In celebration of its 100th anniversary, the BMW Group commissioned the development of the Iconic Impulses exhibition, which looks ahead to the future: ‘What will mobility look like in the next 100 years? What will move people?’ The technical implementation of the international exhibition was undertaken by MKTAG from Olching near Munich. MKTAG relied on drives from Faulhaber.
The approach taken by MTKAG was to explain the complexity of the modern world in a simple manner and yet still create a unique experience for the visitor. “Our strength is our ability to summarise technically complex and complicated facts concisely and literally make them tangible,” explains chairman Alex Haschkamp. For its customers, MKTAG realises unique exhibits, multimedia presentations, interactive installations and descriptive models, whereby the viewer is invited to interact.
For the anniversary of the BMW Group, the task was to think ahead about mobility in the future. Exhibits for the four core brands – BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorcycle – were designed to transport the visionary ideas developers have for mobility in the future. Embedded in a concentric room concept, a kinetic-digital exhibit was created for each of the brands that activated the imagination of the viewer. Here, narration, sound, sculpture and viewer merged into a vision for mobility of the future. For the MINI, for example, a digital light sculpture was developed that aligned its individual interplay of colour with the heartbeat of the visitor, thereby reflecting its uniqueness.
In the brand space of BMW, a kinetic sculpture explains to the user the future of mobility. Hundreds of extremely thin carbon scales, arranged in a spherical shape, fascinate as a shape-shifter. They move elegantly and fluidly and represent the agility that will embody the vehicles of the future, according to the vision of the BMW developers. Already today, the BMW brand stands for pure driving pleasure. The fascination of driving will continue to intensify in the future, of that the BMW developers are certain. New technologies will allow the driver to constantly and intuitively exchange information with his vehicle. This will expand the driver’s spectrum of perception and make him an Ultimate Driver – the best driver there ever was.
MKTAG implemented the kinetic sculpture twice: one exhibit had 92 Faulhaber LM2070 Quickshaft linear motors and the other had 42. “The complex control system had to be silent and agile,” explained MKTAG’s Axel Haschkamp. “We imagined beautiful, dynamic movements. For this reason, we decided on drives from Faulhaber: they do this effortlessly and reliably.” The control system was realised with CANopen Motion Controllers from Faulhaber.
“In collaboration with the motion control experts from the Faulhaber company, the cycle times of the complete system could be optimised and fascinating, flowing movements achieved,” said Andreas Eiler, who was responsible for this project at Faulhaber. For the shape-shifter with 42 motors, the strokes had a radius of 300 to 400 millimetres; for the model with 92 motors, the radius ranged from 350 to 430 millimetres.
The Iconic impulses exhibition has thrilled visitors in Munich, Beijing, London and Los Angeles. It can still be viewed in the Double Cone of BMW Welt in Munich.
Innovative drive system for smart logistics Horne Technologies
Electrical switching & drive systems & components
With its new DualGear, Faulhaber presents a high-performance drive system with high dynamics, robustness and precision in a compact, diameter-compliant design.
Read more...The shopping cart that knows the way Horne Technologies
Electrical switching & drive systems & components
How can visually impaired and blind people shop independently in a supermarket? VIRAS supplies the answer: an autonomous shopping cart developed at the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences.
Read more...Solving common automation challenges with Festo’s servo drive and servo motor solutions Festo
Editor's Choice Electrical switching & drive systems & components
Automation projects face challenges that include limited installation space, the need for precise and repeatable linear motion, rising cycle-speed demands, and seamless integration with existing control architectures. Festo’s servo portfolio directly addresses these issues with compact, modular drive and motor solutions designed for specific applications.
Read more...Inside the Giant Magellan Telescope with mechanical engineering at astronomical scale
Editor's Choice Electrical switching & drive systems & components
Construction of the Giant Magellan Telescope, set to become the world’s largest Gregorian optical infrared telescope, is well underway. While its scientific mission is to transform astronomy, its performance depends heavily on advanced mechanical, hydraulic and pneumatic engineering.
Read more...Jendamark catalyst shrinking technology leverages SEW-EURODRIVE precision SEW-EURODRIVE
Editor's Choice Electrical switching & drive systems & components
Innovative technology for shrinking catalytic converters, designed and built in South Africa by Jendamark Automation for the global market, relies on the precision of SEW-EURODRIVE’s highly dynamic servo-geared units and software.
Read more...Motion control for flight simulators Beckhoff Automation
Editor's Choice Electrical switching & drive systems & components
Turkish specialist, SANLAB is a leader in motion platforms and simulation technologies. At the heart of these platforms are application-specific servo drives, servomotors and industrial PCs for real-time control, which are supplied by Beckhoff.
Read more...A bird’s-eye view of the world Horne Technologies
Electrical switching & drive systems & components
Young Italian company, FloFleet aims to become a pioneer of a new generation of ‘service aircraft’, an innovative type of aircraft in which Faulhaber drive systems ensure the precise alignment of the propellers.
Read more...PC-based control for additive machine tools Beckhoff Automation
Editor's Choice Electrical switching & drive systems & components
IRPD is a specialist in additive machine tools. Development is heavily focused on high system throughput and consistently high process quality. This goal was achieved with the help of PC- and EtherCAT-based control and drive technology from Beckhoff.
Read more...A guide to common hydraulic system contaminants CT Hydraulics (Nqoba)
Editor's Choice Hydraulic systems & components
Every engineer, machine designer and maintenance professional understands that the heart of any reliable hydraulic system is its fluid. But the moment that fluid is compromised, your system’s life expectancy and your peace of mind drop dramatically.
Read more...Compressed air piping design Artic Driers International
Editor's Choice Pneumatic systems & components
When designing a compressed air pipeline, remember that size matters. The internal size of the pipe, along with the pressure and air volume, determine the velocity of the compressed air in the pipeline.
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.