Drives & Controls July / August 2022

Intelligent Automation Ltd. has expanded its product offering to include a new generation of two-phase stepper motors. The NEMA 23 stepper motors of the SANMOTION series offer significant improvement over previous generations of motors, achieving higher torque performance, therefore improving machine speed by shortening the positioning time and machine cycle time. The motors are manufactured using the latest state-of-the art manufacturing techniques. The motor efficiency has been improved, contributing to reducing power consumption of machines and the motor’s heat dissipation. The new models are low noise, reducing the overall noise level of machines. Typical applications include medical devices, industrial equipment, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, conveying machines, and index table driving. The motors are offered with a range of options such as bipolar or unipolar winding, with connectors, shaft flats or keyways. Further options such as gearbox, encoder, brakes are available for customizations. “With the launch of the new series, we are pleased to be able to offer to our customers an even more comprehensive line of brushless DC electric motors,” says Ajay Karavadra, Managing Director of Intelligent Automation. “The new NEMA 23 stepper motors were developed with high torque, low noise, and energy saving in mind – and all this at a competitive price.” Intelligent Automation is a UK-based distributor and stockist for motion control and industrial automation products. The product range includes HMIs, motion controllers, brushless and brushed servo systems, brushless DC motor systems, 2/3/5-phase stepping systems, AC induction systems, and spur and planetary gearboxes. The company has been serving customers in the UK, Ireland and continental Europe across diverse industries since 2007. n COMPANY PROFILE Intelligent Automation expands product line: Next generation of NEMA stepper motors with improved performance Intelligent Automation Ltd. t: +44 (0)20 8432 2749 f: +44 (0)20 8432 3051 e: sales@intelligent-automate.com w: www.intelligent-automate.co.uk ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATED MANUFACTURING n minimal upfront cost. With digital twins, all of the testing, simulation and emulation can be conducted in a virtual environment before a physical brick is laid. The manufacturing process can be refined before you have even started to manufacture, so building and commissioning times are reduced significantly, resulting in a faster time-to-market. In legacy sites, there are often old unconnected machines – the so-called islands of automation. There may also be operations that require intensive operator input to largely manual processes. These two distinct aspects require different approaches to modernisation. For legacy machines, the questions are how critical and supportable they are. Understanding these priorities, we can assess and build roadmaps to ensure that we futureproof an organisation. We can also use integration tools to extract data from legacy equipment to gain insights into their real-time performance. This allows people to make real- time decisions that are affected by those assets. Because all of this is built on a digital backbone, we can gather data from real data sources as we build real machines and production lines. This both validates the model and allows us to adjust for real-world operations. Once you start seeing real-world interactions, you can feed that back into the digital model. What you are getting is corrective action in the virtual environment which then feeds out into new ways of operating, and a deeper understanding of the data. The way that information is used and presented will vary across an enterprise, but being able to have that digital thread, and structuring the data properly, means that the data is then available to everyone across the organisation in the right context. When that data is combined with other data sources, we can then make much better decisions across an enterprise. n Digital environments can help to teach employees new skills faster than before