The world's biggest packaging show, Pack Expo, convened in Chicago Oct. 28-31 and provided a glimpse at the future of automated machinery and robotics.
Drawing 45,300 attendees and more than 1,900 exhibitors, the show offered demonstrations of robotic systems and controllers, electric motors and drives, human-machine interfaces, and actuators of virtually every kind.
Click on the image below to see highlights from the show floor.
Pack Expo attendees were treated to frozen yogurt at Yaskawa's Motoman Robotics booth, where a dual-arm robot mixed the soft serve treat with toppings.
The robotic kiosk employed a Motoman SDA Series Robot, which featured a human-like head to make it more kid-friendly.
Packaging engineers must be a quiet bunch, bobjengr. In popular culture, there's nary a mention of packaging engineers. You wouldn't know they exist if there were no trade journals. Yet, here we have 43,000 engineers showing up for Pack Expo.
Chuck--This looks like a terrific show. 43,000 + has to exceed their expectations. In just about every place I have worked over the years, packaging has been somewhat of an afterthought. At GE Appliances (Roper Corporation) we did have a packaging engineer but that was only one of his responsibilities. In the appliance industry a good number of the DOA problems have been due to transportation issues and not relegated to product design. Great post and thank you for showing it.
I should have been clearer in stating my question: I know there are tradeoffs in general, but wondered what they were with this specific battery. OTOH, glad you replied in detail because now I know more, especially about top speeds and how to get there. Thanks!
I don't know what the range of the motorcycle is either, Ann. As to your question about the tradeoff...yes, there is absolutely a tradeoff between power and energy. In some cases, one is realized at the expense of the other. By boosting a battery's current collector and reducing the amount of active material, EV designers can provide the amps needed for high torque and fast launch. But when they do that, they diminish the battery's energy density and, therefore, its ability to drive longer distances. Having said that, I don't think that's the case here. Electric motorcycles have gone much faster than the BOLT. An electric motorcycle called the KillaCycle hit a speed of 168 mph four years ago, and I'm quite sure the figure is much higher now. I have little doubt that en electric motorcycle could hit speeds in excess of 200 mph (if one hasn't already) by making the battery changes I described above. I don't know about this specific battery, however, having only seen it at the Kollmorgen booth at Pack Expo.
Chuck, my question was regarding whether there's a tradeoff between acceleration/top speed--needed in a racing bike like this one-- and the range. I spent some time Googling to find out what the range is, without success. Do you know?
You're right, Ann. The energy density is more a measure of a vehicle's range. The power density is more about its ability to accelerate. For proof, check out our earlier article about EV drag racing.
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