The ‘P’ in predictive maintenance represents progress, not pain First Quarter 2022, SMC Corporation South Africa, Pneumatic systems & components
There are three main types of maintenance: reactive, preventative and predictive. But how do you make sense of these terms? Human health can provide an analogy to machine health. Take diabetes, for ...
Digital prototyping grows sales 500% First Quarter 2022, Siemens South Africa, Other technologies “Solid Edge has enabled us to enter a new world of product design and manufacturing,” says Reid. “With its 3D design and sheet metal capabilities, we can now design equipment that is far more functional ...
From the editor's desk: Another dimension First Quarter 2022, Technews Publishing It is with great sadness that I am communicating the news of the passing of my colleague Steven Meyer, who was the editor of our sister publication, SA Instrumentation & Control. It was a privilege ...
Condition monitoring on offshore oil platforms First Quarter 2022, Beckhoff Automation, Electrical switching & drive systems & components
The steel structures of an offshore platform are exposed to extreme environmental conditions throughout their entire service lives. Difficult sea conditions ranging up to freak waves and aggressive ...
Insect-sized flying robots with flapping wings First Quarter 2022, Robotics & Mechatronics
A new drive system for flapping wing autonomous robots has been developed by a University of Bristol team, using a new method of electromechanical zipping that does away with the need for conventional ...
Handling the heat First Quarter 2022, Electrical switching & drive systems & components
For more than 20 years, Columbus Stainless has worked with Nidec Control Techniques to ensure operations run smoothly. Most recently, the Nidec team used their expert engineering capabilities to upgrade ...
More parts for less cost First Quarter 2022, Axiom Hydraulics
Dura-Bar’s continuous cast ductile iron bar is a cost-saving alternative to low-medium carbon steels. It has similar strengths but with superior machinability and without the defects associated with ...
The top three reasons cylinders fail Fourth Quarter 2021, Parker Hannifin - Sales Company South Africa Cylinder operation requires precise fluid pressure on both sides of the piston. If a seal breaks down and allows fluid to leak from one side of the piston to the other or out of the cylinder altogether, ...
Rugged, reliable electro-hydraulics Fourth Quarter 2022, Axiom Hydraulics From simple switching valves to sophisticated closed-loop control, Sun’s line of E-H products powers your most demanding applications.
What you should know about air preparation Fourth Quarter 2021, SMC Corporation South Africa Compressed air quality has three potential problem areas to consider: particles, water and oil. • Dust and other airborne particles: The compressed air leaving the compressor room, which has already ...
Superconductivity for aircraft Fourth Quarter 2021, Other technologies
In 1911, Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes found himself preoccupied with one question: what happens to the electrical conductivity of pure metals at very low temperatures? During an experiment, ...
Yaskawa steps into the future Fourth Quarter 2021, Yaskawa Southern Africa, Robotics & Mechatronics Crackett says that Yaskawa Southern Africa has installed more than 2500 Motoman robots. The company’s main target market is automotive, having cut its teeth here when Terry Rosenberg first started up ...
Cool move for rotor hubs Fourth Quarter 2021, Electrical switching & drive systems & components
At the company’s new Mechatronic Competence centre, machine houses and rotor hubs are produced for the entire Enercon range of products. After painting, the large volume cast bodies of the rotor ...
How to embrace the benefits of smart pneumatics Third Quarter 2021, Emerson Automation Solutions, Pneumatic systems & components Understand how this challenge creates opportunities
It is important to consider how insights from data can help end-users react to real-time events or even predict the future. For example, the Emerson ...
PC-based control runs the stage machinery for Rigoletto Third Quarter 2021, Beckhoff Automation, Electrical switching & drive systems & components In the production, the court jester Rigoletto becomes a clown. Only the head, encircled by a wide collar, and the hands of the gigantic clown protrude from the lake. Eventually the clown becomes the victim ...
Robotics and the potential for the lights-out factory Third Quarter 2021, Omron Electronics, Other technologies However the 100% automated, fully lights-out factory is not a realistic goal for a large proportion of manufacturing businesses currently operating. A key reason is that manufacturing needs people. Human ...
Energy from the power of the moon Third Quarter 2021, SKF South Africa, Shaft power components It is intended to help reduce climate-damaging CO2 emissions, slow down global warming and thus build a more sustainable future for generations to come.
With the help of modern technology from SKF, ...
Electric motors without magnets Third Quarter 2021, Electrical switching & drive systems & components Permanent magnets, though, come with their own baggage. 97% of the world’s rare earth metal supply comes out of China and state control over such a crucial resource across a number of high-tech industries ...
A very smart material Second Quarter 2021, Electrical switching & drive systems & components Shape memory materials (SMMs) are strong, lightweight materials that have the ability to recover their original shape after being deformed if a stimulus is applied. They can be programmed to remember ...
The benefits of collaborative robots Second Quarter 2021, SMC Corporation South Africa, SMC Corporation South Africa, Robotics & Mechatronics While robotics led the way for the rapid growth of automation, cobots are the democratisation of robotics technology. They eliminate the cost and complex programming that robots usually require while providing much greater flexibility.
