A newspaper printing plant had several printing presses that used low pressure air to help direct and manipulate the web of paper being printed. After years of operation, the small vane blowers that generated the low pressure air wore out. To save money on maintenance, rather than repairing the vane pumps, the maintenance personnel simply […]
Compressed air fail: Smart controller confusion drains profits
A health supplements manufacturer had just improved its compressed air system by adding a variable speed drive compressor to its system of fixed speed load/unload units. The VSD was sized so that it would carry the plant loading in all but the highest peak load conditions. If its capacity was exceeded, a fixed speed compressor […]
The 8 crazy animal robots you have to see to believe
Whether they use pneumatics, hydraulics, or some other type of motion control, robots are increasingly being modeled after the greatest designer of allβMother Nature. Here’s a look at some of the most amazing designs you’ll see engineers working on today. 1. German robotic ape The focus of this project, from the German Research Center for […]
The Bernoulli Effect: Gripping gently with overpressure
Swiss mathematician and physicist Daniel Bernoulli discovered 250 years ago that a partial vacuum is created when a medium such as air flows past an object quickly. The object is not blown away, as expected, but rather sucked in. Airplanes make use of this elementary effect in fluid dynamics resulting from flowing gases and liquidsβit […]
Looking ahead to Aventicsβ next moves
I recently had the chance to chat with Kjell Lyngstad, the Director-North American Sales, Marketing & Engineering for Aventics, the former Bosch Rexroth ΊΪΑΟ³ΤΉΟs. Aventics has its U.S. headquarters in Lexington, Ky.; Lyngstad has been with the company in Sweden since 1997, and he relocated to the U.S. in 2001. Q: How do you think […]
Compressed air fail: The cost of dryers
A number of years ago, a metal fabrication plant started up an operation in an outbuilding to add to the production capacity of a larger plant. The new plant had several new processes that had never been tried out before, so the air loading was unknown. The plant had a couple of used air compressors […]
CCEFP update: ΊΪΑΟ³ΤΉΟs that’s made for walking
The lowest power test bed of the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP) is directed towards developing technologies for human assist devices. The platform for this test bed has been developing portable fluid powered orthoses. There is a need in physical medicine and rehabilitation to create orthotic devices that better meet the needs […]
IFPS plans βFluid power professionals dayβ for June
The International Fluid Power Society (IFPS) has dedicated June 19 as βFluid Power Professionalsβ Dayββa day of recognition for everyone who works in the fluid power field. Fluid power has been described as a βhidden giant,β because it is so common in our day-to-day existence that we have simply overlooked the obvious. There is not […]
Fort Wayne Manufacturing Company to Expand Huntington Facility
PHD, Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of industrial automation components, announced plans to expand operations in their Huntington, Ind. facility, creating up to 22 new jobs by 2017. Headquartered in Fort Wayne, Ind., PHD is investing $4.18 million to equip its 76,000 square-foot production facility in Huntington. Multi-axis CNC equipment will be installed in the […]
Gripper learns β¦ through trial and error
You might say that the LearningGripper from Festo behaves just like a baby. But thatβs a good thing. Newborn children graduallyβand by trial and errorβlearn how to hold, move, and turn an object, such as a parentβs finger or a toy, with their hands. They want to look at it from all sides and form […]
