July/August 2019

At this year’s Hannover Fair, Genesis (see above) previewed a new family of low-friction, back-drivable actuators which, it says, respond much faster than traditional actuators. The Double Helix torque amplifier has a “unique” planet arrangement that produces efficient load sharing, with levels of strength and stiffness that cannot be achieved by any other any gearbox on the market, according to Genesis. The actuator is aimed, in particular, at robot applications, and will make them safer and more productive, the company predicts. The actuator can withstand repeated shock loads from emergency stops and, when paired with a Genesis LiveDrive motor, delivers high torque at low gear ratios, resulting in a higher throughput than traditional robot designs. The actuator’s back-drivability allows its torque to be controlled without needing a torque sensor, resulting simple, robust torque control with good safety and controllability. n TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY n July/August 2019 www.drivesncontrols.com 26 GENESIS ROBOTICS, the Canadian company behind the“revolutionary”LiveDrive high-torque, direct-drive motor technology, has signed a joint development agreement with the Swiss robotics pioneer, Demaurex, to integrate its motors into Demaurex’s next-generation delta robots. Genesis unveiled its gearless drive technology at the 2017 Hannover Fair with the claim that it would out-perform traditional gear-based actuators in many ways, while potentially being much cheaper and avoiding the need for lubrication. The compact drive, it added, would offer three times the torque-to- weight ratio of other direct-drive motors, as well as a 22-fold improvement in torque-to- inertia ratio over best-in-class actuators. It would also provide high precision, low noise levels and improved stopping capabilities. Now, Genesis has announced its first licencing agreement for the drives. Demaurex engineered and industrialised the original delta robot in 1988. In doing so, it introduced high-speed, vision-guided pick-and-place systems to the robotics market. “Demaurex’s delta robotic machines and systems have been the class leader for many years and, with the incorporation of LiveDrive direct-drive motors, we will continue to hold that position well into the future,” predicts the company’s general manager, Frank Souyris. “The LiveDrive technology offers new levels of simplicity and ease of use, eliminating the need for costly, bulky and unhygienic gearboxes, all in a much smaller envelope. This will reduce the total cost of ownership and promote ease-of-use for our customers.” LiveDrive’s inventor, James Klassen, believes that his motor’s power density could help to redefine the delta robot.“The platform is what the industry has been waiting for – a high- torque actuator that delivers three times higher torque density, high peak torque capacity, and the highest levels of precision,”he adds.“Taking advantage of three foundational discoveries – magnetic amplification, advanced structural magnetic architecture, and unparalleled heat dissipation – the LiveDrive direct-drive motor provides manufacturers with the ability to design simpler, faster and more precise robots and machines.” The motor-and-gearbox combinations used in robots are typically around 500mm long. The radial-flux LiveDrive is less than 60mm. According to Roy Fraser, vice-president of product at Genesis, “the motor can start and stop very fast – making it much more productive, efficient and reliable”. He adds that “removing the gearbox means removing the risk of contamination, breakdown and maintenance. Additionally, power consumption is lower.” Genesis says that its received interest in its technologies from other potential users. The financial details of its agreement with Demaurex have not been revealed. p The Italian gearbox-maker Bonfiglioli has collaboratedwith Schaeffler to develop a predictivemaintenance system for wind turbine yawdrives that will help to reduce costly unplanned downtime by up to 60%. Schaeffler’s Torque Sense and SmartCheck sensors are used to record torque, speed, vibration and temperature data from the drives, which is processed using algorithms developed by Bonfiglioli that tell the operator when maintenance is needed, before a failure occurs. For a 2.3MW turbine operating for 20 years, unscheduled repairs can cost up to €1.1m. www.bonfiglioli.com p Profibus and Profinet International (PI) has released a new Profinet specification (v2.4) which integrates TSN (Time Sensitive Networking) as an extra Layer 2 in the Profinet architecture. Because the TSNmechanisms act largely on the underlying communications layers, the user interface is unchanged. TSN promises attractions such as higher bandwidths, determinism and flexible network configuration. The three parts of the new specification are available for download, as is a guide explaining the fundamentals of TSN. www.profibus.com p Rockwell Automation has opened a 745m 2 electric vehicle innovation centre in California, which will provide live manufacturing demonstrations, hands-on trials using new technologies and other events. Using augmented and virtual reality modelling, the centre, located in San Jose, will offer automotive start-ups and established manufacturers an environment to learn new technologies and standards, enabling them to deliver EVs to market faster, with less risk and at lower costs. p The Californian industrial IoT specialist sensemetrics has launched its platform in Europe. It claims to be offering“the only market-proven, cloud-based, enterprise-level software platform that transforms industrial sensor data into real-time situational awareness”. The platform allows seamless transfer of sensor data via any gateway. Its first commercial deployment in Europe is with a Spanish structural sensing technology company, called 3S’Tech, which is using it in a hospital near Barcelona. www.sensemetrics.com p Toshiba ’s power electronics division claims to be offering the first heavy-duty off-the-shelf UPS (uninterruptible power supply) that meets the Nema 3R rating for outdoor use.The 5000 Series UPSs, available in ratings from15–30kVA, can operate in temperatures from–10 to +50°C without additional cooling or heating.Toshiba has secured a patent covering the design. www.toshibaups.com p AdvancedMicro Controls (AMCI) has announced a range of absolute rotary encoders with built-in Ethernet switches that provide network connections without needing separate switches. The IP67-protected NR60 series includes single-turn versions with resolutions up to 16-bit, and multi-turn versions with resolutions to 30-bit. The 60mm- diameter resolver-based encoders avoid the need for glass discs or sensitive LED components. www.amci.com Back-drivable actuator delivers ‘unrivalled’ speed and stiffness Swiss robot-maker signs up to use ‘revolutionary’ direct-drive technology A conventional motor-gearbox combination (left) compared to a LiveDrive actuator (right) with a similar rating