Machine Building

Figure 4 3D printing platform chosen for USAF research

3D Systems' Figure 4 Production system has been selected for the US Air Force-sponsored research focused on integrating high-speed 3D printing into the aircraft maintenance supply chain. Overseen by America Makes, the national additive manufacturing innovation institute, and led by the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI), this initiative project brings together 3D printing and aerospace manufacturing leaders, including 3D Systems, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and Northrop Grumman.

4th May 2018

Harting's MICA platform improves pharma productivity

This article shows how valuable manufacturing production line downtime in the pharmaceutical industry can be reduced by ensuring predictive maintenance of tablet making machinery using Harting's MICA industrial computing platform.

2nd May 2018

HBM provides flexible system to measure stress

When Terex Pegson MPS needed a reliable and flexible system to measure stress on its LJ5139 stone crushing machine, it turned to HBM to provide a comprehensive and effective system.

1st May 2018

Drama as helicopter sensor flies into theatre role

With theatres striving to create breath-taking spectacles and leave the audience gasping for more, there is often world-class engineering behind the scenes. A British company is developing technology to ensure safety when excited performers and heavy machinery share the same space.

30th April 2018

Automated sealant dispensing proves a winner for golfing product

Shot Scope Technologies, based in Edinburgh, designs and manufactures innovative wearable technology which helps both professional and amateur golfers to improve their game. A keen golfer with a background in electronics design, CEO David Hunter set up the company in 2014 to develop the golf wearable, which collects and analyses over 100 key statistics from each round played, identifying shots, club used and GPS information. The data can then be easily uploaded to any smartphone or tablet (via an app) or computer.

27th April 2018

Pick and place: putting packages in a tight corner

When Simmatic was approached by motion control specialist CR Solutions with a request to develop a vacuum pick-up head for a robot-based pick-and-place machine, the application sounded straightforward. The head, mounted on the end of the robot arm, simply had to pick up five small boxes at a time from an infeed conveyor and then, after the arm had moved to the appropriate location, deposit them within a shipping carton. As is so often the case, however, the devil was in the detail, and Simmatic had to overcome multiple challenges on the way to devising a successful solution.

27th April 2018

Special gearheads benefit medical and robotic projects

maxon motor has produced customised assemblies for every type of gearhead - planetary, spur, worm, spindle. In fact the company has a research and development team solely focussed on producing systems with special gearheads.

26th April 2018

Early warning of fire prevents huge losses for energy company

For companies involved in waste management, spontaneous fires are a fact of life and the critical issue is therefore to detect an outbreak as efficiently as possible and prevent it spreading. For one such company in Sweden, FLIR thermal imaging cameras have played an essential role in this effort since 2016.

26th April 2018

Digitisation helps to increase rotating equipment performance

SKF's cloud-based analytics will help BP maximise the use of condition monitoring data to improve plant reliability.

25th April 2018

Universal Robots boost profitability at machining company

A specialist in multi-axis machining is leveraging the benefits of Universal Robots supplied by RARUK Automation to load and unload its machine tools. A mix of seven UR5 and UR10 robots have helped Rousant Sherwood maximise the productivity of its workforce by automating repetitive tasks and allowed the company to bid for contracts which would have otherwise been unprofitable.

20th April 2018