Design News for Mechanical and Design Engineers

The company's new ACSM1 drive had its North American preview. This drive, which debuted in Europe at last year's Hannover Fair, extends the capabilities of the company's machinery drives by adding encoder inputs and position control to the speed and torque control found on previous drives in this class. “It's intended for all those applications that need some position control but don't need a full-blown servo amplifier,” says Cliff Cole, ABB's director for low-voltage drives.

Robotics (http://rbi.ims.ca/5391-569) were another hot topic at the conference. Kirk Goins, senior vice president of the robotics division, noted North America has one of the lowest “robot densities” among industrialized nations. And he pointed out two emerging technologies that promise to drive more growth. One is robotic vision, or using machine vision to help position robots in their positon in 3D space. The other is Advanced Force Control, an ABB technology that gives robots the ability to sense and adjust the forces they exert. Robotic vision, for example, lets very precise robots tolerate parts that are inconsistently located or have size variations — and do so without expensive fixtures. Force control got its start as a way to install various geared automotive components — the robot needs to feel when gears mesh. Lately, the biggest use for the technology has been in machining and finishing operations.

Finally, the show was a good place to get a look at ABB's growing portfolio of wireless technologies. The company showed new adaptors compatible with the HART-protocol for field instrument communications, as well as a prototype line of wireless vibration sensors for rotary equipment. The company also showed off its WISA technology (http://rbi.ims.ca/5391-570), which not only provides real-time communications wirelessly, but also offers a wireless power supply via a 120 kHz magnetic field. Mark Woudenberg, business developement manager for wireless I/O, says the technology has been around since 2003 as a commercial product, but it hadn't until recently been found in applications in the U.S. For the past five months, though, WISA-enabled sensors have seen use for die verification in a Ford Motor Co. plant, Woudenberg says. Other promising applications include industrial robots, which can be difficult to cable.