Machine Building

Step-by-step guide to configuring a maxon ESCON speed controller

Amir Janjua, a Technical Engineer at maxon motor, explains how to configure an ESCON speed controller.

21st September 2018

What makes a corrosion-resistant bearing?

As the name suggests, corrosion-resistant bearings can be used in applications where corrodible materials wouldn't suffice - think food processing, chemical manufacturing, pharmaceutical production and bearings for marine applications. But, what materials suffice? Chris Johnson, managing director of miniature bearing supplier SMB Bearings, explains.

19th September 2018

Three tips for achieving machine safety in the workplace

According to accidents reported under RIDDOR in 2017, nine per cent of fatal injuries were found to be caused by contact with moving machinery. In the self-reported list of non-fatal injuries, moving machinery was found to have caused seven per cent of accidents. Improving facility safety is critical to safeguard staff, but did you know safety can impact productivity and machine effectiveness too? Here, Jonathan Wilkins, marketing director at EU Automation, shares his three tips for machine safety.

13th September 2018

Defining 'Autonomous Machine Vision' - the future of inspection

Harel Boren, CEO of Autonomous Machine Vision specialist Inspekto, explains how Autonomous Machine Vision promises to be the future of quality assurance (QA), and the benefits for end users.

13th September 2018

IIoT, Industry 4.0 and managing cybersecurity threats

Tom Canning, VP of IoT Devices at Canonical, the company behind open-source software platform Ubuntu, discusses cybersecurity, the Industrial Internet of Things and Industry 4.0.

13th September 2018

Robots for clean rooms

Humans shed and re-grow outer skin cells every 27 days, equating to around 1000 new skins in an average human's lifetime. Even in a clean room environment, a worker will shed 600,000 particles of skin per hour. With this flakiness in mind, Nigel Smith, managing director of Toshiba Machine partner, TM Robotics, explains how clean room robots can eradicate the risk of human contamination.

4th September 2018

Optimise bearings to avoid production downtime

Bearings are highly stressed drive components which, over a period of time, become susceptible to wear. With this in mind, it is particularly important to include bearings when developing a maintenance plan, as this strategy will help extend the operating life of machinery or equipment.

4th September 2018

The trade-off between fastener performance and wear resistance

One of the most common problems that occur when tightening fasteners is "˜galling'. While galled fasteners will certainly not be loose, the related joint won't be properly tensioned and can fail from fatigue when put under service loads. As a result, the equipment may be affected, with mating components being seized, stripped, twisted off or sheared. Chris Herling, Applications Engineer at Optimas, looks at thread galling and how to reduce its occurrence.

3rd September 2018

Bin-picking using robots and 3D vision

For processors, one of the most promising industrial internet of things (IIoT) tools is the vision system. Combining a 3D camera with vision software and a robot arm enables facilities to automate bin picking with ease. We discussed this emerging technology with Nigel Smith, managing director of Toshiba Machine partner, TM Robotics.

29th August 2018

How to increase sustainability when specifying plastics

The war on plastic waste is arguably one of the biggest environmental battles of the 21st century. Here, Dr Simona Maccarrone, materials scientist at online materials database Matmatch, explains what new options suppliers are adopting to increase sustainability in the plastics market.

28th August 2018