gearbox offers a unique level of precision and performance unseen in other gearboxes on the market today!

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GAM 901 E Business Center Drive Mount Prospect, IL 60056 888.GAM.7117 | 847.649.2500 www.gamweb.com info@gamweb.com

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Harmonic Drive Actuator + Integrated Servo Drive Ideal for use in robotics, the RSF miniature actuator is extremely compact and delivers high torque with exceptional accuracy and repeatability. This evolutionary product eliminates the need for an external drive and greatly improves wiring. Since it communicates via CANopen, only 4 conductors are needed: CANH, CANL, +24VDC, 0VDC.

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• Actuator + Integrated Servo Drive utilizing CANopen communication conforming to DS402 and DS301 • 24VDC Nominal +7 to 30VDC Supply Voltage Range • Single Axis BLDC Motor Controller/Driver with CAN & TTL-UART Interface • Single Cable with only 4 conductors needed: CANH, CANL, +24VDC, 0VDC • 14bit (16384 cpr) resolution motor encoder • Zero Backlash

42 Dunham Ridge Beverly, MA 01915 United States www.harmonicdrive.net

Harmonic Drive is a registered trademark of Harmonic Drive Systems

Hottinger Brüel and Kjaer HBK provides cutting edge custom sensor solutions for robotic OEMs. We work with leading OEM manufacturers as to solve their most challenging requirements. As one of the largest manufacturers of strain gauges and electronics, our global engineering competency center enables us to design and manufacture highly customized solutions. We are your partner to design single and multi-component sensors for use in robotic surgical and industrial equipment measuring system forces. Whether it’s a multiaxis measurement on a joint, force feedback on an actuator, or grip control on a manipulator, HBK will design and manufacture highly customized solutions without requiring you to make any significant modifications to your existing parts. If you’re in need of a high volume custom sensor, whether large or small, and you don’t want to make any significant changes to your existing system, then we are the right partner for you.

Hottinger Brüel and Kjaer 19 Bartlett Street Marlborough, MA 01752 www.hbm.com/oemsensors 800-578-4260

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maxon Motorizing an AGV Today’s AGVs must be compact and functional robots which are able to move vertically and carry heavy loads. These AGVs cannot fail, and so the choice of their motorization is crucial. There are 5 key points to consider when motorizing an AGV. 1. Choose compact motorization where possible - Drives must fit into restricted spaces, as they are sometimes integrated into existing trucks.

A small footprint is critical for applications in logistics.

2. Focus on ease of use – select a plug-and-play solution.

3. Opt for fast delivery of your motor solution 4. Base the design on modularity - Not all AGVs do the same job and therefore having the flexibility to select a solution to match needed specifications is essential.

5. Prioritize safety – select motor options with integrated sensors. maxon’s IDX motor has a diameter of only 56 mm, its performance is equivalent to that of a motor with a footprint 25% larger. The IDX motorization thus combines performance in a compact size and ideal for AGVs. Go to Drive.tech for more details.

Visit www.maxongroup.us for more maxon solutions.

New England Wire Technologies Advancing innovation for over 100 years Why accept a standard product for your custom application?

NEWT is committed to being the premier manufacturer of choice for customers requiring specialty wire, cable and extruded tubing to meet existing and emerging worldwide markets. Our custom products and solutions are not only engineered to the exacting specifications of our customers, but designed to perform under the harsh conditions of today’s advanced manufacturing processes.

Cables we specialize in are LITZ, multi-conductor cables, hybrid configurations, coaxial, twin axial, miniature and micro-miniature coaxial cables, ultra flexible, high flex life, low/high temperature cables, braids, and a variety of proprietary cable designs. Contact us today and let us help you dream beyond today’s technology and achieve the impossible.

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Contact info: New England Wire Technologies www.newenglandwire.com 603.838.6624

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OMS Motion, Inc. OMS Motion has been successfully producing motion controls for more than 35 years. Single axis integrated controls with drives as well as complete multi-axis controllers that can coordinate and synchronize up to 10-axes on a single controller. OMS products are used in numerous markets worldwide, including semiconductor equipment, lab automation, life sciences, factory automation, large- and smallscale research facilities/projects, and others. OMS controllers are very versatile and capable.

Founded in the early 80’s OMS developed patented technology that provides advantages in the motion control industry. In the mid 90’s OMS was acquired by a public company with a focus on medical devices. Then in early 2017 OMS separated from the public company, regaining its focus on motion control. OMS has earned a strong reputation for reliable and quality motion control products and is trusted throughout industries worldwide.

OMS Motion, Inc. 15201 NW Greenbriar, Suite B1 Beaverton, OR 97006 www.OMSmotion.com 800-707-8111

NEW AksIM-2TM rotary absolute kit encoders offer outstanding performance – to 20-bits with no hysteresis

Renishaw associate company RLS d.o.o Introduces an improved second generation of AksIMTM absolute rotary encoders widely used in many humanoid, medical and collaborative (Cobot) applications, where hysteresis, large through holes, low profile, reliability and repeatability are fundamental.

The additional benefits of AksIM-2TM encoders are: • Full range of sizes • Onboard eccentricity calibration • Multiturn capability • Extended operating temperature and pressure ranges

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Contact Info: 1001 Wesemann Drive West Dundee, IL 60118 Website: www.renishaw.com Phone: 847.286.9953 Email: usa@renishaw.com

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SILICON SENSING Compact, rugged motion sensing for any task In operation on the factory floor, in the fields, on the roads, in the air and under water, Silicon Sensing’s DMU11 inertial measurement unit (IMU) delivers complete motion sensing in three-dimensional space.

This is a compact, precise, six-degrees-of-freedom (6-DOF) device ideal for any motion control or stabilisation task. Low cost and able to fit in the smallest space, it delivers market-leading performance that is calibrated over its full rated temperature range.

All Silicon Sensing MEMS gyroscopes, accelerometers & inertial systems deliver precise, rugged, ultra-reliable inertial sensing.

Silicon Sensing Clittaford Road Southway Plymouth Devon PL6 6DE England Phone: 01752 723330 Web: www.siliconsensing.com

Fastener Engineering This area has long been one of the most read and sought after by our engineering audience! From screws to bolts and adhesives to springs, these critical but often overlooked components are the key to every successful design.

FastenerEngineering.com will serve readers in the mechanical design engineering space, providing news, product developments, application stories, technical how-to articles, and analysis of engineering trends. This site will focus on key issues facing the engineering markets around fastener technology, along with technical background on selected components.

Engineering September 2019

A supplement of Design World

covering nuts, bolts, rivets, screws, u-clips, eye bolts, washers and more.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: • Special print section in select issues of Design World • Fastener Engineering monthly newsletter

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OCTOBER 5 @ 11AM Design, Development and Simulation Tools for Robotics Development

NOVEMBER 16 @ 11AM Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots sponsored by Cornerstone, 6 River Systems, Mouser Electronics

sponsored by Onshape

OCTOBER 5 @ 2PM Intelligent Vision and Sensing Solutions for Autonomous Mapping and Navigation

NOVEMBER 16 @ 2PM Robotics-as-a-Service Business Models for Autonomous Mobile Robots

sponsored by Otto Motors, Mouser Electronics

sponsored by DreamVu

OCTOBER 6 @ 11AM Advanced Motion Control Solutions for Robotics Systems

sponsored by Harmonic, Heidenhain, PMD, HBK, ADVANCED Motion Controls, OMS Motion, Kollmorgen

OCTOBER 6 @ 2PM Developing Cognitive Robotics Systems OCTOBER 7 @ 11AM Edge Computing Solutions for Robotics Developers

OCTOBER 7 @ 2PM

NOVEMBER 17 @ 11AM Mobile Robots in Manufacturing

Environments: Recent Case Studies sponsored by Sick, Cirtronics, Mouser Electronics, maxon

NOVEMBER 17 @ 2PM Autonomous Mobile Robots: Scaling from Pilots to Fleets

sponsored by MiR, Geek Plus, Mouser Electronics

NOVEMBER 18 @ 11AM Selection Criteria for Autonomous Mobile Robots

Design, Engineering and Manufacturing Services Solutions for Robotics OEMs sponsored by Celestica, Bokers

OCTOBER 8 @ 11AM Motion Control for Healthcare Robotics

sponsored by Robotnik, Locus Robotics, Mouser Electronics

NOVEMBER 18 @ 2PM Safety and Standards for Autonomous Mobile Robots

sponsored by Sick, FORT Robotics, Mouser Electronics

Applications: Functional Requirements, Critical Capabilities sponsored by MicroMO, PMD, Texas Instruments, OMS Motion

OCTOBER 8 @ 2PM

NOVEMBER 19 @ 11AM Cloud Based Fleet Management for

Intelligent Sensing Solutions for Object Recognition, Manipulation and Control

Autonomous Mobile Robots

sponsored by InOrbit, Mouser Electronics

sponsored by IFM Efector, Texas Instruments, Lin Engineering, Blackberry QNX

Learn more about upcoming and on-demand sessions at roboweeks.com

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5G TECHNOLOGY WORLD Delivers the Latest 5G Technology Trends

5G Technology World is EEWorldOnline’s newest site covering 5G technology, systems, infrastructure, and wireless design and development.

Get caught up on critical 5G information, check out the following articles on 5GTechnologyWorld.com: Massive MIMO performance testing: Emulate the channel Performing MIMO testing using real-world conditions is critical for successful 5G deployments. www.5gtechnologyworld.com/massive-mimoperformance-testing-emulate-the-channel

5G is hot, keep your components and systems cool 5G’s antennas and the devices that drive them generate more heat than their LTE predecessors. That creates new cooling problems for wireless devices and systems. www.5gtechnologyworld.com/5g-is-hot-keep-yourcomponents-and-systems-cool

5G moves into production, causes test issues 5G Technology World talks with Teradyne’s Jeorge Hurtarte, who explains components and over-the-air production test of 5G components. www.5gtechnologyworld.com/5g-moves-intoproduction-causes-test-issues

IEEE 1588 adds timing performance while reducing cost and risk GPS and GNSS have been the standards for network timing, but they have security issues. A Master clock and IEEE 1588 reduces the risk and lowers installation costs. www.5gtechnologyworld.com/ieee-1588-adds-timingperformance-while-reducing-cost-and-risk

For additional content, go to: www.5gtechnologyworld.com

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Engineering September 2021

A supplement of Design World

How data and automation can improve production processes

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Why resiliency matters Operational resilience is a form of risk mitigation and management. How well does your company anticipate, adapt to, and rebound from unexpected stressors or disruptions? Chances are you found out rather quickly in 2020 as the pandemic impacted everyday life and business.

Uncertainty has always been a challenge. Manufacturers and suppliers have long faced fluctuating demands, supply-chain nuisances, escalating costs, and unplanned downtime. However, operational resiliency was likely untested to the degree it has been since the “new normal” kicked in.

One outcome has been an increased reliance on technology. If nothing else, the pandemic accelerated the demand for automation and autonomous operations to mitigate workflow disruptions. In fact, statistics indicate that COVID-19 sped the adoption of digital technologies by several years.

A McKinsey Global Survey found that companies accelerated the digitization of their internal operations, as well as their customer and supply-chain interactions, by three to four years. Priorities are also shifting. According to a recent IBM report, businesses are now focused on ensuring business security, cost management, and enterprise agility — in other words, operational resilience.

For the fastener industry, this might look like integrated software (such as an ERP system, which better connects and manages supply chains) and automated equipment or processes for manufacturing and distribution. For example, automated precision equipment, including fastener feeding and driving machines, can ensure traceability, error-proofing, and quality control. Robotic adhesivedispensing systems also promise excellent repeatability for increased efficiency.

Although technological advances support operational resilience, mindfulness is also important. The fear of job losses has accompanied technological advances since the Industrial Revolution. Labor-saving digitalization and automation are ideal until they result in major job cuts — or the fear of job cuts — for employees.

Fortunately, these fears are often unfounded. Certainly, automation might replace some roles, but it can also lead to increases in others — including for the techs and engineers that maintain these systems. Automation can also lead to expanded production and greater productivity typically requires a larger workforce.

As 3M shares in their article on automation (see page 108) states: “It’s important to note that integrating automation and data in manufacturing does not eliminate the production workforce from the process… Labor will simply look different.”

In this issue, we also share a few profiles about the employees and entrepreneurs hard at work in the fastener industry. If you’re interested in sharing your story, write us at fasteners@wtwhmedia.com. We’d love to hear from you! FE

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How

data and automation

can improve production processes Victor Vance • Senior Application Engineer & Brianna McCord • Product Engineer Industrial Adhesives and Tapes 3M Although demands for production goods have trended positively over the last decade, surges in

material costs, wages, and manufacturing overhead are challenges companies must continue to face to meet these demands.

The current state of production performance is primarily built on employee historical knowledge, particularly in terms of troubleshooting and problem-solving. However, this is far from an ideal approach for gaining and maintaining control over the production process.

In fact, a consistent trend indicates that a firm control of production is one of the best ways to meet demands. This cannot be achieved through a reduction in labor. Historical employee knowledge and, in turn, production process control, would typically be lost — which could lead to an increase in performance variability, possible downtime, and troubleshooting time.

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Engineers programming automated, liquidadhesive dispensing equipment.

Data and automation in manufacturing As manufacturing continues to evolve toward a more advanced and connected ecosystem, a new environment is emerging. It is one in which data and automation are increasingly playing a central role.

Integrating automation in the production process is a strategic and reliable alternative to reliance on labor alone. It can, to a certain extent, guarantee production process control.

The use of data, including material and production data, will impact many parts of the production

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process. Material data, found in technical data sheets and similar documents, provides insight into many key automation requirements and parameters.

Collecting and analyzing production data can lead to predictive manufacturing, reducing downtime and troubleshooting time.

More than merely robotics, automation drives efficiencies by streamlining and optimizing processes, reducing waste and processing time, and improving quality. This frees up capital for

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An example of flexible automation at work using modular robotics.

business investment and expansion while reducing a sole dependency on labor. With automation, producers can re-deploy labor and resources to drive impact elsewhere.

This requires precision control, the interface of people, data, machines, and real-time communication functionality, which must be integrated into eversmaller footprints. It must also be nimble enough to adapt to ever-changing demands.

At the same time, the safety and durability of these systems are required, as harsh environments and challenging world circumstances become the norm.

Automating tapes and adhesives One component of process automation in the adhesive industry is the dispensing of tapes and liquid adhesives. Such automation serves to increase quality, consistency, and repeatability, which are important for controlling processes and improving production. Relying on labor for such tasks, and especially unskilled labor, introduces variability in the process.

Attracting skilled labor remains a challenge for many organizations.

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Implementing improvement tools to create different application techniques and more control into the production process is recommended to foster operational growth.

Automating the application of tapes and liquid adhesives is a trend that has accelerated for manufacturing companies to remain competitive and relevant.

Integrating process-assisted tooling, fixed automation, and flexible automation into the production process increases control and transfers the responsibility of dispensing from staff to the acquired machinery.

Additionally, relying on data to validate and streamline decision-making supports efficiency and growth across all operations.

While some markets continue to rely on labor to perform the application and dispensing of tapes and liquid adhesives through manual tools, other markets have turned to automation to offer greater efficiency and improve production performance across operations.

Automation offers a spectrum of solutions, from fully automated processes across production operations to niche solutions and applications, such as www.fastenerengineering.com

a simple dispensing or bonding solution. Customers and end-users are increasingly recognizing the benefits of investing in automation to improve their production processes.

Automating the dispense of tapes and liquid adhesives encompasses a broad range of equipment and technologies ranging from simple manual tools to customizable multiaxis robots. Whether integrating automation into processes to increase productivity, quality, safety, or reduce costs, customers and end-users are increasingly moving away from the use of handheld manual tools to automated equipment and data.

Ultimately, the automated dispense equipment selected is based on many factors. It might relate to the level of human interaction necessary, material chemistry, cost, the volume of dispense/ output rate, the precision required, and the type of dispense. For instance, the equipment used to dispense hot-melt and polyurethane hot-melt adhesives is different than those used to dispense structural adhesives.

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The levels of automation Automation

Manual tools

Description

Factors to consider

Manual operation with simple hand tools and methods to improve the manual application process without automation.

Equipment examples

• Assembly volume: Low volume • Labor costs: Low, inexpensive, easy to hire • Quality requirements: Quality achieved manually • Budget: $

Tape: Hand tape applicator (HTA), Dauber bottle, J-roller, file cards

• Assembly volume: Low volume • Labor costs: Low, inexpensive, easy to hire • Quality requirements: Quality achieved manually • Budget: $$

Tape: Straight-line laminator, cut-to-length dispenser

Liquid adhesive: Spray adhesive applicator, handheld battery-operated applicator, handheld pneumatic applicator

Process assists

Primarily manual operation with some advanced, semiautomated tools. These mechanical or electrical tools increase the productivity or precision of the manual application process.

Tape: X-Y table, level wound unwinders

Fixed automation

• Assembly volume: High Mostly automated operation volume, identical parts with reduced operator • Labor costs: High, interaction. A semi-custom expensive, difficult to hire process is designed to perform employees with technical one specific assembly step to knowledge improve accuracy or speed and • Quality requirements: reduce labor.

Extreme precision and accuracy required • Budget: $$$

Tape: Cobots, robots, level wound unwinders

Flexible automation

• Assembly volume: An automated operation High volume with minimal to no operator • Labor costs: High, interaction, designed to perform expensive, difficult to hire more than one assembly employees with technical process or be re-purposed knowledge later. It usually incorporates • Quality requirements: multi-axis systems.

Extreme precision and accuracy required • Budget: $$$$

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Liquid adhesive: Benchtop dispenser, digital shot control systems, volume metering systems, foot-pedal controls

Liquid adhesive: Roll coater, spray booth, XYZ gantry systems

Liquid adhesive: Cobots, robots, multi-axis systems

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Fastener Fair USA is the only exhibition in the U.S. dedicated to the full supply chain–distributors, mechanical and design engineers, purchasers, wholesalers, and end-users/OEMs – spanning key vertical industries.

The next edition of Fastener Fair USA will be held in Cleveland, Ohio, putting the show in of one of the biggest manufacturing hubs in North America. Combining a comprehensive display of industry innovation with highly relevant education and unmatched opportunities to connect with peers and industry experts will create a trade show experience unlike any other.

NOVEMBER 8, 2021 NOVEMBER 9-10, 2021

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J o i n i n g and shape of some fillers, pigments, and dyes, these can have an abrasive effect on some of the equipment pieces the adhesive may flow through. Material data is essential to successful automation.

A process assist with a push-through laminator for tape application.

While some markets continue to rely on labor to perform the application and dispensing of tapes and liquid adhesives through manual tools, others have turned to automation to offer greater efficiency and improve production performance across operations.

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the type of adhesive and the level of automation desired. Parts can also be modified or replaced as required. A full understanding of the type of adhesive for dispensing is necessary before choosing the equipment.

Material data, including information in technical and safety data sheets, provide insight into a significant number of automation requirements and parameters, particularly when it comes to liquid adhesives. Access to material data such as viscosity, density, the ratio by weight or volume, and a shear rate of the material provide vital insight for the equipment setup and appropriate dispense settings to create the desired application outcome.

Knowing other material data, such as the adhesive ingredients, is important to help prevent and schedule maintenance. Depending on the size www.fastenerengineering.com

From one level to another Moving from one level of automation to another is not an easy task. It involves identifying the long-term goals and objectives of the manufacturer and the budget to purchase products, equipment, and training staff. It also involves connecting with the right material and dispense equipment suppliers, integrators, and converters.

Identifying the ideal partners to work with based on the needs and objectives of the producer is a crucial element in successfully moving from one level of automation to another.

Adopting a new level of automation can disrupt the current production process, so it’s important to source the audit results and insights from production operators. Collecting undocumented insights helps to identify inefficiency gaps and with choosing effective automation equipment for process improvement and optimization.

When implemented correctly, automation can bring many benefits to a facility: an increase in reliability, performance, quality, and lower operating cost. Setting goals and milestones, knowing the challenges, and strategic planning are the elements that define a successful automation implementation process.

It’s important to note that integrating automation and data in manufacturing does not eliminate the production workforce from the process. The human element in production allows for the addition of equipment to the process, and the programming and operating of automated dispense equipment. Labor will simply look different. Employees will no longer be dispensing and performing manual labor themselves but, rather, will be responsible for programming and operating automated dispense equipment. FE September 2021

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Six factors

to consider before choosing your next torque wrench Mark Edmunds • Product Manager • Snap-on Industrial Applying torque to a fastener might seem like an automatic or intuitive process.

But choosing the correct value depends on several factors and doing so properly starts with selecting the ideal torque wrench for the job.

Torque wrenches come in all shapes and sizes and are designed for specific applications. There are six key factors to consider when choosing a torque tool, including: 1. The torque requirement 2. Data, traceability, and error-proofing 3. Speed versus accuracy 4. Available power sources 5. Budget 6. Training Additionally, torque certification is available, which provides education on proper torque and tool use. Evaluating an application based on these six factors will make choosing the right tool for an assembly easier and safer.

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Did you know that some companies have begun restricting technicians from pulling more than 600-foot pounds of manual torque due to ergonomic issues? It’s important to practice safe tooling practices.

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Torque certification is taught at technical schools and community colleges across the country. American tool manufacturer, Snap-on, has developed a torque certification course that dives into three areas: theory, application of torque, corresponding safety steps, and proper hydraulic torque.

1 Torque requirements The first step in choosing the ideal tool for a project is to identify the torque range for your specific application. If most of the work involves applying up to 600 pounds of torque, a conventional manual wrench typically works. However, if the application involves heavy-duty bolting — say, with torque requirements reaching 2,000 pounds of torque or more — it’s preferable to select a tool that offers advanced technologies.

Although many hand-torque wrench suppliers offer tools that can handle up to about 2,000 foot-pounds, first consider the potential safety hazards before purchase or use. Several companies have begun restricting technicians from pulling more than 600-foot pounds because of ergonomic issues.

Tools, such as manual torque multipliers, offer a safer way for technicians to pull higher torque amounts by hand. Torque multipliers offer a mechanical advantage in applying torque to turn fasteners and, typically, use epicyclic or planetary

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gearing. So, for example, each of the stages of gearing multiplies the torque applied to a bolt.

Torque multipliers are often used when larger, powered torque-controlled tools are unavailable. They’re also ideal for use in tight spaces where a longer-handled torque wrench is impractical.

2 Data, traceability, and errorproofing Capturing data is becoming essential at many worksites as a record of the performed tasks. This is particularly true in manufacturing and assembly applications, where companies want to ensure a job was completed to the exact specifications of the work order.

Even in MRO and industrial torque applications, most companies require electronic documentation to reduce errors, improve accuracy, and ensure installation. Such data can also support maintenance teams and lead to greater jobsite efficiencies.

For these reasons, data collection, traceability, and error-proofing capabilities are essential considerations when choosing a tool. Fortunately, www.fastenerengineering.com

electronic torque tools offer this level of functionality by providing instant data on the exact torque applied. This is something that most mechanical wrenches cannot do.

To ensure installation is performed to spec, a manufacturing engineer can pre-set parameters or pre-program torque sequences to be followed in a precise order. These types of innovations significantly reduce errors, which benefits the onsite tech and a company’s bottom line.

Several of today’s smart torque tools also provide advanced, digital features that help set an accurate torque target, record measurements for traceability or audit, and track specific torque history.

Generally, this is done through mobile applications that can instantly store or share the data.

3 Speed versus accuracy When applying controlled amounts of torque, there’s always a tradeoff between speed and accuracy. For example, the slower you pull on a handtorque wrench, the more accurate you can be. Typically, the same holds for DESIGN WORLD

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The Snap-on ControlTech Micro Torque Wrench is an electronic torque wrench in a compact form factor for use in limitedaccess applications.

torque-controlled power tools — the faster that torque is applied, the less precision is achieved.

For less critical torque applications in manufacturing and assembly, and where there’s already a large safety factor built into the overall project, a torque accuracy of +/- 15% may be acceptable. For such cases, work can be sped up using the clutch or lowtorque power impulse tools.

Otherwise, electronic torque wrenches and transducerized power tools offer the highest degree of repeatability and accuracy for critical torque applications. These tools often offer visual alerts, which indicate when the user is nearing the desired torque setting, to prevent torque overshoot.

Although these tools are not as fast as some torque technologies, they offer a safer balance of speed and accuracy.

4 Available power sources The available power source is also an important consideration, particularly for industries in remote locations. For example, a wind farm in a rural area may not have the proper power supply for many types of torque-controlled power tools.

One important question to ask: is your available power supply electric, pneumatic, or from human muscle alone? For instance, suppose you have a pneumatic torque multiplier without access to the required airflow and pressure. The tool is essentially useless in this scenario. It’s also impractical to haul a heavy hydraulic pump up a wind tower for hydraulic wrenches.

So, for those remote locations, a torque multiplier might be the ideal

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option for use with higher-torque applications. Battery-powered torque multipliers are also an excellent consideration.

Identifying the worksite location and its power sources is critical for avoiding operational issues and choosing the ideal tools for the job.

5 Budget Different types of torque tools vary widely in function and application, so it’s no surprise that the cost for these tools does, too. The electronic models that offer data collection and wireless functionality (for workflow management) tend to be more costly than the lowertech mechanical options.

Choosing the ideal torque tool means evaluating the project budget in relation to the steps required for a successful assembly. This should include safety and ergonomic considerations, as well as the documentation and traceability requirements.

Fortunately, there are now more torque technologies available than ever before, and it’s possible to pick and choose from the many options to get what you need.

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6 Training Properly understanding the principles of torque is more involved than simply cranking down on a fastener until you hear a click or following a digital readout.

Training classes and torque certification programs have become an invaluable resource for technicians to understand the proper use of torque wrenches and ensure a safe, effective, and reliable assembly.

An ideal program should cover fastener options, including how to identify bolt and metal grades, how to select the right fastener for an application, and what tools will ensure a safe and secure assembly. It should also cover the application of torque, including how to use torque tools and how to make proper calibration equations and wrench adjustments.

Additionally, any quality program will cover the assembly, tools, jobsite, and worker safety considerations.

Torque tools are often a major investment, affecting the quality of an application and the ergonomics of a technician or contractor at work. It’s best to think strategically and do your due diligence to ensure the ideal tool choice for each project. FE

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Fastener Fair:

Connecting the global fastener community The inaugural Fastener Fair USA event took place in 2018, but

the exhibition launched more than a couple of decades ago and has found success in several countries since then. The first show started in England in 1995. It was organized by a UK socket-screw wholesaler interested in expanding his business and connecting with others in the industry.

At the time, there was nothing like it. Then in 2005, the show opened in Stuttgart, Germany — where it remains the world’s largest fastener event.

In 2008, Fastener Fair Budapest was launched on a trial run. In 2010, international B2B trade exhibition organizer, Mack-Brooks Group (a part of Reed Exhibitions – RX Global) acquired Fastener Fair. It’s continued the expansion trend.

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| AdobeStock

Fastener Fair • Cleveland, OH • November 8-10, 2021

“We call it geo-cloning, where we take an event that works in one city or country and include it in another,” shares Bob Chiricosta, event director with RX Global. “Currently, there are eight Fastener Fairs around the world.”

Aside from in the USA, this includes Germany, France, Italy, India (in Mumbai and New Delhi), Turkey, and Mexico.

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director. He’s been with Mack-Brooks and then RX Global for 11 years but began work specific to the Fastener Fair when it launched in Mexico.

“Then, we wanted to bring what we offered in Mexico, which was a great success, to America,” he says. “And we knew that we wanted it to be located in the eastern part of the U.S., partially because there was already another annual West Coast event in Las Vegas. www.fastenerengineering.com

Mark your calendars! After missing a year due to the pandemic, Fastener Fair USA is returning to Cleveland, November 8th to 10th. Be sure to register early at fastenerfairusa.com.

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Fastening 101 will return to the Fastener Fair this year. Presented by the nonprofit Fastener Training Institute (FTI), the intensive program provides a thorough understanding of the fastener industry including products, applications, industries, and more. According to FTI, it’s fit for anyone in the industry interested in broadening their fastener knowledge — and attendees will discover much more than the basics.

Connecting digitally Fastener Fair CONNECT is a new digital business platform, scheduled for November 17th and 18th, 2021. Fastener Fair Stuttgart, Italy, Mexico, India, and the USA and Fastener are joining forces, unifying the Fastener Fair communities around the world, and providing a unique, global networking event for the industry.

“We’ve wanted to make better use of the fact that we have a global fastener community that can connect, share, learn, and grow together,” says Bob Chiricosta, event director with RX Global, organizer of the Fastener Fairs. “The fastener industry is worldwide and it’s enormous. We believe we have an opportunity and a responsibility to bring it together.”

The digital event will offer conference sessions, virtual product showcases, and interactive networking opportunities.

“Fastener Fair CONNECT will provide exhibitors with a digital platform for attendees to present products, equipment, and technologies to a targeted global audience,” he says. “It will be a unique, notto-be-missed experience, with more details to be released soon.”

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But mostly because it’s that where a tremendous amount of fastener companies are based…in the Midwest and Southeast.”

The 2018 show was launched in Cleveland, followed by Detroit in 2019.

“We received a wonderful response to the event, which grew considerably after just one year,” says Chiricosta.

“Interestingly, the two cities between Cleveland and Detroit also attracted different audiences. You primarily get the executives attending in Cleveland and the automotive engineers in Detroit, which is great. And then 2020 happened and, unfortunately, we had to cancel the show last year.”

The Fastener Fair is ready to return to Cleveland later this year, at the Huntington Convention Center. The conference is set for November 8th and the expo hall on November 9th and 10th.

“Ohio is one of the states where fasteners are a big deal, so it makes sense to return to Cleveland, where there’s a bit of a hub of fastener-related business,” he says. “And we’re so looking forward to connecting and reconnecting with everyone in the industry — and so is everyone else, I’m sure. Fasteners is such a tight-knit industry and people are ready to get out again.”

Granted, the pandemic means there will be greater security measures in place and fewer international exhibitors and attendees.

“It’s an evolving process and we’re keeping up with all of the latest developments to ensure a safe event. We’re also keeping everything at the convention center this year to avoid transporting people on busses to different locations. For example, the last time in Cleveland, we hosted the event party at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” he says.

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The Fastener Fair is currently tallying a survey that asks its U.S. attendees what new city they would like to see the event take place in the future. Expect the show to return to Detroit in 2022 and after that, it may be up to you.

In Detroit, it was at GM’s impressive global headquarters. This is one of the features Chiricosta attributes to the success of the Fastener Fair.

“Let’s just say, we know how to throw a party,” he laughs. “Fastener Fair is much more about networking than other shows, which suits the industry.

The fastener community in the U.S. is very much alive and thriving, and they enjoy getting together, connecting, and sharing news and accomplishments.

I think this is particularly true and important this year.”

Another feature that sets the Fastener Fair apart is that it’s not scarce in relation to its list of invitees. Rather, the show is open to the entire fastener manufacturing and supply chain.

“Often end-users are not welcome at such events, but we encourage the full value chain to attend. It opens up dialogues and the useful exchange of information,” he explains. “Truth be told, manufacturers do want to speak with the Ford engineer who’s looking to spec some bolt for a vehicle set to launch three years from now or to

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the aerospace engineer looking for updated rivets for a plane.”

Chiricosta says manufacturers are typically respectful and well-aware of their distributor relationships. To reaffirm and strengthen the manufacturersupplier bond, the Fair organizers also suggest that manufacturers place a sign in their booth that lists the distributors at the show that offer their products.

“Fastener Fair is also unique because of its worldwide exposure,” adds Chiricosta. “The shows are held in multiple countries because fasteners are made all over the globe. We truly represent that.”

Typically, this means the fastener community in America can learn firsthand about fastener innovations in Germany or India or Taiwan, for instance.

“Can you believe that about onethird of the exhibitors at each one of Fastener Fair events around the world come from Asia? Granted, that won’t happen this year in the U.S., given the pandemic, but I find it incredible that we’ve been able to continually connect www.fastenerengineering.com

an industry on such a global level.”

It’s also a good way to share ideas, learn, and potentially collaborate on certain projects. Chiricosta says many of such manufacturers specialize in one type of fastener and they’re looking for specific innovations or international distributors.

“I think the Fastener Fair offers an excellent opportunity to bring the fastener world together, no matter which event of ours you attend,” he says. “I’m extremely proud of the events that we offer to support the fastener industry and am excited to kick things off in Cleveland this November. I hope to see you there.” FE

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From home experiments to U.S. manufacturing

How Craftech found success Michelle Froese • Editor

It’s perhaps of little surprise that Barbara Gerard became CEO of Craftech Industries, Inc.,

a U.S. high-tech manufacturer of standard and custom parts and fasteners. Her father started the company in 1967, and fasteners were a big part of her childhood.

“I remember I was in fourth grade when one of my classmates told me that my dad bought two robots,” she shares. “I didn’t believe it at first. I ran home after school and, sure enough, there were two big machines in the basement of our barn.” Gerard grew up on a farm near Castleton, New York. These “robots” were machines for manufacturing parts.

“I would love to go to the barn and read all of the manufacturing books my dad had and even play around with the machinery,” she says. “He originally managed a small fastener company in Castleton and became very intrigued with the different materials used for these parts, so he started experimenting.”

Gerard says she would help him sort parts on the kitchen table — and would find evidence of her dad’s experiments in interesting places.

“For example, I’d go into the freezer for bread or something and there would be frozen bars of nylon or another material that my dad would test to see how well it would resist the cold,” she says.

“At one point, a neighbor also started an injection-molding company in Chatham, and my father thought it was the future of fasteners.”

Additionally, a nearby General Electric manufacturing in Pittsfield, Massachusetts was developing plastics.

“All of this led to my dad opening Craftech. He didn’t have a lot of money, but he knew the business,” she says.

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With DIRAK-SNAP-Technology, it’s possible to create high-strength connections without the use of tools. Watch an assembly video at https:// tinyurl.com/DIRAKsnap.

An example of the PEEK customized plastic parts from Craftech, Inc. In many ways, Gerard’s dad was ahead of his time. Stainless steel was a commonly used material for fasteners but, over time or in harsh conditions, it’s subject to corrosion and rust. However, materials such as nylon or plastic (used

by Craftech to this day) offer several benefits, including anti-corrosion qualities and longevity in critical applications.

“At the time, nylon was big because it doesn’t conduct electricity if used in electronics,” says Gerard. Eventually, her dad moved his business from Chatham to Stockport, New York. “By then, he began making parts in Delrin and PVC, DESIGN WORLD

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and then Teflon came along.”

Despite helping her father out when she was younger, Gerard never planned a career at Craftech. In her early 20s, she went to Manhattan and worked in publishing for a while with Bantam Books.

“Books, publishing, writing…that was my dream. But I soon realized how tough it was to earn a living in that industry,” she says.

Gerard also got married and eventually ran a small business with her husband, providing high-gloss lacquer for furniture designer, Karl Springer.

“Honestly, this was one of the best www.fastenerengineering.com

decisions I made if only to learn about the hard knocks of business life. There’s a fine line between knowing when to keep going and when to quit. I learned valuable lessons.”

Sadly, Gerard’s father passed in 1985.

Her brother ran the business for a while but then Gerard and her husband, Skip Gerard (currently, the president of Craftech), took it over.

“For a while, I wanted a life of my own, and what my dad did seemed mundane. But then, his business began to become more interesting to me as technologies developed and the semiconductor industry grew,” she says. “It’s fascinating, really. Without certain kinds of materials, such as PEEK plastics, September 2021

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Fastening + Joining

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we couldn’t do much with semiconductors. The photoresist process would destroy any metal parts.

Titanium is one of the strongest metals on earth, and the acids would eat right into it.”

PEEK (or polyetheretherketone) is a type of plastic that offers high-performance engineering and versatility. The material has an extremely stable chemical structure that’s rare to find in other plastics, making it ideal for use in fasteners in several applications and industries.

“Right now, PEEK is the flavor of the year, but there are always advances and this will likely morph into another material soon. It’s so interesting to watch the new developments.”

Although Gerard gained interest in the family business, taking over Craftech proved challenging at first.

“The company was in debt at the time, so we spent a few years shoring it up, buying new equipment, and putting in ISO 9,000 and 9,001,” she says.

These are the International Organization for Standardization or ISO’s quality management standards.

“It was important to us to guarantee our customers as much efficiency and accuracy as possible.”

This value system has worked well for the business.

Craftech went from 10 employees when the Gerard’s took over the company to more than 60 today. Its diverse manufacturing capabilities include injection molding, mold building, screw machining, and CNC machining — which are now all performed in-house at the company’s Hudson-based plant.

“If I could make one suggestion, it would be that more engineers approach us directly when looking for parts or to solve problems. Often there’s a middleman and sometimes the communication link gets broken down,” says Gerard. “We have so much experience to share that working one-on-one with engineers is welcomed and sometimes necessary for critical projects.”

Craftech serves a variety of industries including aerospace, automotive, chemical, medical, electronics, semiconductor, marine, telecommunications, and others. It can provide standard and custom parts that are traceable and manufactured from low to highvolume runs.

“We’ve been quite successful, and I give my husband a lot of credit for that. He’s a very creative engineer. I have an MBA in finance and I run the finance part of our business,” says Gerard. “But I also contribute to our online blog, so I still get to write. And I don’t think this industry shares enough information so it’s important for me to provide that insight.” FE

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Several grades of PEEK fasteners are available commercially, depending on the application.

HEX SOCKET SET SCREWS SOCKET, FLAT & BUTTON HEAD CAP SCREWS SQUARE HEAD SET SCREWS SHOULDER BOLTS HEX & TORX KEYS ZINC PLATED SOCKETS SPECIALS, STANDARDS & SECONDARIES

300 North Klick St., Hampshire, IL 60140 630.800.6377 / Sales@SetkoFasteners.com

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Designing peace of mind Michelle Froese • Editor

Ask 80-year-old Dieter Ramsauer about his childhood and he’s likely to tell you about the bicycle he assembled when he was six years old from scrap parts he found around his neighborhood. In fact, he loved building things out of nothing — and still does. After the second world war, there were many piles of discarded objects in his hometown of Velbert, Germany, which he loved to assemble, disassemble, and re-assemble into something new.

It’s perhaps no surprise that years later he founded Dieter Ramsauer Konstruktionselemente GmbH in 1991. Konstruktionselemente roughly translates to “construction elements.” The Germanbased company, now simply known as DIRAK, supplies innovative fitting components for industrial enclosures.

What began in a small office building with just a few employees has grown into a global supplier to dozens of distributors, with multiple locations worldwide (including in the U.S., China, Singapore, India, the Middle East, and others).

“Dieter is a fascinating person,” shares Gregory Breads, CEO of DIRAK. “He’s a toolmaker by trade and initially went through an apprenticeship, which is quite common in Germany, where he still lives today. There, he learned all about design and manufacturing but it’s really an innate talent for him. He’s a tinkerer of sorts who enjoys experimenting with different ideas and creating new things.”

Dieter Ramsauer, the founder of DIRAK.

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Case-in-point: He built half-adozen harpsichords — just for fun.

“Apparently, these are concert-level instruments, too,” says Breads. “Dieter is the quintessential engineer-type of designer, who puts his ideas into action.” He also designed a line of golf clubs just because he saw room for improvements.

Early in his career, Dieter worked as a sales engineer, which helped him gain perspective on the sheet metal industry and better understand what customers wanted. This resulted in a modular quarter-turn and a rod latch system, which he designed and patented in the late ’60s. A quarter-turn serves as a simple and cost-effective way to keep lids, cabinets, or small doors closed. A rod latch is a connection system used DESIGN WORLD

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for multi-point latching requirements on larger doors.

Later, Dieter would improve on the rod latch so that it could be mounted outside of a seal in the bending area of a switch cabinet to allow for greater open cabinet space.

“Essentially, Dieter would spend his days in sales and evenings working on new projects. This not only led to new designs but also to new standards for industrial hardware that he would patent and license to the company,” says Breads.

Many of these patents have since become industry standards. After gaining valuable experience, Dieter eventually ventured out on his own and started DIRAK. “Our classic quarter-turn is the ideal www.fastenerengineering.com

example of what’s now an industry standard. It’s a simple concept of a housing, insert, and locking cam.

However, Dieter took the basic idea of a lock and standardized the three parts, so that they could easily be swapped out with other versions. This allows a single cutout in the sheet metal to accept a variety of housing styles which, in turn, accepts a variety of inserts and locking cams,” explains Breads.

This means nearly any kind of locking actuation will work with the quarter-turn, whether that’s a screwdriver or a specialized tool.

“Today, we also have hundreds of patents, thanks to Dieter,” he adds. “Our current claim to fame is something we call DIRAK-SNAP-Technology or DST. In the sheet metal hardware world, September 2021

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Karl-Heinz Overhamm, Global Managing Director (left) and Gregory Breads, CEO of DIRAK, Inc. (right).

generally, attachments are made by either using threaded inserts such as nuts and bolts or by welding. There are pros and cons to each technique, depending on the application. But Dieter had the idea of creating an attachment process that requires no tools.”

This is how DST was developed.

Products with DST slide directly through a panel cutout and snap into position, ensuring a strong and secure connection — without the help of tools.

According to Breads, the swinghandle was the first example of a product that could be installed without a single piece of additional hardware.

And yes, Dieter can also be credited for its design. A swinghandle lies flush against a panel or enclosure when latched and then pulls out to an open position.

“Now, we’ve taken the DST concept and applied it across our entire product range. And this innovation is what truly sets us apart in the industry. Sure, we can supply the industry-standard hardware for enclosures but we’re continually upgrading and inventing new ideas and raising the standards, too.”

DIRAK currently offers a catalog of more than 5,000 different standard products but its strength is in its design capabilities. Among the many

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industries the company serves, it supplies to several essential sectors including telecommunications, power infrastructure, water utilities, and the medical sector.

“We offer a hygiene line of products, for example, that includes extremely high-grade, heavily polished stainless steel, combined with silicone seals that are specifically designed for highly sterile environments,” says Breads.

These products can be used in medical equipment, at research facilities, and in the food and drug market. They’ve been in high demand throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We also carry captive fasteners, which I think are quite brilliant,” he says. Captive fasteners provide a permanent hold within a housing or assembly, preventing loss or damage to its fastening components because of a loose or broken part.

“Basically, traditional captive screws are secured to one panel and can then be screwed to a second one,” explains Breads. “So, this means that even if unscrewed from that second panel, the captive screws cannot be removed from the first panel.”

This is important in any enclosure that has a motor or moving parts inside, where it’s critical that the parts do not fall out or, for safety reasons, that someone cannot reach into the www.fastenerengineering.com

equipment and injure their hand.

“Due to their design, captive screws require specialized equipment to secure them to the first panel. However, our captive fasteners use DST and do not require any tools at all,” he says. Captive fasteners are often used in medical devices or machine enclosures.

“Peace of mind is so important to us at DIRAK,” he adds. “In fact, it’s so important that it’s become a part of our mission statement as we go through a bit of rebranding in the U.S.” Breads says DIRAK has a set of global values but, as CEO, he wanted to redefine the North American branch to include its own value system.

“We wanted to build the culture of the company from the inside, and not just from the outside,” he says. Last year, Breads sent out a survey to his team and received a similar response from nearly every department.

“About 80% of the respondents said providing peace of mind is something we do best at DIRAK,” he says. “So, for instance, our Sales Team said we take the burden of hardware design off of our customers to provide peace of mind.

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peace of mind to them as well.”

He adds: “These ‘peace of mind’ comments stood out to me, so that’s become our new purpose statement and I’m quite proud of it.”

The company put together a video on its new mission statement (which you can view at tinyurl.com/DIRAKmission).

What’s clear is just how strong and supportive of a team Dieter has built at DIRAK. “Through German engineering and quality to customer service, we take a personal approach with our customers.

It’s so important to show we care,” says Breads. “Even Dieter continues to work at our headquarters office nearly every day…or, if he’s not there, chances are he’s busy visiting a customer. He’s quite an inspiration.” FE A captive fastener.

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J o i n i n g

By Michelle Froese • Editor

Setting goals

and finding balance with Fasteners Direct Caia Baker is a list-maker. Like many of us, she has a to-do list but perhaps more importantly, she has a list of goals that she routinely sets — and accomplishes. In under two weeks, she’s crossed off six of her 14 goals for this month alone.

“I have a whiteboard in my office where I write out the goals that I need to get done. And this list is completely separate from my to-do list,” she shares. “It’s important to me that I’m continually learning and evolving. I never want to become fully comfortable in the space I’m in because…well, there’s always room for growth.”

Baker’s office is in Fasteners Direct’s Webster, New York facility, a wholesale fastener supplier to the manufacturing, industrial, automotive, and construction sectors. She’s currently the company’s VP of Procurement, a role she helped develop — based on one of her goals to keep evolving.

Caia Baker, VP of Procurement with Fasteners Direct.

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In 2018, Fasteners Direct expanded its warehouse, which now provides more than 50,000 square feet of space.

“I began with Fasteners Direct in June of 2013 as a purchasing agent, which was a big shift for me,” she says.

“Before that, I was a project manager for a Fortune 500 company where there was close to zero work-life balance, and I became unhappy. I come from a big, close-knit family that I rarely got to see, so shortly after my dad passed away, I knew it was time for a change.”

Baker was at an airport, awaiting a delayed flight when she decided to polish off her resume, and officially begin the job hunt for something new.

Fasteners were the furthest thing from her mind but, not long afterward, she noticed a LinkedIn post for a position with Fasteners Direct. “It was three o’clock in the morning when I noticed the post, and I just thought…why not?”

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Two days after sending her application, Baker was called in for an interview.

“I have to say, one of the best parts about working here is that it’s literally like a family environment.”

Fasteners Direct is a family-owned business that was founded in the early ’90s by Herb Parr, the father of seven sons, who was concerned with providing future jobs for his family. Today, four of his sons own the company and continue to grow it.

In 2018, they expanded the warehouse to provide more than 50,000 square feet of space for their stock.

“It’s been such a supportive place to work and challenge myself,” she says.

“When I expressed interest in other

www.fastenerengineering.com

areas of the business, after a year or so of being here, Gary Parr [the current CEO of Fasteners Direct] offered to have a couple of brainstorming sessions with me to redefine my role. He wanted to bring in the knowledge I had from my project management days, implement, and build on it.”

Baker says it was empowering to be listened to, acknowledged, and given the opportunity to grow her position.

“At first, there was a learning curve as I was new to the fastener industry.

And too often there’s a stigma with being a woman, especially in a maledominated sector,” she says. “But I never felt that here. I always feel heard and like an important part of this company.”

This has allowed Baker the freedom

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Fastening + Joining “It’s important to me that I’m continually learning and evolving.

I never want to become fully comfortable in the space I’m in because… well, there’s always room for growth.”

— Caia Baker

to explore different options and set new goals for herself — and the company.

For example, to better organize and streamline the workflow, she was able to research and implement a digital platform.

“It allowed us to move from a more manual system for orders, which we called ‘the yellow list’ because we used yellow sheets of paper to track the orders so you couldn’t miss them, to an electronic system,” she explains. “After a trial period, we purchased a license for Smartsheet for more efficient work management.”

Smartsheet is a software program that lets employees collaborate, manage, and report on work (and fastener orders) in real-time. Baker says she had the office trained on it in under two weeks.

She adds that Fasteners Direct is continually supporting new ideas for better business practices and customer service. The company is also dedicated to supporting local manufacturers and the community.

“We were deemed essential during the pandemic and were fortunate enough to remain open. We even partnered with a customer of ours to make face shields,” shares Baker. “We had separate stations set up and this meant we were able to provide local jobs to people who had just lost theirs because of COVID-19.”

As for one of her personal goals, Baker recently joined Women in the Fastener Industry (WIFI), a non-profit organization that provides opportunities, education, and mentorship for women in fastening.

“There are some awesome women working in this industry and it’s just nice to have that sisterhood to fall back on,” she says. “I also like the networking aspect and having contacts who are supportive and will either just listen or help out because they ‘get it’ and also work in the industry.”

So, what’s Baker’s favorite part of her job now that she’s at a family company with a work-life balance?

“It’s tough to narrow it down to one thing, but I think it’s mainly the connections with my vendors and coworkers. I enjoy building relationships that feel more like friendships. We’ll talk about fasteners or sometimes just family things…like about my daughter, you know.”

Fasteners Direct allowed Baker a four-day workweek since having her first child in June of 2020, just so she could spend more time with her family.

“It’s been such a shift working here compared to what I was used to and, especially, with my daughter. But I’m so grateful,” she says. “My grandmother always told me…just be yourself, Caia.

Avoid being your own representative because that’s false. Just be your kind, open, bubbly, smart self. And I get to do that here, every day.” FE

Fasteners Direct offers custom-produced kits to meet required specifications, as well as a vendor-managed inventory program.

This provides customers with access to a hands-free ordering system to manage and maintain inventory.

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A D V E R T O R I A L

Design for manufacturing considerations for injection-molded parts There’s wisdom in leveraging manufacturing and engineering experience early in the design phase of an application. Proper expertise could lead to better material choices, product-specific process and manufacturing options, reduced costs, and longerterm product reliability. This is particularly true for parts that use plastic injection molding. Just ask Jonathan Cottrell, lead program manager with PTI, a custom injection molder and manufacturer of plastic components and assemblies.

“A proper understanding of how a part can be made allows a designer to apply principles that are specific to that manufacturing process,” he shares. Cottrell has nearly 25 years of experience in the industry. “Too often we get designs that look great on paper; however, the part is not conducive to injection molding but are ideal for machining. By not understanding the requirements needed for the molding sector, a lot of time and costs are lost when developing a product.”

Cottrell has followed the lifecycles of countless products throughout his career, which has led to invaluable experience using design for manufacturing practices. When designing plastic parts, there are several key factors to consider. Here are just a few.

Materials One early design consideration is the material, or the resin for an injection-molded part. Before making a choice, Cottrell suggests a few questions to consider first.

“It’s basically developing a story,” he says. “First determine what environment that the material is going to reside in. For example, is it going to encounter any chemicals or extreme temperatures? Will a higher, engineered-grade material be required for performance?

What’s it being used for exactly?”

Cottrell adds: “It’s similar to what we learned in grade school — the who, what, where, when, why, and how. Once we answer those questions, we can hone in on the ideal material.”

Gating Gating is where the material is injected into the cavity for the part’s geometry or shape. It’s important because it dictates how far the part flows, if there are any holes to go around, where the knit lines would be, etc. Gating also affects the visual and tangible aspects of the part.

“For instance, a gate on the A-side or front surface of a part may leave a bit of a gate vestige,” explains Cottrell. “if we are manufacturing a medical device that a surgeon needs to touch and they’re wearing a rubber glove, that gate vestige could tear the glove — potentially exposing the surgeon’s hand. Clearly, this must be avoided and shows why gating considerations are critical.”

Cottrell also points out that the material selection and gating styles should work together, as one choice affects the other.

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PTI created a DFM reference tool — a hands-on device to aid in the designing for manufacturing process. Learn more at https://teampti.com/design-tool.

Draft The draft is the angle that’s applied to each side of an injection-molded part, so the part can release from the tool.

“I’m asked a lot about how much draft is needed,” says Cottrell. “The typical rule of thumb, and what we recommend as a starting point, is one-and-a-half degrees. We’ll see designs that don’t have any draft, but you’re chancing that part will stick to the tool or result in deformation, so it could later crack or stress.”

Aesthetics It’s also important to consider the backside of the part.

“The features on the backside are structural components or connection points, such as the ribs, bosses, and clips,” he says. “How well they’re designed affects the A-side of the part. So, a rib should only be about 50% as thick as the walls it’s connected to. If it’s thicker, you’ll see what’s called read-through or extra mass on the A-side — which can affect the aesthetics.”

Cottrell says doing a bit of homework goes a long way when manufacturing a part. “For us here at PTI, we enjoy getting in on the ground floor and at the design phase of a part. We’re here to help.”

To learn more, listen to a Design World’s Technology Tuesday podcast with Jonathan Cottrell at https://bit.ly/3eeEvZ4

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A Supplement to Design World - September 2021

How bioengineers tackled the leaky mask problem Medical Tips cover 9-21_V1.indd 137

Researchers from Harvard and MIT have formed a company to mass-produce a more effective three-ply mask for everyday use.

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How bioengineers tackled the leaky mask problem Researchers from Harvard and MIT have formed a company to mass-produce a more effective three-ply mask for everyday use.

Nancy Crotti | Managing Editor Emeritus | Medical Design & Outsourcing

ANYONE WHO WEARS GLASSES knows that the ubiquitous blue pleated mask leaks vapor upward, despite the wire designed to conform to the shape of the nose.

Less obvious is the leakage from the mask’s sides and bottom, which a sneeze or cough can increase many times over. While three-ply disposable masks provide some protection for the wearer and those around them, they could be much safer for all.

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That’s the conclusion of a team of researchers from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Massachusetts General Hospital. They set out to develop a more practical everyday mask that could be mass-produced and sold at a comparable price.

(They recently posted a non-peerreviewed preprint of their research on medRxiv.) www.designworldonline.com

A pair of old friends, bioengineer Jeffrey Karp and physician-scientist Anthony Samir, took up the challenge. Karp heads an eponymous medical engineering lab at Brigham, while Samir runs a bench-to-bedside bioengineering lab and research center at Mass General. The two Boston institutions formed the Mass General Brigham Center for COVID Innovation in March 2020. They tasked Karp and Samir with leading DESIGN WORLD

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The Ultra Fit mask’s design improvements include extending the nose wire all around the mask and making the ear loops adjustable. | Courtesy of Katharos Labs

an N95 mask working group to solve the N95 shortage plaguing healthcare workers.

Although scientists hadn’t yet proven it at the time, both men quickly realized that transmission of the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus was highly likely to be aerosol-based and that everyone would need to wear masks to control the virus’ spread.

Their challenge was to provide that effective protection, at community DESIGN WORLD

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scale, not only from minute viral particles but also from larger particles that people spread when they cough or sneeze. So they convened a group of U.S. and U.K. filtration experts to discuss materials that could provide N95-level filtration.

They concluded that the types of polypropylene used in the everyday three-ply surgical mask are highly effective in filtering aerosols, and the materials are also plentiful and inexpensive. But regular surgical masks have a significant flaw — they just don’t fit properly, allowing in about 40% unfiltered outside air under the mask during inhalation. www.designworldonline.com

Similarly, about 40% of the wearer’s unfiltered exhalation can escape through gaps at the edges of the mask. So the team decided to focus on redesigning these masks using the same materials to drastically reduce that leakage.

That meant extending the nose wire all around the mask and making the ear loops adjustable. Those changes make their new Ultra Fit mask conformable to anyone’s face, Samir recently told Medical Design & Outsourcing.

“In doing that, we were able to drastically improve the performance of the mask, so leakage goes down on average by a factor of more than four in novice users,” Samir added.

“So, from 40% leakage, we go down to less than 10% leakage in most people, and in experienced users we’re going down to less than 5% leakage in a lot of people. And that’s a really, really big improvement for a mask that leaks 40%.”

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A new company called Katharos Labs is making and marketing the the Ultra Fit mask. | Courtesy of Katharos Labs

The researchers — who also included Daryl Chulho Hyun, a former biodesign fellow at Oxford University, postdoctoral research fellow Martin Jensen, and others — made one more significant change. They added a flap near the interior edges to capture aerosolized droplets before they can leak outside the mask. A flange made of composite spunbond/melt-blown polypropylene pushes the flap against the face when the wearer coughs or sneezes. They performed numerous tests using thermography and laser-scatter droplet imaging to measure the flap’s performance. The tests showed a major reduction in leakage of unfiltered exhaled air around the mask.

Hyun prototyped numerous mask iterations and tested them repeatedly to arrive at a highperforming, low-cost mask. Karp and Samir then recruited Hank Miller, CEO of Boston-based Harry Miller Co., a 100-year-old textile manufacturer, to develop a prototype and manufacturing plan.

They also brought in Steven Gordon, an MIT PhD mechanical engineer and serial entrepreneur, to help them work out how to mass-produce the new mask and run a company to manufacture and distribute it.

Gordon had started a company called Intelligent Automation Systems in 1987 in Cambridge, Mass., to develop automated manufacturing systems that would help keep manufacturing in the U.S. After Brooks Automation (NSDQ: BRKS) bought Intelligent Automation in 2002, Gordon cofounded Intelligent Bio-Systems, which developed

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DNA-sequencing instruments, reagents and software systems. Qiagen (NYSE: QGEN) bought Intelligent Bio-Systems in 2012.

“I’ve been able to contribute to the design of the mask, which was rudimentary when I first got involved, to a place where it could be manufactured at high volume,” said Gordon, now CEO of Katharos Labs.

“When they developed the mask, they had this long wire that was bent in all kinds of crazy shapes. … It kind of worked, but it would be a nightmare to manufacture it.”

Gordon suggested using individual wires to span each side of the mask, corner to corner, and cinching it shut with the ear loops. Then, the wearer can press the wires against the face for a custom, close fit and finish sealing mask by adjusting the variable-length ear loops, he explained.

“Our sense is that this could be used in schools, for events like concerts or weddings, in airports, on airplanes, public transportation and in the workplace,” added Karp. “I think that

CAN YOU HEAR IT?

"We have to educate the general community that having a highquality, well-fitting, high-perfomance mask is critical. A lot of people put a mask on because they're required to," Karp said. "But a mask that leaks a lot is not a mask that is working well."

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one of the really nice things about this mask is that because each person is fitting it to their face and it’s really personalized, once you have it in place, it doesn’t only have greater protection — you can actually feel it.”

Gordon, Hyun, Karp, Miller and Samir formed a company, Katharos Labs (“katharos” means “purity” in Greek), in October 2020 to make and market the Ultra Fit mask.

Katharos’ leaders opted to start manufacturing in China because of its robust surgical mask production infrastructure. However, their plan is to use Gordon’s expertise to modify and modernize existing mask-making equipment in the U.S. to automate domestic fabrication for mass production at a low cost.

The researchers have also prepared a paper about how they developed and tested the Ultra Fit mask, including details about their efforts to validate the fit and field experiments by students wearing the masks in a classroom and mathematical modeling of infection spread on a subway. In both settings, the Ultra Fit mask approached the efficacy of N95 respirators to prevent the community spread of COVID-19, they reported.

(They had not submitted the paper to any journals for publication at press time.)

The researchers also ran experiments cleansing the mask by hand and in a washing machine to determine if it can retain its filtration properties. It has the potential to withstand multiple hand washes, but the experiments to determine how many will continue, according to Karp.

They are also continuing to test the mask to determine compliance with new NIOSH and ASTM standards, he added.

Katharos Labs’ leaders are confident they will find a market for their mask, even with mask mandates being lifted and many Americans acting like the pandemic is over. More than half of

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The Ultra Fit mask’s creators added a flap near the interior edges to capture aerosolized droplets before they can leak outside the mask. | Courtesy of Katharos Labs

the U.S. population had received at least one vaccine dose by late June, according to the CDC. Many other countries, however, are much farther behind. Karp believes the threat of variants and seasonal outbreaks from COVID and other viruses like the flu is imminent.

“We have to educate the general community that having a high-quality, well-fitting, high-perfomance mask is critical. A lot of people put a mask on because they’re required to,” he said.

“But a mask that leaks a lot is not a mask that is working well.”

September 2021 www.designworldonline.com

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DESIGN WORLD

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Smith+Nephew makes a play in remote physical therapy The British medtech giant seeks to tap digital health to fuel growth in orthopedics. The Aria Home PT remote physical therapy device is the latest example.

Chris Newmarker | Executive Editor

IT’S THE SIZE OF A SMALL FLATSCREEN TV and shows up at someone’s house before they undergo knee or hip surgery at an ambulatory surgery center, interacting with them throughout the entire episode of care. Think interactive home physical therapy sessions, education, telehealth visits and more — all delivered with the help of a friendly avatar called Aria.

That’s the promise that Smith+Nephew officials see in their Aria Home PT remote physical therapy device, launched in May as one of the latest additions to the company’s Aria digital care management platform.

“Our goal is to be the fastest-growing, most innovative orthopedic company out there, and our focus on digital health is

Aria Home PT

Image courtesy of Smith+Nephew

one of the ways that we’re getting there,” said Laura Rector, S+N’s VP of ambulatory surgery center strategy and digital health.

As knee and hip replacements move from hospitals to outpatient ambulatory surgery centers and payers such as Medicare

CAN SMITH+NEPHEW’S ARIA OPEN UP ASC ORTHO MARKET? In this episode, Chris Newmarker, executive editor of life sciences, speaks with Laura Rector, Smith + Nephew’s vice president of ambulatory surgery centers and digital health, about the company’s Aria care management platform. www.devicetalks.com/podcast/

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engage in bundling to incentivize outcomes, orthopedic device companies look to digital health tools to boost results. Zimmer Biomet, for example, has its ZBEdge portfolio of remote care and patient engagement management systems that includes MyMobility with Apple Watch.

Rector touts Smith+Nephew’s Aria Home PT and overall Aria platform as ahead of the competition — designed with the ambulatory surgery centers specifically in mind.

“It’s the only product that provides the total automation of streamlined activities that impact that whole episode of care,” Rector said during a recent interview with Medical Design & Outsourcing and MassDevice’s DeviceTalks Weekly podcast. (Listen to the discussion in our June 4 edition of the podcast.)

The line that Rector repeated was that the company wants to help people “live a life unlimited.”

The feature that sets the Aria Home PT apart from typical consumer electronics with screens, cameras and communication is the device’s 3D camera — able to track number, duration and quality of reps on 25 different joints in the body, according to Rector.

“It captures that full 3D image. It can capture the biomechanics, it has AI learning in it, and it gives feedback in real-time of whether they’re doing the exercises right,” Rector said.

The Aria Home PT doesn’t replace physical therapy; it enhances it, according to Rector.

“The PT can go in and actually look at the video of the patient doing their physical therapy,” Rector said. “They can look at all the outcomes and results of how much frequency and DESIGN WORLD

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time they use the device, how many repetitions they did, how well they did on those repetitions.”

The result, according to S+N, is that people with knee or hip replacements adhere better to their physical therapy routines, which results in improved outcomes and reduced costs for healthcare systems. The company points to a randomized control trial at Duke University that found the Aria Home PT to be as safe and effective as traditional physical therapy, with decreased readmissions, outpatient visits, home health visits and urgent care or ER visits. Average savings were $2,745 per patient.

“The biggest bane in healthcare is, ‘How do you get a patient to be more compliant?’” Rector said.

In the Aria Home PT’s case, Smith+Nephew found the device had a Net Promoter Score of 90.3, which means that more than 90% of users have a favorable view about it. Rector said: “You need it to be technologyfriendly enough that they will use it.”

Kaila Krum, managing director at Truist Securities, has seen orthopedic companies such as S+N showing more interest in end-to-end care to help improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare system costs.

“While it is a little too early to say yet whether products like this can attract patients and shift market share, we will be following it closely to see how the field adopts products like this.”

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Could people one day get pacemakers that dissolve into the body?

Wireless, battery-free, fully implantable pacemakers made of bioresorbable components could represent the future of temporary pacing technology.

Liz Hughes | Contributor

FLEXIBLE, DISSOLVABLE ELECTRONICS could soon pave the way for temporary pacemaker wearers to avert the risks associated with surgical procedures from initial implantation to the removal of the device once its job is done.

Northwestern and George Washington universities have developed what they say is the firstever transient pacemaker that’s not only wireless, battery-free and fully implantable — but also disappears when it’s no longer needed. Its

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biocompatible components can naturally absorb into the body over five to seven weeks eliminating the need for surgical removal.

In a study published on June 28 in Nature Biotechnology, researchers demonstrated the device’s efficacy across a series of large and small animal models. They cited several critical needs for an alternative, temporary pacemaker technology that can deliver the needed electrotherapy while addressing the associated physiological complications.

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Northwestern Engineering’s John A. Rogers led the device’s development.

“Hardware placed in or near the heart creates risks for infection and other complications,” Rogers said in a press release. “Our wireless, transient pacemakers overcome key disadvantages of traditional temporary devices by eliminating the need for percutaneous leads for surgical extraction procedures — thereby offering the potential for reduced costs and improved outcomes in patient care. This unusual type of DESIGN WORLD

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The device is shown at various stages of dissolving. | Courtesy of Rogers Lab/Northwestern University

device could represent the future of temporary pacing technology.”

Health providers presently use temporary pacemaker devices as a bridge to permanent pacing therapy — or implement them temporarily following cardiac surgery. For temporary pacing after open-heart surgery, surgeons sew the temporary pacemaker electrodes onto the heart muscle. Those electrodes have leads that exit the front of the patient’s chest and connect to an external generator that delivers a current to control the heart’s rhythm.

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This hardware carries a considerable risk of complications including infection from bacteria that can form biofilms on pacing leads. Since the device is not fully implanted, the externalized power supply and control system can inadvertently be dislodged when caring for or mobilizing a patient.

Additional complications can happen upon removal including laceration and perforation of the myocardium which can occur if the pacing leads become enveloped in fibrotic tissue at the electrodes-myocardium interface.

The transient pacemaker sidesteps www.designworldonline.com

the risks of infection, dislodgement, torn or damaged tissues, bleeding and blood clots. It’s light and thin, weighs less than half a gram, and is 250 microns thick.

The soft and flexible device encapsulates electrodes that softly laminate onto the heart’s surface to deliver an electrical pulse instead of using wires. Researchers say this approach could serve as the basis for the next generation of postoperative temporary pacing technology.

Rogers, who has a background in electronics materials science, says the idea was born from a two-way convergence of needs and capabilities September 2021

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— electronics that can dissolve in water for Projects Agency (DARPA) amid reducing solid waste and temporary implants military needs for sensitive that provide some sensing and therapeutic proprietary electronics that would function that naturally disappears after. dissolve if they got into the wrong “We’ve been exploring it for a number hands. of years trying to build up a toolbox of “It got us thinking and I think the materials … from an exponential academic sort of inflection point for us was standpoint with an eye toward opportunities identifying a semiconductor material in medicine,” Rogers told Medical Design & that we can use,” Rogers said.

Outsourcing.

That’s when he said John Rogers | Courtesy of Rogers Lab/Northwestern In the last few years, clinicians approached they stumbled across an University Rogers and his team and asked for assistance. underappreciated application of That’s how the transient pacemaker came materials chemistry — silicone. to light.

Silicone is itself water-soluble and has a slow rate of “It wasn’t us cooking up an idea but us responding to a dissolution, and if left in the water for more than two to clinical need and leveraging a unique technological capability three weeks it’s gone, according to Rogers. we developed over time,” Rogers said. “It was the interventional “That was kind of an ‘ah ha’ moment for us,” he said. cardiologist downtown reaching out to us.”

Rogers and his team were able to use very thin silicone The technology used to create the transient pacemaker — tiny amounts — but still enough to build transistors and goes back about two and a half years and is something Rogers diodes and functional electronic components. Lots of said they’ve been working on for a while. It began with some inbound interest from clinicians with various use conversations with folks at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research cases followed.

Researchers found the devices helped provide effective pacing in various size hearts in mice, rats, rabbits, canines and human cardiac models “with tailored geometries and operation timescales powered by wireless energy ISO 9001:2015 | AS9100D transfer.”

ITAR Compliant - DDTC Registered George Washington University’s Igor Efimov co-led the DFARS Compliant study with Rogers and Dr. Rishi Arora, a cardiologist at Northwestern Medicine.

“The transient electronics platform opens an entirely new chapter in medicine and biomedical research,” Efimov said in a press release. “The bioresorbable materials at the foundation of this technology make it possible to create a whole host of diagnostic and therapeutic transient devices for monitoring progression of diseases and therapies, delivering electrical, pharmacological, cell therapies, gene reprogramming and more.”

The transient pacemaker isn’t the first bioabsorbable medical device from Rogers’ lab, which has been studying Engineering Development & Precision CNC Machining transient electronics for more than a decade. Three years CNC Swiss Turning • CNC Milling & Turning 4 & 5 Axis CNC Milling & Machining • Gear Cutting ago they announced the development of an implantable, Bevel Gear Cutting • Rapid Tooth Cutting Only Capability biodegradable, wireless device that speeds nerve regeneration and improves healing of damaged nerves.

We are here to help, contact us today!

www.sdp-si.com • (516) 328-3300 Liz Hughes is an award-winning digital media editor with more than two decades of experience in newspaper, • Timing Belt & Pulley Drive Components • Built to Print magazine and online media industries. Liz has produced • Precision Gears & Gearheads • Assembly • Mechanical Components • Long Term Agreements content and offered editorial support for a variety of web • Prototypes • Engineering Support publications, including Fast Company, NBC Boston, • Production Runs Street Fight, AOL/Patch Media, IoT World Today and Design News.

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It’s not a web page, it’s an industry information site So much happens between issues of R&D World that even another issue would not be enough to keep up. That’s why it makes sense to visit rdworldonline.com and stay on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin.

It’s updated regularly with relevant technical information and other significant news to the design engineering community.

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Standard versus custom: Which motor is right for your application?

Machine builders have a lot to consider when designing solutions for a specific application. Key is to determine whether it is better to design around a standard off-the-shelf motor or to design a custom motor that precisely matches the application requirements.

Some essential aspects when comparing standard to custom-built motors include performance, availability, cost, IP protection, and aftermarket support. This article examines the pros and cons of each solution when comparing standard and custom motors.

Travis Lake | Motor and Gear Motor Solutions | Power Electric

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Customized motor solutions

let machine designers optimize motor performance, fit, and cost to their unique application requirements. Customizations can range from simple shaft modifications to complex, complete motor redesigns. These solutions typically require a development effort to bring the design to full rate production, which requires resources and time on the front end.

Standard motors are fully designed and developed solutions meant to cover a wide range of potential applications. While price competitive and typically available with short lead times through multiple sources, standard motors are limited in their range of available options. The following should be considered when choosing between a standard motor and a custom designed motor.

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Brushless DC Motor with integrated control electronics for a commercial pump application.

The motor winding was customized by Power Electric to meet specific speed and torque requirements, and the controls were designed to provide the exact functionality desired for the client’s product, in a single package.

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AC Induction gear motor with offset gearing used in commercial ice-making equipment. Power Electric’s solution utilizes proven motor and gearing technology in a customized form-factor allowing the client to drop it into their existing machine design.

Deciding factor one: Equipment performance Frequently the most important consideration between custom and standard motor options is the desired performance of the machine. This can be reduced to a single question: “Would it be preferable to design the machine around the most-applicable standard motor available or to design a motor to the requirements of the machine?”

For many applications, a standard motor solution will address most, if not all, of the feature and performance requirements of the overall machine design. With the motor specifications documented, pricing established,

lead time published, and authorized resellers in place, the equipment manufacturer can quickly select and source an appropriate standard motor that provides at least the required capabilities for their machine. One potential downside to the efficiency of an applied standard solution is that it often includes features that are not required by the application or is missing features or capabilities that are desired.

This less optimized solution could increase costs for unnecessary features or limit the capability or marketability of the overall machine.

With a customized solution, the machine designer determines the requirements that enable the motor

to reach maximum capability and to be optimized to those specific requirements with no extra or missing features. For example, motor windings can be modified to achieve exactly the desired application speed and torque, which results in a more efficient and cost-effective machine. Adjusting motor length and diameter, while maintaining critical torque requirements, allows the designer to better utilize available space without sacrificing performance capabilities. The potential tradeoffs with an application-specific solution are the time and initial investment to properly develop the unique motor, which is only available from a single supplier.

Deciding factor two: Upfront purchase costs Most standard motors are priced to meet general market needs. Motors sold through multiple vendors,

Advantages of custom versus standard motors Custom Standard • Maximize machine capabilities • Available through multiple sources • Only necessary features (cost) • Global availability • Differentiation vs. competition • Additional IP Protection • No NRE investment • Protect after-market parts • Agency certifications in place and service revenue • Solution optimized for

manufacturability/cost • Excellent high-volume pricing • Short sample lead time • Customer-specific production • Competitive low-volume and inventory plan pricing 154

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A custom design can provide competitive differentiation that increases sales instead of settling for a standard solution.

Conversely, a standard design increases speed to market to help capture initial sales that might otherwise be missed while waiting for the development of a custom solution.

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distributed through sales channels, and purchased online can be cost effective, particularly when purchased in low quantities. However, included motor features not required by a specific application can contribute to unnecessary costs, especially in highvolume applications.

A custom motor solution typically includes an initial development cost associated with non-recurring engineering (NRE), production tooling, agency certification, and other related activities. In a ground-up total redesign, the development costs can be substantial and are rarely feasible for low-volume applications. The development process often results in lower per unit production costs that quickly offset the up-front investment once the motor is in full production. The elimination of unneeded standard motor features also reduces the per unit cost of a customized motor.

Deciding factor three: Aftermarket availability and support Machine manufacturers wishing to maximize their aftermarket service or parts revenue stream will find it challenging when using standard motors since they are readily available through multiple vendors. Standard motors could be effective for this purpose if the motor vendor is willing to private label their standard motor to camouflage its identity. Readily available standard products allow the manufacturer to minimize aftermarket support efforts (and bypass revenue) by allowing their customers to order motors from a vendor of their choice.

A frequently overlooked advantage of a customized motor design is that the design often becomes a proprietary solution of the purchasing company, so that any aftermarket needs of end users must be purchased through the machine builder - not the motor manufacturer or their distribution channel. This ensures that customers contact the machine manufacturer

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M o t i o n

C o n t r o l

Disadvantages of custom and standard motors Custom • Requires application qualification testing • Single or limited source(s) of supply • Agency certifications require test and approval • NRE or tooling investment may be required • Longer sample lead time • Not viable for low-volume applications

Standard • Requires application qualification testing • Machine limited to motor capabilities • Paying for unnecessary features • Easily replicated by competitors • Difficult to protect IP • Risk to after-market parts and service business • Competitive high-volume pricing • Market-based production and inventory plan

first with service needs, which allows the manufacturer to handle parts and service sales in their preferred manner.

Deciding factor four: Intellectual property protection As with consumer aftermarket support, intellectual property protection with a standard motor may be challenging as competitors can readily obtain the same motor, or a similar competitive motor, to develop a machine with comparable performance capabilities.

Brand labeling of standard motors can help disguise the motor vendor to make it difficult to discover its source and capabilities. Using a standard motor to design a machine opens the door for competitors to use the same exact motor and potentially negate any market advantage.

A customized design provides additional protection against a competitor copying a machine design element or motor feature. The customized design carries a unique, unpublished part number assigned

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to a specific customer that makes it much more difficult for competitors to ascertain the motor or its specifications.

Due to the initial development costs and time required for a new supplier to engineer, tool, and manufacture the custom motor, the investment for a competitor to create a comparable solution would be high.

Deciding factor five: Lead time and availability In limited quantities, standard motors are typically available from stock or with relatively short lead times through the vendor or their distributors. Since standard motors are sold to numerous customers across many markets, production forecasts and inventory levels affected by abrupt changes in demand will impact all customers of that motor.

Custom designs with unique features initially take longer to build. Initial lead times for custom motor designs include time for engineering, documentation, tooling, and preliminary material

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The decision between using standard or custom motors should be carefully deliberated.

Consider overall revenue impact versus the initial costs to determine which offers the best value over the machine lifecycle.

procurement prior to production build time. Custom designs provide flexibility in delivery schedules and future planning. While some components may be shared with standard products, the specific requirements of the custom motor dictate product flow to meet an individual customer’s demand needs.

Customer-specific inventory plans are commonly implemented to maintain short and consistent lead times for custom motors.

Deciding factor six: Qualification testing and agency approvals The initial qualification of a new motor to be used on a particular machine is needed with either a standard or custom motor. Most high-volume customers will not approve a new motor solution until the initial sample tests on a prototype machine are conducted. Agency approvals are established for standard product lines when developed and become part of the product specification. Since custom products can deviate from the initial agency testing protocol, they will need to qualify as a new product with the appropriate testing protocol. Agency approvals of a ground up design can significantly increase time and cost investments. DW Power Electric www.powerelectric.com DESIGN WORLD

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Position

sensing with the multifaceted encoder Inductive encoders and ring encoders join some more common position measuring techniques and component configurations to solve position-sensing challenges.

Danielle Collins | Contributing Editor Edited by Miles Budimir | Senior Editor

Central to any motion control system is having accurate and reliable position measurement data. This data can come from any number of sources including various position measurement sensors, rotary or linear encoders, or resolvers. The range of sensing options accommodates a full scope of application requirements. Among the more common measuring techniques are optical and magnetic-based encoders, as well as capacitive and inductive ones.

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Rotary inductive encoders use a stator with coils printed onto a circuit board. The rotor can either be made of ferromagnetic material or made of a substrate containing patterns of conductive material such as copper. | courtesy of Renesas

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Inductive encoders and how they differ from resolvers and LVDTs Position measuring devices that rely on the principle of mutual induction include resolvers, linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs), and inductive encoders. Two of these technologies — resolvers and LVDTs — are based on the construction and operation of a transformer.

Briefly, in the case of an LVDT, voltage is applied to a primary winding and induced in two secondary windings — located on either side of the primary — via a ferromagnetic core. Distance is determined by the differential voltage output by the two secondary windings, and direction is determined by whether the output voltage is in phase or out of phase with the primary voltage.

In the case of a resolver, a rotary transformer applies voltage to the primary winding, which is located on the rotor. Voltage is then induced in two secondary windings, oriented at 90 degrees as sine and cosine, on the stator. Position is determined by the ratio of the voltages in the secondary windings, and direction is determined by analyzing which secondary voltage (sine or cosine) is leading.

Inductive encoders are similar to LVDTs and resolvers, but instead of using traditional windings, they use flat coils (sometimes referred to as “traces”) manufactured onto printed circuit boards. Rotary inductive encoders contain two main parts — a stator (also referred to as the sensor) and a rotor (also referred to as the target).

The stator contains a transmitter coil and two (or sometimes more) receiver coils, printed onto the circuit board – or in some cases, directly onto the stator substrate. The receiver coils are printed so that they produce sine and cosine waves. In many designs, electronic circuitry for signal processing is also integrated onto the stator. The rotor, or target, is passive and is either made of ferromagnetic material or made of a substrate containing layers, or patterns,

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of conductive material such as copper.

When voltage is applied to the transmitter coil on the stator, or sensor, an electromagnetic field is produced.

As the rotor, or target, passes over the sensor, eddy currents are generated on the surface of the target. These eddy currents generate an opposing field, which reduces the flux density between the sensor and the target, causing a voltage to be generated at the receiver coils on the sensor. The amplitudes and phases of the receiver voltages change as the target moves, and the position of the target can be determined from these voltages.

Inductive encoders are also available in linear versions. Here, the target is a linear scale with ferromagnetic (or electrically conducting) gratings, or stripes. The sensor (also referred to as the read head) contains the transmitter and receiver coils as well as electronics for signal processing. As the read head travels along the scale, the gratings of the scale cause variations in the voltages induced in the receiver coils, and these voltages indicate the sensor’s linear position.

Inductive encoders provide absolute position information and have accuracies that fall between that of magnetic and optical technologies — without the strict mounting considerations of optical encoders.

And they’re insensitive to nearly all forms of contamination or interference, including liquids, dirt and dust, magnetic fields, EMI, and even severe vibrations.

For rotary measuring applications, the printed circuit board construction of inductive encoders gives them a much smaller form factor and more design flexibility than their resolver counterparts.

The difference between radial and axial ring encoders A traditional rotary encoder measures the position or speed of a rotating shaft, with mounting via a coupling or a hollow bore that allows the encoder DESIGN WORLD

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to fit over the shaft. But not all rotating components have a shaft to which the encoder can mount. For example, direct-drive rotary motors — also known as torque motors, pancake motors, or Lorentz force motors, depending on their construction and operation — are designed without input or output shafts.

Since traditional shaft encoders aren’t suitable, these applications typically use ring encoders — a type of rotary encoder characterized by a large hollow bore and a small axial height.

Ring encoders — also known as through-bore encoders or large bore hollow shaft encoders — consist of two components: a ring, which contains the measuring scale, and a scanning

Position measuring devices that rely on the principle of mutual induction include resolvers, linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs), and inductive encoders.

Two of these technologies — resolvers and LVDTs — are based on the construction and operation of a transformer.

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A radial ring encoder (left) has the scanning unit located on the outer edge of the ring, while an axial ring encoder (right) has the scanning unit located on the face of the encoder. | courtesy of RLS

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unit, which contains the sensing element and electronics.

The encoder components are mounted separately and integrated directly into the application — for example, directly into a robot joint, or directly on the face of a NEMA C-Face motor. Unlike other rotary encoder designs, ring encoders don’t require support bearings, and they’re completely contact-free, so they can operate at higher rotational speeds and tolerate high shock and vibration loads.

Depending on the required scanning head orientation, the encoder ring can be a radial or an axial type. Radial ring encoders have an encoder scale located on the outer “edge” of the ring, so that the scanning unit is located on the side of the ring and faces inward, radially toward the center of the ring’s bore. Alternatively, axial ring encoders have a scale located on the “face” of the ring, so that the scanning unit faces along the axis of the encoder.

Like other rotary encoders, both radial and axial ring encoders can be designed to provide incremental or absolute positioning information and are available with magnetic, optical, and even inductive scanning technologies to meet a wide range of accuracy and resolution requirements and withstand various environmental conditions. Although ring encoders that use magnetic or inductive scanning have relatively large mounting tolerances, optical ring encoders require more precise

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mounting and alignment.

Radial and axial ring encoders are often used in space-constrained applications — especially those that use rotary direct-drive motors — such as robot joints and rotary indexing tables and actuators. The ring encoder’s small axial height minimizes footprint, while the large bore provides a pathway for routing cables and pneumatic lines. DW

One of the fastest growing application areas for ring encoders is in robotic arms – whether traditional SCARA or 6-axis types or cobot designs based on these technologies. Here, ring encoders are used on the robot joints while a linear encoder is used on the end-of-arm gripper. | courtesy of SIKO

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The top ten free

engineering math programs Numerous open-source software packages now provide engineering math capabilities once available only from programs that could be on the pricey side.

Leland Teschler • Executive Editor

The Mars Climate Orbiter made headlines back in 1999 when

it approached Mars on a trajectory bringing it too close to the planet and wound up either destroyed in the Mars atmosphere or orbiting the Sun. What caught the public’s attention wasn’t so much the failed mission as the cause of the failure: An investigation found a measurement mismatch between two software systems. NASA had used metric units while spacecraft builder Lockheed Martin had used English units.

If engineers working on the Orbiter had access to today’s software for engineering math, the spacecraft might still be happily orbiting the Red Planet. That’s because this kind of software frequently supports all measurement units, allowing English and metric units to be mixed in equations without fear. Generally, software users can add equations, text, and images in a freeform manner. In many packages, equations are live-linked in

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Users say it behaves much like older generations of MathCad. As do other packages in this category, SMath keeps track of units. For example, suppose you ask the program to solve X + Y = Z and tell it that X is in feet while Y is in meters. SMath knows enough to automatically convert the differing units so Z is consistent with them.

Initially released in 2006, SMath is available for Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, the Universal Windows Platform, and on some handhelds. Like MathCad, it can solve differential equations, graph functions in two or three dimensions, do symbolic calculations (like X + Y = Z) as well as solve systems of symbolic equations and do symbolic differentiation, do matrix operations as well

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| AdobeStock.com

a manner resembling that of a spreadsheet so their values update when something changes.

And happily, many such engineering software packages are now available for free or nearly so. The motivation for these opensource programs seems to be the desire for low-cost alternatives to established math packages such as MathCad, Maple, and Maple Flow. First released in 1986, the most recent version of MathCad is called MathCad Prime and is now available via subscription with a commercial license typically running around $700 annually. A single seat of Maple or Maple Flow costs about $2,400.

Among the free alternatives with features resembling those of these commercial packages is SMath Studio (en.smath.com/).

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E l e c t r o n i c s A data visualization done in Scilab which provides graphics functions to create lines, pie charts, histograms, surfaces, and so forth.

as find determinants, find roots of polynomials and functions, do numeric differentiation and integration, execute simple multiline looped programs, and handle user-defined functions.

Users have said the program’s user interface resembles that of graphing calculators of yesteryear. Though there’s no single help file, a tutorial on various forms of math (SMath for Physics) is available from the SMath site and is enough to get most users up

and running. The program boxes each equation off and solves it, automatically providing some organization to entered data. In addition, the program provides a drop-down menu of functions that can be inserted by name, useful for users who know the name of an equation but not how to write it.

Users say the primary difference between SMath and later versions of MathCad, now called MathCad Prime, seems to be MathCad Prime’s inclusion

of collaboration features. Also, Prime seems to be better at handling large systems of equations.

The Matlab commercial analytics program has at least two free alternatives, GNU Octave (www.gnu. org/software/octave/) and Scilab (www. scilab.org). Developed by Mathworks, Matlab is billed as a proprietary multiparadigm programming language and numeric computing environment. It has a reputation for handling heavy duty numeric computing tasks and allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data, implementation of algorithms, and creation of user interfaces. An optional toolbox uses the MuPAD symbolic engine for symbolic computing. An additional package called Simulink adds graphical multidomain simulation and model-based design for dynamic and embedded systems.

Matlab uses its own programming language, so entry of equations isn’t as intuitive as for programs like SMath.

But Matlab supports high-level features such as object-oriented programming and can call functions and subroutines written in C or Fortran. Currently a

Some example problems worked out in the WYSIWYG SMath program.

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perpetual license for Matlab runs $2,150 with an annual license going for $860.

Like Matlab, Scilab is a numerical computational package and a highlevel, numerically oriented programming language. It is used for many of the same applications as Matlab such as signal processing, statistical analysis, fluid dynamics simulations, and so forth. The syntax of Scilab resembles that of Matlab, and a built-in source code translator helps convert code from Matlab to Scilab.

Also like Matlab, Scilab has many contributed toolboxes for handling tasks in specific domains such as image processing and wavelets. Originally released in 1990, since 2016 Scilab can be embedded in a browser and be called via an interface written in Scilab or an API. This new deployment method is said to have the advantages of masking code and data as well as providing access to large computational power.

Users say the primary difference between SMath and later versions of MathCad, now called MathCad Prime, seems to be MathCad Prime’s inclusion of collaboration features.

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Math Mechanixs lets users type in equations as they might write them on a piece of paper. It includes a scientific calculator and an integrated variables and functions list window to simplify the tracking of defined variables and functions. It can also generate 3D graphics of the functions it models.

Another Matlab-inspired free program is FreeMat (freemat. sourceforge.net/). The FreeMat home page says the program is chartered to go beyond Matlab to include features such as a codeless interface to external C/C++/Fortran code, parallel/distributed algorithm development, and advanced volume and 3D visualization capabilities.

FreeMat is said to support roughly 95% of the features in Matlab, but not GUI/ Widgets. The FreeMat site also says this feature is in development, but the last release of FreeMat seems to have been in 2013.

Users of SageMath interact with the program via an interactive shell or from a notebook UI.

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Math helpers In addition to the programs oriented toward engineering, there are numerous free packages that focus on algebra and calculus. These may lack the domainspecific programming aids and unitscognizance of Matlab and MathCadinspired freeware. But they can be helpful for knotty math problems.

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programming in the Python language.

ScientificPython (dirac.cnrs-orleans.fr/ ScientificPython/) is an open-source library of scientific tools for the Python programming language. However, it has not been updated since 2014.

The library includes mathematical tools like differentiation for functions of any number of variables up to any order; numerical integration; a NewtonRaphson method for numerical root finding; non-linear least squares fitting; and several other capabilities.

Another Python resource is SciPy (scipy.org/scipylib/). This is another library containing modules for optimization, linear algebra, integration, interpolation, special functions, FFTs, signal and image processing, differential equation solvers, and other tasks common in science and engineering.

SageMath (previously Sage or SAGE, System for Algebra and Geometry Experimentation, www.sagemath.org/) is a computer algebra system covering many aspects of mathematics, including algebra, combinatorics, graph theory, numerical analysis, number theory, calculus and statistics. It builds on top of several other open-source Python packages that include SciPy and many more. It accesses them through a common, Python-based language or directly via interfaces or wrappers.

There are many other free math programs that aim a bit lower, computationally. But one called SpeQ (www.speqmath.com/) includes the same support for units as programs like MathCad so users needn’t worry about entering the right conversion factors.

All calculations are entered in a sheet UI. Users can define custom variables and functions and graph the results. The program can express calculations with arithmetic, conditional, logical and bitwise operators and includes around 100 built-in mathematical, physical and conditional constants. There are around 60 builtin functions for analysis, arithmetic, complex numbers, hyperbolic functions, statistics, trig, and others.

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The Euler Math Toolbox (euler.renegrothmann.de/) was also inspired by Matlab, but the syntax is not exactly compatible. Like Matlab, Euler is a matrix language designed to handle vectors and matrices, in most cases without explicit loops. Euler does symbolic math with the help of another free program called Maxima. One good thing: Euler is still actively developed with two updates released earlier this year.

Another free program called Math Mechanixs (www.mathmechanixs.com) lets users type in mathematical expressions as they might write them on a piece of paper. The software uses a multiple-document interface to permit working on multiple solutions simultaneously. There is a scientific calculator combined with an integrated variables and functions list window to simplify the tracking of defined variables and functions.

Math Mechanixs also provides a library of over 280 embedded functions in general math, trig, chemistry, geometry, statistics, among others. A calculus utility contains a numerical integration module for single, double, and triple integration as well as a numerical differentiation module for single, double and triple differentials. DW References Euler Math Toolbox, euler.rene-grothmann.de/ FreeMat, freemat.sourceforge.net/ GNU Octave, www.gnu.org/software/octave/ Maplesoft, www.maplesoft.com MathCad Prime, www.mathcad.com/ Math Mechanixs, www.mathmechanixs.com Mathworks, www.mathworks.com SageMath, www.sagemath.org/ ScientificPython, dirac.cnrs-orleans.fr/ ScientificPython/ Scilab, www.scilab.org/ SciPy, scipy.org/scipylib/ SMath, en.smath.com/ SpeQ, www.speqmath.com/

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Consumer tablets are useful for industrial automation projects, but only if they properly incorporate safety systems and are protected with a component like the unique IDEC HT3P Safety Commander.

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Handling Tablets as Industrial HMIs

Industrial automation systems can incorporate consumer-grade tablets as powerful HMIs, using a specialized component to provide a secure grip and maintain safety.

Luiz Shida • IDEC Corp.

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Industrial automation applications are becoming more sophisticated and can take advantage of many features available in consumer-grade mobile smartphone and tablet devices. End users benefit from high-resolution visualization, familiar touch interfaces, and the ready availability of economical hardware. However, to use these devices safely in a factory environment there needs to be some consideration about how users can securely hold and use these devices. A new component is available, created specifically to address these concerns.

A more mobile HMI For many years, automated industrial plant and facility designs have required operators to perform their work standing in front of a fixed control panel with a dedicated human-machine interface (HMI) display, or perhaps using a specialized teaching pendant for certain machinery and robotics. Typical examples include machines, conveyors, robotics, automated guided vehicles (AGVs), and any type of production operations.

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The IDEC HT3P Safety Commander includes hardwired safety buttons, a charging port, and multiple holding and mounting options, making it practical to use a tablet for industrial automation applications.

With the increased availability of HMI apps and web browser-based methods for operators to interact with automated equipment, it is now possible for one tablet to replace many control panels worth of buttons and indicators.

Wireless Ethernet and Bluetooth provide reliable mobile connectivity.

When HMI functionality is combined with mobility, users benefit from the best of both worlds, experiencing more visibility and greater operational access.

Mobile HMI devices can do many other useful things also, such as displaying manuals and drawings, showing reports and trends, and even supporting videoconferencing and messaging methods so operational teams can work better together.

Furthermore, a growing number of industrial internet of things (IIoT) smart devices are generating a large amount of information, which is much more useful when it can be conveniently viewed on a mobile device right where operators need it.

Freeing operators from fixed-location HMIs lets them move around equipment while keeping important operational information right at their fingertips.

However, this is only a reality if the mobile HMI can be safely and reliably carried. Another consideration is that many types of operational equipment require hardwired safety related

devices like emergency stop (e-stop) buttons or enable switches. Due to these and other issues, designers have often struggled to find the best way to use modern mobile HMIs, while including industrial-grade usability and safety features.

Merging consumer devices with industrial safety To simplify the task of using tablets effectively and safely in industrial settings, a mobile device holder has been developed. The face of the holder uses diagonally sliding adjustable grippers to securely hold tablets ranging from 8- to 11-inches in diagonal size. The back side of the device features an ergonomic hand grip and strap, arranged to be suitable for both right- and left-handed use. Another carrying option is a neck strap, and a wall-hanging bracket lets users securely store the holder when it is not in active use.

Users can insert and remove their own tablets into and out of the holder at will, or a built-in key-lock lets users secure the tablet in place for longer term use. A patented mechanism allows the display to be rotated between vertical/portrait and horizontal/ landscape orientation as needed to best match the application in use.

The holder has been tested to 1.2

With the increased availability of HMI apps and web browser-based methods for operators to interact with automated equipment, it is now possible for one tablet to replace many control panels worth of buttons and indicators.

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meters for drop resistance, and resists water splashes and dirt with an IP54 protection rating.

Wired connections Although wireless connectivity and battery operation are fundamental tablet features, using them with industrial applications means there needs to be provisions for power and safety wiring connections. Some applications may be able to use the holder without a wired connection, but in other cases the included and connectorized 5-meter cable can be used to provide wired functions.

Users can move around with the tablet installed into the holder, much as they would with a traditional industrial wired pendant controller.

Recharging mobile tablets on the factory floor presents challenges for many applications, as users need to remember to charge the device in a protected location. The tablet holder solves this by incorporating a USB Type-C port so it can maintain its charge constantly while mounted in the holder. Tablets can be semipermanently installed in this manner, or personnel can install their own tablets

when and where they are needed for their work. This is particularly useful for maintenance personnel.

Safety functionality is provided by two hardwired features incorporated into the device. A hardwired e-stop button with an LED indicator is available for integration into any equipment safety circuit, typically required when any personnel are working near or around equipment with moving parts.

Because the e-stop button is available right at the tablet, a user can activate it quickly.

Many types of equipment operated with workers nearby—especially robotics—require an enable switch, which is also commonly known as a ‘dead man’s switch’. For this purpose, the holder includes a three-position hardwired enable switch. This requires the operator to positively hold the enable switch, such as for hold-torun control functionality. Letting go of the switch for any reason stops the equipment.

Tablets enable flexible automation solutions Tablets offer more capabilities than other HMI methods and make IIoT data

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Modern tablet-based HMIs using the Safety Commander provide an improved operator HMI experience, while meeting all hardwired e-stop and enable switch requirements.

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Sensor-less Brake and Clutch Controls with Status Monitoring Introducing a new way to control and monitor spring-applied, electrically-released brakes and clutches. Electronically sensing armature movement after power is applied, the controller provides real-time operation status and wear condition while communicating with your IoT system. Tracking the brake or clutch lifecycle, scheduling maintenance accurately, reducing energy and extending the lifespan has never been simpler. The SmartSense (IoT) offers:

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accessible, and they make it possible to avoid installing multiple fixed-location control panels, HMIs, and even PCs on the plant floor. However, designers have struggled with inelegant methods for incorporating tablets with industrial automation, and may not have found good ways to provide proper safety provisions.

Robot and AGV applications are examples of moving equipment that may sometimes require an operator to work in the vicinity. A tablet equipped with a holder lets the operator experience improved visualization as compared to traditional fixed HMIs. Furthermore, the holder enables designers to maintain compliance with ISO/IEC safety standards and requirements as operators are protected by the wired e-stop and hold-to-run enable switch functions.

Some systems, such as long-distance conveyor systems or wide-ranging production lines, require infrequent operator input. In these types of applications, designers were faced with installing multiple operation panels along the length of the line to provide HMI functionality. A better solution is to install holders and wall-hanging brackets at multiple locations along the line. This enables operators and maintenance personnel to quickly connect and use their own tablet when and where it is needed so they can work effectively without moving back and forth to an inconvenient fixed HMI. The result is improved operator

A u t o m a t i o n

efficiency and reduced control panel costs.

Modern tablets deliver a superior HMI experience, providing operators and maintenance personnel with the flexibility to work with automated equipment in a more accessible way as compared to fixed panels.

Unfortunately, until now it has been difficult and impractical to integrate these consumer-grade tablets into industrial-grade systems.

This has changed with the introduction of a new type of holding device optimized to provide a robust tablet carrying method, suitable physical protection, and hardwired safety connectivity. Designers now have an option to incorporate inexpensive tablets at one or more locations for equipment, manufacturing, and processing applications. This enables users to safely move around equipment, efficiently interacting with it for visualization, control, and IIoT functionality. DW

IDEC Corp. www.idec.com

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• Avoidance of motor and brake/clutch drive overlap

• Remote armature motion monitoring • Variable holding voltage • Enhanced positioning and stopping • Increased cycle rates • Real-time brake wear monitoring • Auto-adjust timing to holding voltage

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The holder enables designers to maintain compliance with ISO/IEC safety standards and requirements as operators are protected by the wired e-stop and hold-to-run enable switch functions .

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Handling radial and thrust forces in bearings Where accuracy is required, it is essential to consider the forces acting on a bearing. Because a bearing typically supports the free motion of a shaft about an axis of rotation, two forces normally act on the bearing: a radial load and a thrust load. But what is the impact of these forces?

Edited by Mike Santora

A radial load acts perpendicular, at 90°, to the axis of rotation, while a thrust load — also known as an axial load — acts in parallel to the axis of rotation. Any misalignment of the shaft can also result in a moment load, a tilting force that can increase wear.

Applying a thrust load to a bearing can be beneficial. For example, applying a permanent thrust load (preload) to the inner or outer ring, using washers or springs can eliminate play in the bearing and provide more accurate rotation. Conversely, applying an excessive load can be catastrophic. If end-users fail to adequately match a bearing to the radial and thrust loads in an application, it can drastically reduce the life of the bearing.

When calculating bearing life, it is important to consider load ratings. These are a measure of how quickly the rotating elements of a bearing will experience fatigue and the total number of revolutions a bearing can withstand before it fails. These ratings can be categorized into static load ratings and dynamic load ratings.

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A typical radial ball bearing, designed primarily for radial loads, has a maximum static and dynamic load capacity. The static load capacity is the maximum radial load that a bearing can withstand before the load causes a total, permanent deformation of the bearing balls or the raceway equal to one ten thousandth of the ball’s diameter.

Although a bearing may tolerate a high static load, it will do so at the loss of accuracy and smoothness, making it impractical for use in high accuracy environments, such as electronics manufacturing and robots used in food and beverage production. The typical static-load rating for a stainless steel bearing is approximately 75–80% of the load rating for chrome-steel bearings due to the hardness of chrome steel.

On the other hand, the dynamic load rating, is the ability of 90% of a

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group of identical chrome-steel bearings, with only the inner ring rotating, to endure a radial load of a constant magnitude and size for one million revolutions before the first signs of fatigue develop.

The greater the load, the higher the stresses the balls and raceways will be subjected to. This will lead to more rapid wear and a shorter bearing life. Fatigue failure results in the ball path being eroded, leading to spalling, where a fracture on the surface of the raceway causes material to be removed, ultimately leading to failure.

Excessive loading can also lead to other signs of fatigue, such as overheating, degradation of the lubricant, and abrasion caused by flakes of particulate matter.

A typical radial ball bearing, designed primarily for radial loads, has a maximum static and dynamic load capacity.

The static load capacity is the maximum radial load that a bearing can withstand before the load causes a total, permanent deformation of the bearing balls or the raceway equal to one ten thousandth of the ball’s diameter.

Choosing the right bearing There are many measures that manufacturers can take to ensure long bearing life. The first step is to limit the radial load to between 6–12% of a bearing’s dynamic load rating. Although a bearing can tolerate a much higher load, its life will be shortened. www.designworldonline.com

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The next step is to choose the right material. Often, in thin-section, corrosion-resistant, and miniature bearing applications, selecting the right type of bearing can also make all the difference. While all radial ball bearings have some thrust load capacity, it’s often better to use heavyduty bearings with deep raceways if greater thrust loads are present as these can withstand axial loads of up to 50% of the static radial load rating.

Although thin-section bearings — where the difference between the inner and outer diameter of the bearing is small — are great for compactness and saving weight, they can only support axial loads of between 10 and 30% of the bearing’s static radial load rating due to the shallower raceways. Additional radial loads or moment loads will reduce

thrust load capacity even further.

Excessive thrust loads on a thin-section bearing can cause the balls to ride dangerously close to the top of the raceway.

By choosing the right type of bearing and considering key factors in the battle to control radial and thrust loads, engineers can ensure they continue to innovate while delivering the highest accuracy, smoothness, and bearing life.

DW

SMB Bearings www.smbbearings.com

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Creating cryogenic environments for electronics Jeff Shepard

T

his FAQ series has gone to extremes and looked at “electronics that operate in extreme heat” (up to 800°C) and “electronics that operate in extreme cold” at cryogenic temperatures. This FAQ will consider the various methods available to create artificial cryogenic environments.

The temperature where refrigerated temperatures end and cryogenic temperatures begin is not universally defined. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology considers cryogenic temperatures to be below −180°C (93K; −292°F).

That temperature was selected because the normal boiling points of gases such as helium, hydrogen, neon, nitrogen, oxygen, and normal air, lie below −180°C, while Freon, hydrocarbons, and other common refrigerants have boiling points above −180°C. In addition, there is often a distinction made between high temperature cryogenics and low temperature cryogenics. Liquid nitrogen with a boiling point of 77.09K is considered “high temperature cryogenics” (as in “high temperature superconductivity”).

The use of liquid helium with a boiling point of 4.214K, (3.19K for helium-3) is considered low temperature cryogenics, and is often associated with noise sensitive uses such as quantum computers, superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, magnetic resonance imaging, microwave preamplification, and so on.

Direct liquid cooling There are several ways to produce a cryogenic environment; direct liquid cooling, the use of a cryocooler or cryogenic refrigerator, and various techniques that directly manipulate individual atoms to effect cooling. Liquefied gases, such as liquid nitrogen and liquid helium, are used directly in many cryogenic applications. Liquid nitrogen is the most commonly used and least expensive element used in cryogenics. Liquid helium is also commonly used. It is more expensive and difficult to handle than liquid nitrogen, but allows for the lowest attainable temperatures to be reached.

Liquid nitrogen, for example, is used in superconducting power cables, for CCD cameras in astronomy, and to maintain a low temperature around the primary liquid

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This 320kVDC, 3.2GW, hightemperature superconductor cable system uses liquid nitrogen and carries currents up to 10kA over long distances with minimal resistive losses. | Nexans

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helium cooling system of high-field superconducting magnets used in nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers and magnetic resonance imaging systems.

These liquids may be stored in Dewar flasks, which are double-walled containers with a high vacuum between the walls to reduce heat transfer into the liquid. Typical laboratory Dewar flasks are spherical, made of glass and protected in a metal outer container.

Dewar flasks for extremely cold liquids such as liquid helium are inside another double-walled container filled with liquid nitrogen.

Cryocoolers and cryogenic refrigerators A cryocooler is a specialized refrigerator designed to reach cryogenic temperatures. Cryocoolers tend to be smaller systems, typically up to about 20kW, but can be as small as 2W. typical applications for cryocoolers include high temperature superconductivity (HTS) filters, high altitude balloons, refrigeration, germanium detectors, IR detectors, radio telescopes, laser diode cooling, and general research, among others.

Large systems, for example MWsized systems used to cool the superconducting magnets in particle accelerators, are generally referred to as cryogenic refrigerators.

Cryocoolers use a cryogenic fluid as the working substance and

This cryocooler handles a nominal heat load of 16W at 77K with a temperature stability of 0.1K. | Sunpower employ moving parts to cycle the fluid around a thermodynamic cycle. The fluid is typically compressed at room temperature (300K), precooled in a heat exchanger, then expanded at some low temperature. The returning low-pressure fluid passes through the heat exchanger to precool the highpressure fluid before entering the compressor intake. The cycle is then repeated. There are several physical embodiments of cryocoolers, but the general theory of operation is the same. Usually helium is the working fluid which can produce a temperature of about 4.2K, a reduction of almost 100:1 versus room temperature.

Laser, evaporative, RF and magnetic cooling Laser cooling includes a number of techniques in which atomic and molecular samples are cooled down to near absolute zero. Laser cooling techniques rely on the fact that when an atom absorbs and re-emits a photon of light its momentum changes. The first example of laser cooling, and also still the most common method (so much so that it is still often referred to simply as ‘laser cooling’), is Doppler

cooling. Doppler cooling involves light with a frequency tuned slightly below an electronic transition in an atom. Because the light is detuned to the “red” (i.e. at lower frequency) of the transition, the atoms will absorb more photons if they move towards the light source, due to the Doppler effect. An atom moving towards the laser sees it blue-shifted and absorbs the photon, slowing the atom. Slowing atoms reduces the temperature.

Evaporative cooling is an atomic physics technique to achieve high phase space densities which optical cooling techniques typically cannot reach. Atoms trapped in optical or magnetic traps are cooled as the trap depth is decreased and the hottest atoms (with the highest kinetic energy) leave the trap. The hot atoms leaving the trap are on the tail of the MaxwellBoltzmann distribution (which defines the particle speeds, and thereby the particle energies, in a gas) and therefore carry away a significant amount of kinetic energy, mitigating the loss of atoms by an overall increase in phase space density.

Often RF energy is used to drive the hottest atoms from the trap. The RF radiation is commonly referred to as an RF knife, because it cuts the hottest atoms out of the trap.

Magnetic refrigeration is a cooling technology based on the magnetocaloric effect. This technique can be used to attain extremely low temperatures, as well as the ranges used in common refrigerators. The first working magnetic refrigerators were constructed by several groups beginning in

In this magnetic cooling diagram, a Gadolinium alloy heats up inside the magnetic field and loses thermal energy to the environment, as it exits the field and becomes cooler than when it entered. | Wikipedia DESIGN WORLD

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1933. Magnetic refrigeration was the first method developed for cooling below about 0.3K. The magnetocaloric effect is a magneto-thermodynamic phenomenon in which a temperature change of a suitable material is caused by exposing the material to a changing magnetic field. This is also known by low temperature physicists as adiabatic demagnetization. In that part of the refrigeration process, a decrease in the strength of an externally applied magnetic field allows the magnetic domains of a magnetocaloric material to become disoriented from the magnetic field by the agitating action of the thermal energy (phonons) present in the material.

If the material is isolated so that no energy is allowed to (re) migrate into the material during this time, (i.e., an adiabatic process) the temperature drops as the domains absorb the thermal energy to perform their reorientation. The randomization of the domains occurs in a similar fashion to the randomization at the curie temperature of a ferromagnetic material, except that magnetic dipoles overcome a decreasing external magnetic field while energy remains constant, instead of magnetic domains being disrupted from internal ferromagnetism as energy is added.

One of the most notable examples of the magnetocaloric effect is in the chemical element gadolinium and some of its alloys. Gadolinium’s temperature increases when it enters certain magnetic fields. When it leaves the magnetic field, the temperature drops. The effect is considerably stronger for the gadolinium alloy Praseodymium alloyed with nickel and has such a strong magnetocaloric effect that it has allowed scientists to approach to within one millikelvin, one thousandth of a degree above absolute zero.

As shown, electronics is a versatile technology and can be designed for a wide range of environments. This FAQ series has gone to extremes and has looked at developments in electronic systems from +800°C in part one, down to nearly absolute zero in part two. DW References Cryocooler, Wikipedia Cryogenics, Wikipedia Magnetic refrigeration, Wikipedia Nexans completes successful qualification testing of ‘Best Paths’ superconductor cable for HVDC power links, Nexans

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