Digital supplement to
Technology Handbook
MOTION CONTROL
PHOTO: KYNNY / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES
A look into the products, technologies and solutions shaping the market
Beckhoff Automation Ltd.
Technology Handbook | MOTION CONTROL
Micro-Sized Servo Drives The Need for Smaller Components In 1965, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore stated that the number of transistors fitted in a dense integrated PCB circuit doubles every two years. “Moore’s Law,” as it came to be known, held up for over 50 years of innovation. While the rate of shrinking has begun to level off in recent years, electronic circuitry is still steadily getting denser. For those of us in motion control, this means providing lighter, smaller, and more powerful micro-sized servo drive solutions to engineers. Many applications need to be small and portable, such as devices used in the military or medical industries. Aerospace industries are always seeking lighter solutions to reduce weight wherever they can. Robotics are becoming more complex with more moving parts in tighter spaces, and every articulated joint needs to be controlled somehow. As veteran members of the industry, ADVANCED Motion Controls® recognizes the pressing need for compact, lightweight servo drives, which is why we developed FlexPro®.
FlexPro® FlexPro® is AMC’s newest family of digital servo drives. With cutting edge engineering, FlexPro® delivers the capabilities of AMC’s already powerful and diverse product selection into smaller applications. These drives maintain the intelligence and power of larger-sized servo drives while fitting into much more compact packages. Take the FlexPro model FE060-60C-EM, a PCB mount servo drive with EtherCAT® communication. At just 1.5 x 1.0 x 0.6 inches (38 x 25 x 16 mm) in size, the footprint of the drive is approximately the same as two standard postage stamps. In other words, four of these drives can fit on a standard business card. Even with its small size, the FE060-25EM can supply brushed, brushless, stepper, and linear servo motors with up to 60 amps continuous current. This drive also comes in 25-amp, 10-amp, and 5-amp continuous versions. CANopen®, RS-485/232, and EtherNet/IP® compatible models are also available. For those seeking to install drives beyond the central PCB, the machine embedded FlexPro drives feature all the capabilities of the PCB mount servo drives but with a special interface board. This board features convenient connectors that make them easy to hook up to any system using standard cabling. These drives can also be configured easily via a USB-C connector.
Extended Environment. For those who need servo control that can stand up to the elements, we offer Extended Environment versions of both 2 MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION · Technology Handbook Motion Control
the PCB mount and machine embedded FlexPro drives. They boast all the convenience and power of the standard FlexPro drives, but they’re built to handle more extreme environmental conditions, such as temperatures as low as -40°C to as high as +95°C and altitudes as high as 25,000 m above sea level.
Customs More power, network, and feedback options for FlexPro are on the way, but in the meantime, we’ll make sure our customers have exactly what they need. We’re more than happy to develop custom micro-sized servo drives that use the same architecture as FlexPro®.
Final Thoughts Micro-sized FlexPro® drives are perfect for cobots (collaborative robots), AGVs, fixed robotics, mobile robotics, animatronics, portable devices, lab automation, military equipment, aerospace, medical equipment, and truly any embedded application that requires a compact and/or lightweight solution. The need for smaller servo drives is only going to increase in the coming years, and anyone who knows ADVANCED Motion Controls knows that we are always up for task. Bring it on. Written by Jackson McKay, Marketing Engineer
ADVANCED Motion Controls® 3805 Calle Tecate Camarillo, CA 93012 USA Tel: 805.389.1935 www.a-m-c.com
ELECTROMATE 6221 Highway 7, Unit #15 Vaughan, Ontario, Canada L4H 0K8 Phone: 877-SERVO98 Email: sales@electromate.com www.electromate.com
Servo Drives for Every Application Over 240 Off-the-Shelf Servo Drive Models Endless Possibilities for Custom Solutions Renowned Service and Engineering Support
50 amps continuous 100 amps peak 255-373 VDC / 200-240 VAC
150 amps continuous 250 amps peak 20-54 VDC
60 amps continuous 60 amps peak 10-55 VDC
12.5 amps continuous 25 amps peak 40-175 VDC
3805 Calle Tecate | Camarillo, California 93012 +1 (805) 389-1935 Technology Handbook Motion Control · MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION 3 www.a-m-c.com
Technology Handbook | MOTION CONTROL
Beckhoff Introduces ATRO, the Highly Modular, Fully Customizable Industrial Robot
B
Flexible and fully integrated, Automation Technology for Robotics (ATRO) is a compact, multi-axis system that supports rapid robot assembly and programming
eckhoff Introduces ATRO, the Highly Modular, Fully Customizable Industrial Robot Flexible and fully integrated, Automation Technology for Robotics (ATRO) is a compact, multi-axis system that supports rapid robot assembly and programming SAVAGE, Minnesota, July 12, 2022 – With ATRO, Beckhoff presents a breakthrough concept for robotics applications. This modular system enables extreme flexibility in robot kinematics to fit essentially any application with payloads up to 10 kg and reach of up to 1.3 meters. With ATRO, users can select the exact number of axes required and quickly assemble the exact robot or cobot needed for their application. Another compelling benefit of the modular robotic system, the internal media feeds for data, power and fluids are designed to support continuous rotation of all robot axes. With a wide variety of modules, ATRO gives users the power to create almost any custom robot design within the rated payloads for their application – from a simple single-axis rotary indexing table application and delta kinematics up to multi-axis articulated robots. Expansive configurations with as many as 16 robotic arms are possible. The adapted structures are simply scanned by the control software, and the TwinCAT robotics functions automatically create the corresponding control application – including a digital twin. Robot teaching with ATRO is similarly easy and efficient. Users simply move the custom assembled robot arm into the desired positions and set them via a user interface. Beckhoff’s novel approach to robotics also ensures simple commissioning and handling. This is because the robot system is based on EtherCAT and directly integrated into PC-based control
technology, resulting in an optimized and complete solution for machines and plants. This reduces the number of controllers needed to just one industrial PC, even for multiple robots. ATRO kinematics are made up of active joints – the motor modules. These are available in different designs: straight modules in I-shape or angled modules in L-shape, which are designed in five power sizes. Each motor module forms a complete drive system for one axis of the robot. The only external components required are a power supply and a controller, which significantly reduces the space required in the control cabinet. In addition to the active modules, there are connection modules without their own drive: • base modules as the starting point for all ATRO configurations, including the media feed • link modules with I, L and Y shapes for implementing custom robot configurations • system modules that can be used to integrate additional functions such as a camera or application-based grippers
Unlimited robot rotation through internal media feed All modules are interconnected via the ATRO interface, which guarantees a rigid mechanical connection along with reliable, continuous media feeds. Data, power and other lines, such as compressed
4 MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION · Technology Handbook Motion Control
air, vacuum or water are guided internally through the ATRO kinematics modules. Conventional robotic solutions, on the other hand, route these lines externally and are therefore limited in rotation and use of the workspace. The ATRO solution from Beckhoff eliminates these traditional limitations; each axis can rotate endlessly, which enables better Cartesian accessibility as well as short positioning paths. Furthermore, ATRO’s groundbreaking media feed design eliminates interfering contours due to external cables and interfering torques, which are very common with robots and cobots. In addition, the media are supplied again for the customer’s application via the ATRO interfaces, so almost any robotic tool can be easily integrated, such as sophisticated end effectors and gripper systems.
Robot integration without limits With ATRO, Beckhoff offers an inherently flexible robot system that integrates all essential machine functionalities due to its deep integration into standard TwinCAT automation software and EtherCAT, which allows the control of multiple ATRO robots from a single controller. These include, for example, image processing for sophisticated applications, improving motion performance through machine learning or direct cloud integration for analysis and maintenance. The use of open interfaces and universal standards enables plug-and-play of the custom robot configuration as well as simple engineering. Beckhoff Automation Ltd. 4 Schiedel Court, Unit 1-3 Cambridge ON N3C 0H1 Phone: 226-765-7700 Email: sales@beckhoff.ca www.beckhoff.com
| EK11-20USA |
Compact drive technology in a robust metal housing ELM72xx: directly integrated in the EtherCAT I/O system
The ultra-compact ELM72xx EtherCAT Terminals: full-fledged servo drives in an I/O terminal with robust metal housing increased output current of up to 16 A at 48 V DC metal housing for optimum heat dissipation at high outputs directly integrated in the standard EtherCAT I/O system increased performance and added functionality optimal shielding in case of electrical interference convenient connector front end and One Cable Technology (OCT) selectable safety range: STO or comprehensive TwinSAFE Motion function package
Scan and begin your migration to compact drive technology
Technology Handbook Motion Control · MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION 5
Technology Handbook | MOTION CONTROL
Festo AX: Make your data work harder with artificial intelligence
E
very day, sensors monitoring the performance of machines and processes generate vast amounts of data. In raw form, this data are indicators about the current state of those assets, a last line of defence if properly understood, which is not always the case. Cloud analytical tools might discern trends in the data that have developed over time (and which you may wish you had known about sooner). However, analyzing such data using artificial intelligence (AI) can unlock much greater value. By applying AI and machine learning, the new Festo Experience (Festo AX) software platform functions like an early warning system. It can identify subtle deviations from the “healthy state” of those assets, in effect foretelling the future so you can change it. Festo AX focuses on three main use cases: predictive maintenance, predictive product quality and energy savings. At the onset of a maintenance issue, Festo AX will recognize it and provide an alert, so it can be addressed during regularly scheduled stoppages, before it becomes serious enough for an unscheduled intervention – or worse. Or slippages in quality before they exceed acceptable parameters. Or energy wastage before it becomes apparent on electricity bills. This is how it works. Machine and process data is sent to Festo AX. “AX is agnostic; it will take data from any source, Festo or non-Festo, electric or pneumatic or more, from discrete or process automation,” says Frank Latino, a global product manager for the Festo Business Unit Electric Automation. “It can be sensor, parameter or status data, from a single actuator, subsystem, complete machine, entire production
hall or comparable systems at multiple locations.” Festo AX for discrete or process automation: Read a process sector case study here. By itself, that real-time data can make maintenance more efficient. But Festo AX does much more. Using AI and machine learning, a model of the “healthy state” of the asset is generated, and trained to continuously look for anomalies, predict errors or downtime. Staff are sent an alert identifying the component(s) involved, the nature of the anomaly, and recommended action before anything really goes wrong. Addressing deviations also maintains high system efficiency. For a broad overview of Festo AX and its advantages, click here How does this differ from tools you already have? “Take pneumatics,” says Latino. “You have flow and pressure sensors and other devices that can inform about compressed air leaks when they become significant. What Festo AX does is different. It can use data models of healthy machine performance that might be a combination of pressure, flow and signature operating sequences.
6 MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION · Technology Handbook Motion Control
It informs operators about minor changes or anomalies that may not be as obvious as a drop in pressure or flow, but will probably become larger issues over time. Flow and pressure sensors help you avoid catastrophic events, but not necessarily unscheduled downtime, whereas Festo AX represents a truly predictive tool, which maximizes uptime.” It works the same with predictive quality and energy optimization. For example, a Festo AX customer making autobody parts uses it to find anomalies in the pneumatic clamping for sheet metal bending and stamping. ”If the clamp is not right, the quality of the finished parts is not quite right, and they could be rejected by the customer,” says Latino. “Festo AX is their early warning system to maintain proper clamping and quality.” Subscription-based Festo AX can reside directly on the system (on-edge), on servers, or in the cloud. (OEMs can offer Festo AX as an option on new equipment.) Festo engineers do a pre-check to make sure potential users have suitable data-generation capacity. Once installed, Festo AX is easy to use, flexible in how it acquires, analyzes, stores and displays data, and completely secure. For more information on Festo AX, read this Or request our Festo AX whitepaper. Just click here, scroll down and check the whitepaper box.
5300 Explorer Drive Mississauga, ON. L4W 5G4 Phone: 1 877 GO FESTO festo.canada@ca.festo.com • www.festo.ca
Plan for the previously unplanned with Festo AX
Learn how you can • Improve maintenance processes • Increase product quality • Lower energy consumption Visit us at booth N-6213 at PACK Expo.
www.festo.com/ax Technology Handbook Motion Control · MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION 7
Technology Handbook | MOTION CONTROL
HARMONIC PLANETARY® GEARS OFFER LOW BACKLASH FOR LIFE. (PERMANENT PRECISION)
H
igh precision actuators are easily built by outfitting a commercially available servomotor with a Quick Connect® servo gearhead. Harmonic Planetary® gearheads employ a concentric gear train design, characterized by high accuracy and low backlash stability. Sun gears, planet gears, and ring gears, are all supported by a combination of needle, ball, and cross roller bearings, yielding efficient gear reduction with smooth and quiet motion. This proprietary Harmonic Planetary® design maintains low backlash for the life of the gearhead (permanent precision).
HPG Harmonic Planetary® gearheads • Ratios: 3:1 - 50:1 • Peak Torque: 3.9 N•m - 3940 N•m • Low backlash for life • HPG Series, Rack and Pinion available as a kit • Right Angle and Hollow Shaft Options • Output Configurations: Hollow Shaft, Flange, Keyed Shaft, Smooth Shaft • Multiple product lines including HPN, HPG, HPGP, HPF
HPG and high torque HPGP Quick Connect® gearheads offer high precision and low backlash (standard: < 3-arc-min, optional: <1 arc-min). Innovative ring gear design ensures consistent, low backlash for the life of the gearhead. Washdown hardened versions of HPG gearheads featuring improved ingress protection are now available in six frame sizes and dozens of ratios. HPG gearheads are well-suited for AGV/AMR applications. The HPF Harmonic Planetary® gear unit delivers high torque and high-accuracy with a hollow shaft design. An extralarge cross roller bearing serves as the output flange and can directly support large loads with exceptionally high moment stiffness. The large coaxial hollow shaft allows cables, shafts, ball screws or lasers to pass directly through the axis of rotation. Harmonic Drive LLC has a dedicated website for its Harmonic Planetary® gearheads, offering users a quick and easy way to choose the best product for their application. Developed with the design engineer in mind, the website features a robust product selector tool, PDF and DXF drawings, as well as downloadable 3-D solid models.
Product Line Overview HPN Planetary gearheads are priced to deliver a great value. They feature a robust design utilizing helical gears for quiet performance and long life. These gearheads are available with short lead times and are designed to mount to any servo motor with our Quick Connect® coupling system. HPN gearheads are suitable for use in a wide range of applications for precision motion control and positioning. They are dimensionally compatible with industry standard mounting arragnements. 8 MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION · Technology Handbook Motion Control
Electromate is the exclusive Canadian distributor of Harmonic Drive products (except the Province of Alberta)
HARMONIC DRIVE LLC 42 Dunham Ridge Beverly, MA 01915 Phone: 978-532-1800 Email: sales@harmonicdrive.net www.HarmonicDrive.net
ELECTROMATE 6221 Highway 7, Unit #15 Vaughan, Ontario, Canada L4H 0K8 Phone: 877-SERVO98 Email: sales@electromate.com www.electromate.com
Servo Mount Gearheads Low Backlash For Life!
HPN Harmonic Planetary® value series provides a low cost solution without the need to compromise on quality or performance. This new value series of planetary gears carry the reputation for quality and reliability for which Harmonic Drive® products are known throughout the world. • Helical Gearing • Available in 5 frame sizes • Peak Torque: 9Nm to 752Nm • Ratios: 3:1 to 50:1 • Quick Connect® mounting system
• High Efficiency • Backlash: <5 arc-min (single stage), <7 arc-min (two stage) • Fast Delivery • Shaft output available with key and center-tapped hole or with center-tapped hole
Harmonic Drive LLC 42 Dunham Ridge Beverly, MA 01915 800.921.3332 www.HarmonicDrive.net
Right Angle Configuration Available!
Electromate 6221 Highway 7, Unit #15 Vaughan, Ontario, Canada L4H 0K8 (877) SERVO98 (737-8698) www.electromate.com
Harmonic Drive®, Harmonic Planetary® and Quick Connect® are registered trademarks of Harmonic Drive LLC. Electromate Industrial Sales is the exclusive Canadian distributor of Harmonic Drive® products (except the Province of Alberta).
Partners in Precision
Technology Handbook Motion Control · MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION 9
Technology Handbook | MOTION CONTROL
T
maxon drives set the world in motion
he maxon motor combines electric motors, gears and DC motor controls into high-precision, intelligent drive systems that can be custom-made to fit the specific needs of customer applications. maxon motor helps provide innovative solutions at competitive prices for numerous applications in various markets, such as industrial automation, medical technology, security technology, instrumentation, communications, and consumer applications, among others.
Offering solutions that fit your customized needs maxon motors manufactures small, high-quality brush and brushless DC motors ranging in size from 4 mm to 90 mm. maxon’s rhombic wound ironless rotor motors provide exceptionally high efficiency, low EMI emissions, fast acceleration, no preferred rotor position, torque constants and long service life. The drive components are assembled and designed within our modular system according to your individual needs. You can combine, according to your requirements, motors with planetary, standard or special gearheads, feedback devices, brakes and control electronics.
Brushed and brushless configurable DC motors more versions, more power
achieving speeds of up to 120,000 rpm. They run very smoothly and are highly efficient in standard or sterilizable versions (up to 2,000 autoclave cycles). Ideal for use in handheld surgical tools and industrial spindles. maxon motor’s X drives are extremely powerful and are now available in maxon’s online shop, where customizing the drives is easy. Customers can fit the drives with specific mechanical and electrical components specific to their application needs. It is possible to customize the shaft lengths, winding types, ball bearings and much more. When combined together with maxon encoders and planetary gearheads, you form a high-precision, robust drive system ideal for any application from aerospace to medical to robotics. In fact anywhere that requires a compact, powerful, quiet and strong drive system. The X program is a lean and automated process which ensures that all configurable drives are ready for shipment within 11 working days. In addition, detailed product data may be viewed immediately online and 3D CAD data for the configuration is available for downloading. Visit dcx.maxonmotor.com for more information.
Now even stronger, more efficient and with yet more combination options: There are new additions to the maxon family of X drive products. Several long versions of brushed DC motors, with higher torques and more power, have been added to the product range along with matching planetary gearheads. Each of the 3-stage versions can now be combined with the next smaller motor. This saves space, weight and costs. In addition, maxon launched a brushless DC motor (ECX) line to its configurable online program. These motors are available with diameters of 4, 6, 8, 13, 16, 19 & 22 mm 10 MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION · Technology Handbook Motion Control
ELECTROMATE 6221 Highway 7, Unit #15 Vaughan, Ontario, Canada L4H 0K8 Phone: 877-SERVO98 Email: sales@electromate.com www.electromate.com
TRA CONFIGURABLE
Gearhead, motor and encoder tailored to your needs.
11DAYS
READY IN
Assemble your individual maxon DC drive: You can configure the gear stages, the motor bearings, the shafts, the encoder and much more. Design your custom drive online today and your finished drive will ship from Switzerland in 11 working days.
dcx.maxonmotor.com
Technology Handbook Motion Control · MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION 11
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE COVER STORY Technology Handbook | MOTION CONTROL
Revolutionising the motion control industry by making piezo motion affordable Piezo Motion is the disrupter, reimagining how innovative piezoelectric motor technology can now be more accessible than ever to myriad applications where its advantages bring immense value...
N
atural and Synthetic Piezo materials have been utilised in sensor and transducer applications for decades, but the practice of harnessing the reverse piezoelectric effect for actuators and motors is less developed. Piezo technology has a legacy and image of being cost prohibitive for most applications, setting the precedent that only costly high precision applications can consider it. With our technological advancements, this is no longer true, and it is something that engineers and product designers need to be familiar with in order to design for future innovations and learn about the many other benefits of piezo motion. Unlike classic DC motors, the versatile piezo rotary and linear motion motors use very few parts that enable manufacturing volume yielding a stable and reliable product. “At Piezo Motion, we recognise that all of the cutting-edge products that we depend on today started with an idea and you, as engineers, made it happen. Now, as you design for the future, we have motion solutions to solve problems that would not have been possible before,” explains Piezo Motion’s chief innovation officer, Nic Copley. Piezo Motion’s rotary motors are engineered to provide high quality and exceptional performance for OEM applications that demand reliable and economical motion control solutions with good power density and lightweight efficiency. The motors have up to 625,000 steps per revolution without any reduction of Torque output. Motors can be driven in open loop mode or are available with integrated encoders for closed loop control.
Energy efficient, the motors consume less than 0.1W at 1rpm. The piezo motor linear actuators are designed with lightweight materials to combine economical cost with superior precision and ultrafast response/start-stop characteristics. Highly energy efficient, Piezo Motion’s linear motors consume zero power to maintain a hold position at full force. Linear motors can step at 50 nanometer increments and will respond in 30 to 50 microseconds. Non-magnetic configurations are possible enabling use in specialised applications where traditional DC motors cannot be used. These motors are also immune from electromagnetic (EM) and radio frequency (RF) interference and have no emissions. The unique form factor of Piezo Motion devices enable fitment into compact spaces. The direct drive characteristics of Piezo motor linear actuators make simple linear systems possible eliminating the need for leadscrew drivetrains and yield speeds of over 200mm/s. Highly integrated designs are possible for a wide variety OEM applications. The adaptability of the Piezo Motion motor with encoder and drive board offers motion control software via a micro USB connector or can be implemented with a Python API or a serial command set. As demands for our devices to be smarter, more accurate, smaller, more efficient and cost-effective rise daily, engineers are forced to innovate at a rapid pace. At Piezo Motion, we have pushed the envelope of the current motion technologies enabling new opportunities.
Piezoelectric motors provide a breakthrough in all of those key needs and we continue to extend the capability of our products and hence the value they can offer. The key technical elements of Piezo Motion motors come from years of experience in scientific research and development in how to control the Piezo materials, preserve energy transfer and mitigate energy loss in piezo motors. Piezo Motion holds numerous patents for its piezo technology, devices and applications. The company’s know-how and its multi-million dollar investment to develop the technology and its portfolio of affordable motion products make it a standout in the industry. “As precision motion continues to play a larger role in medical devices, surgical robots, wearables, automation, and drones for example, the use of Piezo Motion's technology will become common place because of the scalable and affordable motion solutions we have developed,” says Hassan Kotob, chairman and CEO at Piezo Motion. If piezo motors seemed unattainable, think again. Piezo Motion’s ultrasonic piezo motors are used around the world in diverse applications – from medical devices, laboratory instruments, electronics, printing and automation to traditional piezo industries including optics, semiconductor, photonics, nanotechnology and research. Discover the full range of products available now on the website. Piezo Motion piezomotion.com
Sold & Serviced by Electromate.com
6
12 MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION · Technology Handbook Motion Control
MAY 2021 | DESIGN SOLUTIONS
/ DESIGNSOLUTIONS
Technology Handbook | MOTION CONTROL
Introducing World’sKITS Smallest Multiturn MINI the MULTITURN ENCODERS Absolute Kit Encoders
S
Like their ‘big brothers’ – POSITAL’s popular 36 mm kit encoders – the new 22 mm encoders offer 17-bit electronic resolution and a multi-turn measurement range of up to 32 bits. Installing the 22 mm kits is simple and can be carried out under normal factory conditions, with integrated self-calibration to smooth setup procedures.
providing absolute position ize matters, and in The combination of robust feedback for motion control the world of indusmagnetic measurement trial automation, applications. technology, high operationproviding exceptional reliability (with an inteA special feature of POSIal performance in a highly grated temperature sensor TAL’s new 22 mm kit encompact package can be for diagnostics), multi-turn coders is a multi-turn meaan enormous advantage. To a Maintenance-Free functionality and maintesurement Functionality range, powered with meet this challenge, encoder Multiturn Counter Batteries Needed! nance-free operation all help by Rotation the company’s Wiegand - No manufacturer POSITAL reduce the cost of ownerenergy harvesting technolhas introduced a family of ship. Available SSI and BiSS ogy. This technology, which super-compact multi-turn 22 mm Diameter, 23 mm Depth C communications interactivates the rotation-counabsolute kit (modular) enfaces are vendor-neutral and coder for position feedback. ter system with energy capAccurate, and Easy to Install can be licensed at no cost. turedReliable, directly from the roWith a diameter of only 22 mm and a height of 23 mm, tation of a shaft-mounted find out more magnet, eliminates the need these new kit encoders are Available in BiSS CClick andhere SSItoInterfaces about POSITAL’s family of for backup batteries and designed to be integrated kit encoder for integrated significantly reduces mainwith popular miniature motor feedback. BLDC motors and steppers, tenance requirements.
For Servomotors, Stepper Motors, & Microdrives
POSITAL-FRABA Inc. 1 N Johnston KITS Ave, Ste C238 MINI MULTITURN ENCODERS Hamilton, NJ 08609, USA Phone: 609-750-8705 Fax: 609-750-8703 info@fraba.com
ELECTROMATE 6221 Highway 7, Unit #15 Vaughan, Ontario, Canada L4H 0K8 Phone: 877-SERVO98 Email: sales@electromate.com www.electromate.com
www.posital.com
14 MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION · Technology Handbook Motion Control
MINI MULTITURN KITS ENCODERS
For Servomotors, Stepper Motors, & Microdrives Multiturn Functionality with a Maintenance-Free Rotation Counter - No Batteries Needed! 22 mm Diameter, 23 mm Depth Reliable, Accurate, and Easy to Install Available in BiSS C and SSI Interfaces
www.posital.com
CASE STUDY automated assembly and welding solutions for the automotive market. However, the benefits were critical when the Canadian engineers received an order from a global automotive manufacturer for a new version of a Seat Belt Height Adjuster (SBHA#3) in 2021. Beyond faster throughput, the SBHA#3 machine presented some unique technical demands, according to Jessy Underhill, PLC and robot technician at Sodecia GTAC. “Compared to welding machines with large robots, the Seat Belt Height Adjuster features faster-paced assembly processes in a smaller footprint,” Underhill says. “But we adapted our standard code structure – for things like dial table logic with the servo-based motion control and data transfer – to provide that functionality.”
STANDARDIZING FOR SPEEDY TURNAROUNDS A machine-builder achieves rapid time to market for custom assembly machines by standardizing on EtherCAT and PC-based automation. BY JAMES FIGY
W
hen building series machines in high volume, timeframes are straightforward. But one-off, custom applications can prove tricky, with many unknowns during design, development and commissioning. To help meet incredibly tight time to market, Sodecia’s Global Tech and Automation Center (GTAC) applies principles from series production to its custom machinery for the notoriously demanding automotive industry. For years, the London, Ontario-based machine builder has invested time and resources in creating standardized control architectures and modular, reusable code. “Based on our control code, we turn around projects that would typically take eight months to a year in just three
to four months,” says Chris Drees, controls engineer at Sodecia GTAC. “This also means any of our engineers can easily troubleshoot code for standard or custom machines.” The machine builder’s skill and agility quickly garnered global attention. In 2012, Sodecia acquired an automation group as part of a larger company buyout. This automation group formed the base for what is now Sodecia GTAC, an automation division under the Sodecia umbrella. Sodecia adopted many of the automation group’s time-saving innovations into its own global standards, across the company’s nearly 40 manufacturing facilities around the world. These developments, which GTAC has continued to advance, have enhanced and accelerated design, programming and commissioning for Sodecia’s
16 MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION · Technology Handbook Motion Control
Minor speed bumps on the road to success SBHA#3 features five sections. Two substations assemble the button for activating the seat belt adjustment – essentially a small actuator with a spring. Next, the assembly is inserted into the component that slides up and down a steel rail, which has a small steel plate with a nut. The fourth section installs that assembly into the rail, which will ultimately be mounted to the vehicle chassis. The last section is quality assurance, so it performs height and load measurements on the components to ensure the button will actuate correctly. To accomplish this, the system features two servo drives powering four servomotors, two machine vision cameras, five VFDs, six KUKA robots, 13 solenoid valve banks and more than 100 I/O terminals. Therefore, real-time control and communication was key. The automotive manufacturer needed SBHA#3 to increase the throughput of the current system, which presented new challenges even though the GTAC engineers had already optimized the existing machine in the past. The original assembly line, designed by an overseas OEM, had multiple separate cells and external conveyance equipment to transport workpieces between them. When Sodecia first redesigned this for the automotive manufacturer, the GTAC engineers cut the machine footprint nearly in half to a roughly
PHOTO: BOS INNOVATIONS/BECKHOFF AUTOMATION
Sodecia shrunk the SBHA system’s footprint by roughly half, compared to the original design by another machine builder.
Sodecia’s SBHA#3 produces a critical seat belt assembly with a throughput rate of 5.1 seconds per part.
20-by-20-foot enclosure. “The two previous iterations produced a part every 5.4 seconds, but this one needed to reduce that to 5.1 seconds,” Drees explains. “We also wanted to boost uptime, OEE and other capabilities, while expanding functionality by leveraging some recent updates to our standard code.” As always, the project required a tight production schedule. It’s a competitive advantage that was born out of necessity, according to Brent Lekx-Toniolo, one of the founders of the original automation group who now works as an R&D contractor for Sodecia. “We designed the concept of building a framework around 2000 because customers ordered machines with very quick time-to-market requirements,” Lekx-Toniolo says. In 2007, GTAC discovered Beckhoff Automation, which offered the industrial control and networking technology to make the framework a reality. “After so much trial and error with other control platforms, Beckhoff truly was the solution we had been waiting for,” he adds. “Ever since then, we’ve been a Beckhoff house.”
controller. The TwinCAT engineering environment is fully integrated into Microsoft Visual Studio and supports programming in the object-oriented extensions of IEC 61131-3, predefined and custom function blocks and computer science languages. This allows the GTAC engineers to program in the languages they are most comfortable with or that best suits the application at hand. The TwinCAT runtime is on GTAC’s standard control hardware, a CP2215 Panel PC from Beckhoff. This device serves as both machine controller and user interface (UI). The 15-inch touchscreen features a rugged aluminum housing and five-finger multitouch functionality. This allows GTAC to design intuitive UI screens for operation, diagnostics and troubleshooting. “We have failed our customer if they have to get online with the PLC code for troubleshooting,” Lekx-Toniolo explains. “In our mind, we need to build a UI that is so robust that they can handle all troubleshooting from the UI and only need to go deeper if they want to make modifications or add on functionality.”
Automation solutions securely strapped in
Speed and safety
SBHA#3 relied on PC-based automation to meet the new challenges. This approach uses a flexible, universal engineering and runtime platform, TwinCAT 3 automation software, to control all machine processes from PLC and robotic kinematics to functional safety and IoT. A model of openness, other software can run alongside TwinCAT on the PC-based machine
The EtherCAT industrial Ethernet system also played an important role. EtherCAT provides real-time communication and free selection of network topology. The motion bus enabled fast cycle times for the Beckhoff AX5000 series servo drives, third-party VFDs and KUKA robots. “KUKA has adopted EtherCAT, so beyond simplified communication, we can even leverage safety over EtherCAT (FSoE) for safer systems,” Drees
says. This TUV-certified safety protocol eliminates the need to hardwire safety controllers to every e-stop, light curtain or other safety device. Using a “black channel” approach, FSoE sends safety data over the same Ethernet cables used for standard I/O. The AX5000 drives also feature a TwinSAFE card to enable FSoE right in the drive. The GTAC engineers see robust diagnostics as another major benefit of EtherCAT. These diagnostics, combined with the intuitive UI, allow the Sodecia machines to display a cable break, faulty connection or other rare fault graphically for quick correction. With interfaces to over 30 prominent fieldbuses and communication protocols, EtherCAT simplified integration of the two machine vision cameras, which connect via EtherNet/IP, with the simple addition of an EK9500 Bus Coupler. This, along with a variety of EtherCAT I/O terminals in DIN-rail-mountable IP20 or machine-mountable IP67 form factors, delivered the right solution for each unique requirement. “The broad Beckhoff I/O portfolio gives us the most modular, customizable system based on the requirements for our machine fixturing and components,” Drees adds.
Full speed ahead The GTAC engineers achieved great results with SBHA#3. Sodecia made key updates to its code base with TwinCAT automation software. SBHA#3 met the 5.1-seconds-per-part throughput rate, with the EtherCAT-enabled machine controller running at 125 µs scan rate. The project met a tight timeline – starting in September 2021, with commissioning in March 2022. Sodecia worked closely with the local team from Beckhoff Canada during the project. Going forward, the automation experts at GTAC hope to leverage more Beckhoff technologies. The team plans to standardize on TwinCAT HMI software, a flexible, responsive HTML5-based solution for modern UI. Building on this firm foundation in rapid machine design and delivery, Sodecia continues to innovate at full speed. | MA James Figy is a senior content specialist at Beckhoff Automation.
Technology Handbook Motion Control · MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION 17
PROCESS OPTIMIZATION
DEVELOPING MOTION CONTROL AND POSITIONING FOR VACUUM APPLICATIONS How motorized positioners meet requirements of vacuum applications through manufacturing and quality control processes
BY STEFAN VORNDRAN
A
Vacuum applications Vacuum applications are becoming increasingly important because of new technologies that can only be used in a vacuum. For example, lenses are coated in the optics industry and in fibre and laser optics as well, as sensitive detectors are manufactured in a vacuum. In the production of micro-electronic circuits, vacuum conditions ensure safe handling of sensitive components. Both the aerospace industry and the
Figure 1: Four-axis system for an ultra-high vacuum application.
automotive industry use electron beam processes to minimize angular distortion and transverse shrinkage during welding of micro-components or thick-shelled workpieces. The surface and material analysis, with the help of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) or X-ray tomography, must be done in a vacuum. Nanocharacterization and nanostructuring are also dependent on a vacuum environment due to the methods used, such as ion-beam focusing.
18 MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION · Technology Handbook Motion Control
Ultra-high vacuum and very clean conditions are required for EUV lithography that is intended to allow further reduction of feature sizes in the semiconductor industry, and also the development of qubits for advancing quantum computing would be unthinkable without vacuum technology. Both scientific research and industry require different vacuum classes for all of these and many other applications, and the appropriate equipment must be provided. There are clearly defined challenges
PHOTOS: PI
pplications in scientific research and industrial production often require motion and positioning in a vacuum. Several factors influence the quality of the vacuum environment. One of the main challenges is outgassing of the components used. Manufacturers address this by providing standardized vacuum-ready or customized products that meet the requirements of highvacuum (HV) and ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) applications. This article focuses on motorized positioners for vacuum applications and describes how those are designed, manufactured and tested regarding their specific requirements.
for operating positioning systems. One of them is typically limited installation space. It is also important to avoid contaminating the vacuum chamber with particles by abrasion or outgassing, as well as excessive heat input. Manufacturers of motion control and precision positioning equipment that are experienced in vacuum technology and applications can offer standard and customer-specific drive technologies that are precisely tailored to the requirements of the vacuum application (as shown in Figure 1, above). This includes motorized positioners with specially designed DC or stepper motors that allow large travel ranges. Furthermore, piezo actuators, piezo systems and piezo motors, as well as parallel kinematic hexapods, are also available in different designs with respect to force, dynamics and travel ranges.
Outgassing rate
Challenges in vacuum
Vacuum-compatible equipment
It is important to analyze the demands of a specific application in order to select the required vacuum class. Additionally, to the final pressure, the outgassing rate is relevant because it determines the partial pressure of specific residual components. For example, HCs (hydrocarbons) may be introduced into the vacuum chambers unintentionally due to the use of grease or plastic components not compatible for use in a vacuum. HCs are fragmented by strong UV light or Xrays, and therefore, they are especially critical in laser applications in the UV range and in beam-line applications. HC fragments deposited on optics surfaces pollute or can even damage the in-vacuum optics or the test sample.
Vacuum classes Vacuum is defined as pressure lower than normal atmospheric air pressure (DIN 28400), and is measured in either [hPa], [mbar] or [Torr]. Different levels of vacuum classes are defined: fine, high, ultra-high and extreme. While high and ultra-high are commonly applied, extremely high vacuum is rarely necessary. To determine the required vacuum class, it is necessary to know the application as well as possible (as shown in Table 1).
The outgassing rate is the next relevant specification because it represents the partial pressure of specific residual components. Outgassing is the detachment of volatile molecules that are absorbed or adsorbed on the surface, or in the volume of a material. Because the rate of outgassing defines the pressure in the system (together with the capacity of the vacuum pump), outgassing prohibits fast achievement of low-pressure values. In addition, the outgassing compounds deposit on surfaces of optical elements or other sensitive devices and can obscure or damage them. Overall, motorized positioners are required with low outgassing. Furthermore, the residual gas must contain very little or no HCs, and no metals with high vapour pressure such as zinc, lead or cadmium.
Because outgassing is a challenge for creating and maintaining clean highvacuum environments, the right choice of materials and treatments is compulsory in the design and production of vacuum systems. To achieve a high-vacuum- (HV) or an ultra-high-vacuum- (UHV) compatible motorized positioner, three main issues have to be considered: material selection, design, and the manufacturing and commissioning processes. Manufacturers offer specific vacuum-ready catalogue items for selected product series that are already compatible for HV or UHV, or can be modified on request for use in a vacuum.
Vacuum-ready motorized positioners Using Physik Instrumente (PI) as an example, there are three specific standard vacuum classes the company makes
Figure 2: Example of a vacuum-ready linear stage (L-509).
available: V6 for high-vacuum specifications, V7 for higher cleanliness/pressure demands, and V9 for ultra-high vacuum requirements. Table 2 exhibits the different measures taken to achieve the corresponding vacuum class. Materials in vacuum-ready products Common electrical and electronic equipment contains components that either do not suit vacuum applications or only limitedly. These comprise cables, motors, scaling systems, connectors, limit switches and others. Common cables are usually shielded with PVC insulation. Common motors are lubricated with grease or oil, with high vapour pressure containing HCs. And common electronic parts are embedded in plastics with high outgassing rates. Specific product features should be implemented on all these to avoid outgassing from these components that in total contribute to a clean vacuum environment. Replacing PVC cables with PTFE or polyimide-shielded braids is technically simple but expensive. Polyimide in particular, has the necessary cleanliness for use in a vacuum, but it absorbs considerable water molecules, which increases the pump-down period drastically. Therefore, only the number of braids necessary should be used for operating the positioning system. The braids should be as short as possible and ideally, the vacuum chamber is also designed for short cables. Motors modified for vacuum (as shown in Figure 3) have several holes for venting, and are equipped with polyimide-shielded motor coils that ideally have a temperature sensor installed in the motor. Temperature control is important for two reasons: Firstly, the motor should
Figure 3: Typical motors for UHV applications – outgassing holes, polyimide-shielded braids, and clean stainless steel surface.
Technology Handbook Motion Control · MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION 19
“MANUFACTURERS OF MOTION CONTROL EQUIPMENT CAN OFFER STANDARD AND CUSTOMER-SPECIFIC DRIVE TECHNOLOGIES.” vacuum-compatible materials, as described above, is a strict requirement of vacuum stage design. Another requirement is the reduction and minimization of the surface of the positioner. The surface of the uncoated body is not sand-blasted for vacuum stages. Covers for protection against contamination are usually not required for vacuum stages. Protective shields for limit switch electronics are not necessary in the case of mechanical limit switches. The third and very important requirement in vacuum stage design is the prevention of virtual leaks. A virtual leak is a trapped volume connected to the vacuum side of a chamber. The gas in this trapped volume cannot be pumped out easily due to only narrow paths connecting to the vacuum chamber. This results in slow outgassing and appears to be a leak in the vacuum system. Poor design is the major cause of virtual leaks, not only for positioning stages, but for vacuum chambers and vacuum equipment in general. Trapped volumes are usually caused by unvented or poorly vented blind tapped holes. These are either at the tip of a screw or under the rim of the screw head. Furthermore, holes that are covered, either when mounting the positioner on a base plate or fixing a sample on the positioner, often cause virtual leaks. In the case of virtual leaks caused by screws, the use of vented screws is recommended. Vented screws have a hole down
Figure 4: Example of small linear vacuum stage with UHV limit switches
The selection of materials for the chassis of the positioner is limited. For example, copper-zinc alloys should not be used in vacuum systems. Such materials are replaced by bronze, if possible. Other standard plastic parts are substituted by PEEK, ceramics or metal components for UHV products.
Design for vacuum Substitution of standard materials with
Figure 5: Example for design-for-vacuum – Drilled silver-plated screws for venting of trapped volumes in vacuum.
the length of the screw to avoid trapped volumes, as shown in Figure 5. In this way, the trapped volume can be vented. Furthermore, the head of the screw has a groove to ensure venting of the cavity under the screw head. If the hole is covered by the positioning unit, which then causes a virtual leak, it must have either a perforation or an air vent groove.
Vacuum-enabling manufacturing and commissioning processes Before a vacuum positioner is assembled, all pure metal parts undergo a cleaning process in an ultrasonic bath. Electrical and electronic units are wipe-cleaned. Standard lubricated components such as bearings and guides are degreased, cleaned and lubricated with special vacuum grease. Ultrasonic-cleaned components are dried in a climate chamber. Assembling of a stage is carried out in a cleanroom or in a laminar flow system. After assembling, the stage must pass a performance test in a clean environment. Vacuum tests are performed for each type of stage, and when vacuumcritical changes are made to the product. After assembling, the system is packed in vacuum-sealed bags, protected against dirt, air and humidity: First, the stage undergoes a baking process in a climate chamber. After packing and sealing in an inner vacuum bag, the stage is then put into a second, outer vacuum bag which is then vacuum sealed completely.
Accessories for vacuumready products Accessories used within the vacuum environment can also be provided in vacuum versions, such as suitable feedthroughs and cable adaptors. Further accessories such as flanges or connectors are available for vacuum-ready products. However, for electronic devices, such as controllers and amplifiers, it is recommended to use them outside the vacuum environment. | MA
Stefan Vorndran is VP tactical engineering at PI (Physik Instrumente) LP. He holds an MS in electrical engineering and brings with him over 25 years of experience with nanopositioning and piezo motion applications.
20 MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION · Technology Handbook Motion Control
PHOTOS: PI
be operated at a point below excessive heat generation, which means that slow driving is recommended. Secondly, a temperature-controlled bakeout process must be performed by applying current to the motor, at least for UHV systems. Therefore, all components for UHV stages must be able to sustain heat up to a certain temperature. For example, PI sets this temperature to 120°C for stages with a scaling system, and to 150°C for stages without. Due to the huge number of windings of the motor coils, the amount of polyimide is very high, and therefore, a large amount of adsorbed water must be baked out. Specially designed two-phase stepper motors are implemented in the UHV products as shown in the image above. Common connectors and limit switches cannot be used in vacuum beyond 10-6 hPa due to their highoutgassing plastic components. They are supplemented by components made of low-outgassing plastics (for HV) or ceramics, PEEK and metal (for UHV), as shown in Figure 4. The pins of the connectors and the contacts of the switches are not soldered, but clamped, crimped or laser welded.
Canada’s #1 Resource for Industrial Automation Leaders & Decision Makers
SUBSCRIBE NOW
automationmag.com