New Danfoss VLT® Decentral Drive E cient, reliable and powerful

DRIVES & CONTROLS www.drives.co.uk NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010
Drives&Controls
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010
THE LEADING MAGAZINE FOR AUTOMATION, POWER TRANSMISSION AND MOTION CONTROL
New Danfoss VLT® Decentral Drive
Efficient, reliable and powerful
Find out about the new dedicated Danfoss VLT® conveyor solution on the following pages!
TCO
Total Cost of Ownership
Every aspect of the FCD 302
contributes to the lowest TCO.
Its unique design is intended to
simplify ordering, installation,
commissioning, operation and
maintenance.
BEARINGS, BELTS AND CHAIN:
A look at the vital role played by mechanical technologies
PLCs and HMIs:
Trends and applications from the world of controls
LINEAR MOTION:
Linear technologies at work from museums to industry
One
box concept
Everything needed to
control the motor is
contained in the IP 66
drive enclosure
www.drives.co.uk

VLT® Decentral Drive FCD 302
Putting the control closer
to your motors
– all you need is in one box
It’s really that simple – everything needed to control the motor is contained within the IP 66 drive
enclosure. Just loop the mains cable into the box, out to the next box, connect a cable to the motor and
you’re ready to run. Add a high speed fieldbus cable and your drives are an integral part of the whole
drives control network. No need for an external 24 V DC power supply, no need for an external controller
or motor switch – it’s all in the FCD 302.
EHEDG
Approval
Compliance with the requirements for best
cleaning and hygienic design according to
EHEDG (European Hygienic Engineering &
Design Group)
www.danfoss.co.uk/vlt

VLT® Decentral Drive FCD 302 I VLT® OneGearDrive I VLT® AutomationDrive FC 302
Energy efficient, flexible, reliable
– the new Danfoss conveyor solution
offering total flexibility in your plant design
The demand for higher energy efficiency, different motor technologies and both centralised and decentralised
plant designs has increased the number of solutions in use today for electrical drive components such as
motors and frequency converters in many production plants. This leads to large stocks of spare parts, high
training costs, dependence on a single manufacturer and a lack of flexibility. Danfoss expects the new flexible
VLT® solution for conveyors to make sweeping changes in this area and significantly reduce effort and costs.
The new Danfoss conveyor solution –
consisting of the new VLT® Decentral
Drive FCD 302, VLT® OneGearDrive
and VLT® AutomationDrive FC 302
gives plant engineers and operators
a very high degree of flexibility in
the choice of components and plant
structures. Regardless of whether the
plant design is centralised or decentralised
and whether the drives are
used in dry, wet or aseptic areas, the
flexible VLT® concept provides highly
efficient components for every
conveying task. The concept aims to
optimise costs in tailored drive systems
as result of high flexibility, high
efficiency, reduced version count and
an intelligent control concept.
High flexibility
Thanks to the open system architecture
of the flexible VLT® concept,
plant operators can easily and reliably
combine components with existing
solutions from other manufacturers,
for example when expanding
or refitting the plant, to achieve the
required optimum configuration.
Furthermore, the new VLT® concept
is currently the only solution on the
market offering EHEDG-certified
components specifically designed
for installation directly in plant areas
where hygiene is critical. All components
are coordinated with each
other to ensure rapid commissioning
and optimum efficiency of the
overall solution.
High efficiency
Without exception, the Danfoss
components used in this solution,
whether for new plants or for retrofitting
or modernising existing plants,
are highly efficient and comply with
the actual requirements of users and
the latest EU regulations on motors
and motor efficiency.
Simpler configuration
The range of components reduces
the overall number of variants in the
plant by up to 70%. In many cases we
are able to provide end-to-end solutions
for conveyor applications with
just a few variants, so spare parts
stocks can be considerably smaller
than is currently the case.
Flexible and energy-efficient
– VLT® frequency converters
The new VLT® Decentral Drive FCD
302 offers the same functionality in
a decentralised converter as in the
Up to70%
reduction
in overall number of variants in the plant
by applying the components of the new
VLT® conveyor solution

VLT® AutomationDrive FC 302, which
is designed for centralised plant
configurations. Both have the same
user interface concept in the form of
a graphic message display, which can
be connected to the FCD 302 on-thefly
at any time.
Both devices can drive standard
motors with or without encoder
feedback, as well as the compact,
energy-efficient PM motors in our
VLT® OneGearDrive series.
VLT® OneGearDrive
The efficiency of these motors
exceeds even the premium IE3 class
defined in the new EU regulation.
With only two motor types and
three available gear ratios, the motor
concept covers all typical versions
for effective conveyor drives commonly
used in e.g. the food and
beverage industry. The system as a
whole, comprising motor, gear unit
and frequency converter, achieves
an efficiency up to 90%, yielding
savings of up to 25% compared with
conventional systems.
Contact one of our competence centres
and find out how you can save
efforts and reduce inventory costs in
your production plant.
Danfoss VLT Drives PartnerNET
One place – one solution
Danfoss VLT Drives Competence Centres
are fully equipped to satisfy the
total needs of our valued Drives customers;
providing assistance in sales,
installation, commissioning, technical
support and service 24/7/365.
For further information please
contact Danfoss VLT Drives on
01895 617 100 or your Regional
Competence Centre directly.
Regional
Competence Centres
Scotland
Tel: 01324 633 203
WJ Electrical Supplies Limited
Ireland
Tel: 0870 178 0056
Greenville Industrial Drives &
Controls
Northern England
Tel: 01457 837 145
P-n-P Drives & Controls Ltd
Southern England
Tel: 01923 655955
K2 Drives and Controls Limited

DRIVES & CONTROLS
Editor
Tony Sacks, BA, BSc
t/f: 01732 465367
tony@drives.co.uk
Production Manager
Sarah Blake
t: 01233 770781
sarah@dfamedia.co.uk
Customer Liaison
Katherine Cairns
t: 01732 370340
katherine@dfamedia.co.uk
Financial
Clare Jackson
tel: 01732 370340
clare@dfamedia.co.uk
ADVERTISING
Sales Director
Doug Devlin
t: 01922 644766
f: 01922 633730
m: 07803 624471
doug@drives.co.uk
Display Sales Manager
London & South, & Recruitment
Simon Langston
t/f: 01353 863383
m: 079000 95826
simon@dfamedia.co.uk
Germany Victoria Hufmann
Meck Str. 3-5, D-90762 Furth, Germany
t: +49 (0) 911 939 764 42
f: +49 (0) 911 939 764 59
victoria@hufmann.info
Eastern US
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karenkcs@aol.com
t: +1 717 397 7100
f: +1 717 397 7800
Western US and Canada
Alan A Kernc
alankcs@aol.com
t: +1 717 397 7100
f: +1 717 397 7800
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Ian Atkinson
t: 01732 370340
ian@dfamedia.co.uk
Reader/Circulation Enquiries
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ISSN 0950 5490
Copyright DFA Media Ltd 2010
UPDATE
3 NEWS
A round-up of the latest business and industry developments from
around the world.
12 TECHNOLOGY
Cutting-edge innovations in motion, power transmission, controls and
related technologies.
IN DEPTH
21 Cyber-security
The recent widespread publicity given to the Stuxnet virus has brought home
the real threat to industrial control systems posed by viruses and hackers. An
expert examines the risks and how to minimise them.
23 Linear Motion
How a variety of linear motion technologies are being used in applications
ranging from immersive 4D entertainment rides at museums, to tobacco
processing machinery and controlling the flow of a Scottish river.
29 Bearings, Belts and Chains
Advice on how to tackle
bearing currents and how
to prolong the life of your
chains, as well as
examples of applications
ranging from wind tunnels
to solar power plants.
39 PLCs and HMIs
We examine some of the trends that are driving the development of control
and display systems, and look at some examples of how these technologies
are being applied in the real world.
REGULARS
11 Comment
46 Gambica column
47 ABB Energy Saving Award
48 Dave’s Drives Diary
Design Data
49 Software
50 Multimedia
51 Products
60 Products & Services
64 Appointments
IN THIS ISSUE November/December 2010 Vol 26 No 10
Drives&Controls
New Danfoss VLT® Decentral Drive
Efficient, reliable and powerful
Find out abou the new dedicated Danfoss VLT® conveyor solution on the fo lowing pages!
TCO
Total Cost of Ownership
Every aspect of the FCD 302
contributes to the lowest TCO.
Its unique design is intended to
simplify ordering, insta lation,
commissioning, operation and
maintenance.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010
BEARINGS, BELTS AND CHAIN:
A look a the vital role played by mechanical technologies
PLCs and HMIs:
Trends and applications from the world of controls
LINEAR MOTION:
Linear technologies at work from museums to industry
One
NEXT ISSUE
The January issue of Drives & Controls will contain detailed reports from
the SPS/IPC/Drives show, as well as our annual variable speed drives
supplement, and reports from the world of gears and gearboxes.
box concept
Everything needed to
control the motor is
contained in the IP 66
drive enclosure
23
37
THE LEADING MAGAZINE FOR AUTOMATION, POWER TRANSMISSION AND MOTION CONTROL
www.drives.co.uk
www.drives.co.uk
24
30
43
51
52
56
58
58
CONTENTS

SKiiPRACKTM
Versatile high power inverter platform
150 kVA – 3 MVA
High power den sity > 12 kVA/litre
With SKiiP ® 1200V&1700Vwater-cooled
Configurable individual phase assemblies
AC connections at front or rear
United Kingdom, Hertford +44 1992 584677 info.skuk@semikron.com www.semikron.co.uk

UK industry ‘is not managing
its electric motors effectively’
NEWS
ABB IS WARNING that much of British industry is not
managing its electric motors correctly and is
rewinding too many old motors, rather than
replacing them with more efficient new models. This
is costing it millions of pounds in terms of
unnecessary downtime, repairs and energy usage.
ABB says that the problem is highlighted by the fact
that the motor repairs industry in the UK is now
worth more than twice as much as the £70m market
for new low-voltage industrial motors.
While acknowledging that mechanical repairs, such
as bearings and shafts, will always be needed, ABB
argues that too many motors are being rewound
automatically.
Steve Ruddell, manager of ABB’s UK motors
business, believes that the reason for so many
rewinds and premature failures is a lack of awareness
among end-users of the need to create motor
management plans. “It appears much easier when a
motor fails to have someone collect it, rewind it and
reinstall it,” he says. “But what if this is a critical,
continuous-process application? Taking it offline
could cost hundreds of pounds per hour.
“Some industries are better than others,” he adds.
“The pulp and paper sector, for example, tends to
have a policy that if any motor is running for more
than 4,000 hours per year, it will be replaced
automatically by a high-efficiency motor at the point
of electrical failure. Any motor below 75kW,
irrespective of running hours, is automatically
replaced at point of electrical failure.
“No one should be making inferior motors today,”
Ruddell continues. “The technology and materials
used by today’s motors gives them an expected
lifespan in excess of 20 years. They should be durable
and highly reliable. Yet many repairers have motors
Rudell: a few small steps can
lead to significant leaps
less than five years old on their
benches for rewind, alongside older
motors having had multiple rewinds.
“It is analogous to the car industry,”
he suggests. “Today you rarely see a
rusty car and very rarely see cars
breaking down. Technology has
improved the reliability and lifespan of
cars, and the same is true for lowvoltage
motors.”
To encourage better motor
management practices, ABB has
launched a scheme called
MotorAdvantage, designed to reveal
the true cost to a company of running
its electric motors. The scheme
includes a site visit by a motor
engineer who assesses the installed
motor base and identifies up to five
motor-driven applications with the
potential for further analysis.
The scheme also assesses the user’s
motor failure policy and its financial
implications, identifies potential
improvements to this policy and
stockholding, and determines the
energy use of the current installation.
According to Ruddell, a motor
management plan can pay for itself
within weeks, if not days, by
preventing unplanned outages.
“MotorAdvantage aims to elevate
motors from being a hidden asset,
with an out-of-sight, out-of-mind
maintenance approach, to an asset
that can earn you real financial
rewards immediately,” he says. “Our
job is to re-educate the market into
the enormous savings that they could
be making from this asset.
“We want to show industry that a
few small steps can lead to significant
leaps in a plant or process
profitability,” Ruddell continues.
“Normally motor management plans
are overly ambitious, trying to assess
every single motor on a plant.
“If it is more cost-effective to rewind
a motor, we will advise of that action,”
Ruddell emphasises. “Our role is no
longer just about making motors – we
need to help companies manage the
ones they have in place more
effectively.”
www.abb.co.uk/energy
Stuxnet virus targets Vacon inverters
THE LATEST REVELATIONS about the
Stuxnet virus suggest that it contains
code that can alter the operation of
frequency inverters from the Finnish
drives-maker Vacon and from an Iranian
supplier called Fararo Paya, thus varying
the speeds of motors they are controlling.
Eric Chien from the anti-virus specialist
Symantec says that although his
company had previously discovered that
Stuxnet modifies PLC code in a potential
act of sabotage, it had not been able to
determine its exact purpose or target.
However, its latest findings indicate
that Stuxnet targets industrial control
systems containing drives from at least
one of the two vendors, as well as the
previously identified Siemens S7-300
CPUs and CP-342-5 Profibus modules.
The virus requires the drives to be
operating at the relatively high frequency
of 807–1,210Hz. When Stuxnet finds the
specified inverters operating at these
speeds, it changes their output
frequencies and thus the speed of the
motors they control for short intervals
spread over periods of months, thus
disrupting the processes being controlled.
Chien points out that drives with
outputs above 600Hz are regulated for
export by the US Nuclear Regulatory
Commission because they can be used
for uranium enrichment. Earlier reports
have suggested that Stuxnet might be
targeting centrifuges used by Iran as part
of its nuclear programme.
If the drives continue to run at high
speeds for a period of time (about 13
days), Stuxnet hijacks the PLC code and
begins modifying the drives’ behaviour.
Over a period of months, it changes their
output frequencies to 1,410Hz for short
periods, and then to 2Hz and 1,064Hz.
This “essentially sabotages the
automation system from operating
properly,” says Chien. Other parameters
may also change, causing unexpected
effects.
Details of Symantec’s latest findings
are contained in an updated version of its
White Paper on Stuxnet. It has also
created a YouTube video demonstrating
how Stuxnet can hijack PLCs.
http://goo.gl/YwTZC
www.drives.co.uk November/December 2010 3

NEWS
IN BRIEF
Rockwell Automation has reported
sales for the 2010 fiscal year worth
$4,857m – a 12% increase on 2009.
CEO Keith Nosbusch reports signs
that spending on large capital
projects is improving, although
timings are still uncertain. He is
predicting a revenue growth for 2011
of 8–12%.
RS Components is offering more
than 30,000 own-brand products
under the RS Essentials banner, with
the claim that they are, on average,
20% cheaper than branded
manufacturers’ prices. The precise
savings will vary, with some being
above 20%. The products include
bearings, tools, controls, power
supplies and cables. All of the
products are tested in-house by RS.
The market analyst Frost & Sullivan
predicts that the European Scada
market, which as worth $1,325m in
2009, will expand to more than
$1,900m by 2016. This growth will
be driven by investments in Europe’s
electricity and water sectors,
supported by EU funding. Security
regulations and compliance demands
will also spur demand, it adds.
The Welsh Assembly is investing
£26m in a project called Astute
(Advanced SusTainable
manUfacturing TEchnologies) aimed
at boosting manufacturing industry
by creating more than 130 skilled
jobs and helping 350 enterprises and
40 collaborative r&d projects to get
off the ground. The scheme, which is
targeting the automotive and
aerospace sectors, is being led by
Swansea University.
Parker Hannifin and Brammer have
signed a strategic pan-European
partnership agreement, designed to
extend the level of support and
product availability that both
companies offer to customers in the
fluid power sector. Initially covering
15 countries, the agreement will
provide guaranteed supply of Parker
pneumatic, hydraulic, filtration and
instrumentation components and
systems to key accounts and endusers.
David Harrow, managing director of
Godiva Bearings, has been
appointed president of the European
Power Transmission Distributors
Association for 2010/2011.
Despite declining during 2009, the
global market for gears, drives and
speed changers is expected to surge
in the coming years. A recent report
from Global Industry Analysts says
that Europe remains the largest
market, accounting for more than
30% of global sales, but Asia-Pacific
is the fastest-growing region with an
annual growth rate predicted to be
more than 5% for the next few years.
Global drives sales
‘will return to 2008
levels next year’
THE GLOBAL market for low-voltage AC and DC
drives will return to double-digit growth this year
with revenues reaching $10.5bn, and 16.4
million drives being shipped. In a new report, the
market analyst IMS Research predicts that drives
sales will return to 2008 levels during 2011.
Although the drives market did suffer as a
result of the recession, it was not as severely
affected as many other automation product
markets. Total revenues in 2009 are estimated
to have been $9.3bn – a 13% decline from
2008, and just below 2007 levels. Around 13.9
million drives were shipped during 2009 – an
8% drop from 2008.
Unit sales declined much less (in percentage
terms) last year than revenues because of a shift
in demand from standard and premium drives
to compact models. This shift resulted from
customers’ increased price sensitivity due to the
downturn, coupled with the increased
capabilities of compact drives, allowing them to
be used in a wider range of applications.
“Companies across the board have reported
Spectris pays $51m for
industrial comms specialist
THE BRITISH instrumentation
and controls group Spectris
has bought the US industrial
networking specialist N-Tron,
for $51m. The acquisition is
in line with Spectris' strategy
to expand its key business
segments.
N-Tron, based in Mobile,
Alabama, will become part
UK owner:
an N-Tron Ethernet switch
of Spectris’ Industrial Controls segment and will co-operate
with another US subsidiary Red Lion Controls, which supplies
operator interface products. N-Tron, which employs around
60 people, will keep its own brand and sales structure.
N-Tron’s industrial communications products include
managed and unmanaged Ethernet switches, media
converters, power-over-Ethernet equipment, and wireless
access devices.
“The acceptance of Ethernet in the industrial market for
integrating shop-floor information within the business IT
infrastructure is rapidly increasing,” says Spectris CEO, John
O'Higgins. “N-Tron's hardware capabilities will enable us to
leverage Red Lion's communications technologies to meet this
demand and to build our position in the industrial controls
market around the world.”
Spectris, whose headquarters are in Egham, Surrey, employs
around 5,800 worldwide and has offices in 29 countries.
increased compact drives sales both during the
downturn and in the recovery, causing large
disparities between revenue and unit growth,”
says IMS analyst, Sarah Sultan. “As the
premium drives business begins to recover over
the next several months, the disproportion
between revenue and unit growth is expected
to diminish.”
IMS expects the Asia-Pacific region to
overtake EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and
Africa) as the largest regional market for drive
sales this year. The EMEA market is still
struggling as a result of the financial crises in
various European countries, and the weakness
of the Euro.
Nevertheless, IMS is forecasting a small
positive growth in the EMEA region during
2010, with a return to double-digit growth
during 2011. By contrast, it predicts that the
Asia-Pacific region will to grow by more than
20% in 2010, after declining by only a few per
cent during 2009.
www.imsresearch.com
Modified
enclosures
take 7 days
RITTAL HAS announced a
service called RittalXpress that
will deliver custom-modified
enclosures within seven
working days of an order being
placed online or by phone.
The service has been created
following market research and
discussions with customers
which revealed a need for a
turnkey service that delivers
cost-effective, pre-configured
enclosures quickly.
Customers can order
enclosures via a dedicated Web
site, where they can search for
products by application, size, IP
rating, material or part number.
Compatible accessories can
then be added from a selection
suitable for the chosen part.
Modifications can be
specified, including simple
square or round holes, or more
complex cut-outs such as holes
for fans and filters, and baying
kits. The modifications can be
made to any enclosure face.
www.rittal.co.uk
4 November/December 2010 www.drives.co.uk

more than
just a pretty
interface.
15"
10"
8"
3" LCD
only
2 1 /2"
deep
The G3 Operator Interface Series.
Connect. Convert. Acquire. Control. Anywhere.
Red Lion’s G3 Series HMIs not only provide an intuitive interface for your connected
devices, they give them a communications makeover. With the most on-board comms
ports of any HMI available, you can monitor, control or acquire data from seven or more types
of devices simultaneously—including PLCs, PCs, drives, PID controllers and more. Add even
more connections with DeviceNet , CANopen and PROFIBUS, or with additional serial ports.
G3 Series HMIs also feature integrated Ethernet, plus a built-in web server and gateway to webenable
even your serial devices, allowing remote monitoring, operation
and diagnostics. Pass-through communication capabilities let you use
a G3 HMI as a conduit to your PLCs via industry-standard protocols,
while a built-in protocol converter lets you share data between
dissimilar devices. All G3s can log data in IT-ready CSV format
that can be remotely accessed via the web server or automatically
uploaded to an FTP site. And G3s can trigger an email or SMS
message to your mobile device in response to an alarm condition.
An attractive price too, made even more attractive by
Red Lion’s free Crimson ® programming software. G3 models are
available in a compact 3" LCD keypad panel, plus 6", 8", 10" and new 15"
color touchscreens.
See all the features at www.redlion.net/G3
6"
Operator Interface Protocol Conversion Signal Conditioning Panel Meters Data Acquisition
Red Lion Controls Phone: +31 (0) 33-4723-225 Fax: +31 (0) 33-4893-793
europe@redlion.net Toll Free from UK and France: (00800 733 54667)

NEWS
Rare-earth crisis sparks quest for
alternative motor technologies
JAPANESE MOTOR manufacturers are
scrambling for motor technologies that do
not need rare earth metals, following a
crisis in which China, which produces 95–
97% of the world’s rare earths, cut off
supplies to Japan and limited supplies to
other countries. The materials – which
include neodymium, dysprosium and
yttrium – are needed for a wide range of
applications, from electric vehicles and
wind turbines, to computer hard drives and
mobile phones. They are a key component
of high-power permanent magnets.
In recent years, China has come to
dominate the global market for rare earths
by undercutting producers in other
countries, thus forcing them out of the
market. In recent months, however, it has
raised the prices of some of its rare earth
materials nine-fold.
China has also cut back on its production
of rare earths, citing environmental and
energy-saving reasons. At the same time, it
is using more of them in domestic
manufacturing, and is limiting exports.
The rare earth problems hit the world’s
headlines in September when China
blocked supplies to Japan following a
collision between ships from the two
nations in disputed territorial waters.
Japan relies on China for more than 90%
of the 30,000 tonnes of rare earths it
imports every year. Its demand has been
growing as it ramps up production of
electric and hybrid vehicles, each of which
typically needs 9–15kg of rare earths for
motors, batteries and other equipment. A
conventional car contains about 5kg of the
materials.
The crisis has accelerated Japan’s quest
to reduce its dependence on rare earth
materials, particularly from China. Its New
Energy and Industrial technology
Development Organisation (Nedo)
announced recently that, working with
researchers from Hokkaido University, it
has developed “the world’s first” rareearth-free,
high-performance motor for
hybrid vehicles. The 50kW motor is similar
in performance to the motors currently
used in Toyota’s Prius hybrid-electric car,
which need 1kg of rare-earth materials.
The Japanese motor-maker Nidec has
revealed that it plans to start producing
switched-reluctance motors, which do not
need rare earths, in two years’ time. Nidec
acquired the switched-reluctance
technology when its bought Emerson
Electric’s Motors and Appliance Controls
businesses earlier this year. These
businesses included the UK-based
switched-reluctance specialist, SR Drives.
Nidec plans to start producing switchedreluctance
motors for heavy machinery
from 2012, followed by versions for
tractors and other vehicles. At present,
Piles of trouble:
rare earth oxides
(photo: US Department of Agriculture)
Nidec produces synchronous motors for the
electric vehicle market that rely on rareearth-based
permanent magnets inside
their rotor cores.
Other motor developers with
technologies that do not rely on rare-earth
materials, are taking the opportunity to
promote them. For example, Gibraltarbased
Chorus Motors says that its
multiphase Meshcon motor can produce
five times the start-up torque of a similarsized
conventional three-phase motor, and
more than a comparable permanent
magnet motor, without using any rare
earths or other exotic materials.
The rare-earth supply problems could last
for several years until new sources, now
being developed, come on stream in
countries including Vietnam, Australia,
Kazakhstan, Turkey and India. In the US,
rare earth production sites that were shut
down because they could not compete
with China, are being re-opened.
Nidec targets GE and Bosch as it aims for the top
THE ACQUISITIVE Japanese motor-maker Nidec has set its sights
on becoming a global leader in the motors market, possibly by
buying the motors activities of General Electric and Bosch. The
company, which already claims to dominate the market for small
precision motors for applications such as computer hard drives,
is now expanding aggressively into the market for industrial and
appliance motors.
Nidec, whose sales are expected to amount to around ¥700bn
(£5.3bn) this year, is aiming to hit ¥1,000bn (£7.6bn) by 2012
and ¥2,000bn (£15.2bn) by 2015. The company wants this
income to be split evenly between four business “pillars”: small
motors; industrial and appliance motors; automotive motors; and
other activities, including machinery and electronic components.
Much of the growth in the industrial and automotive sectors
will have to come through acquisitions. Even after Nidec’s recent
acquisition of Emerson’s Motors and Controls business, its
industrial and appliance motor activities account for less than
¥100bn (£760m) of its income.
Nidec’s chief executive Shigenobu Nagamori told the Financial
Times recently that he is keen to buy the motor divisions of GE in
the US and Bosch in Germany. In recent years, Nidec has had
discussions with both companies, without reaching any
agreement. But Nagamori is still keen to acquire both businesses
which, he says, would fit well with Nidec’s existing operations.
Nidec is also rumoured to be talking to Sanyo Electric about
buying its motor activities.
6 November/December 2010 www.drives.co.uk

Mechanical drives
factory moves to Leeds
Design
Installation
Take the complication out of designing, selecting
and installing components and systems into your
machine and environment with Rexroth’s
Engineering Tools and support structure. From
factory layout software through to CAD files,
product configurators and documentation, Rexroth
has the tools to simplify your project.
www.boschrexroth.co.uk/etools
Selection
Support
Simplify your system design,
selection and installation
processes
Engineering Tools from
Rexroth
SIEMENS IS moving its mechanical
drives (MD) factory from Bradford
to a new purpose-built site in
Leeds, with more space and
improved facilities.
Since Siemens bought Flender’s
gear and gear-motor business for
€1.2bn in 2005, it has been
investing in the operation. The
new 4,645m 2 (50,000ft 2 ) factory
Nadin: relentless commitment
has 30% more production space,
making it easier to optimise
production cell layouts, as well as materials and handling flow. The
site, in Stourton, will be used to assemble gears, geared motors,
motors and couplings.
The move has been overseen by Simon Nadin, who was
appointed general manager of the MD division in July, replacing
Nick Garthwaite, who has left the Siemens group. Nadin, who has
been with Siemens since 1998, was previously based at the
company’s drives factory in Congleton.
“Siemens is committed to manufacturing in the UK and the
mechanical gears aspect is a key element in the drive train,” he says.
“This new facility will not only enhance our manufacturing capability;
it will also be used to train apprentices and hold technical seminars.”
Nadin believes that with the right strategy and investment, it is
possible to be successful in the current economic climate. “A
relentless commitment to process improvement is an essential part
of our business DNA,” he states. “Without this focus, we open the
door to competition.”
The factory will be opened officially in early 2011.
MV inverter is ‘world’s most efficient’
THE BRAZILIAN
manufacturer WEG
has produced a
medium-voltage
inverter which, it
claims, is the world’s
most efficient and
reliable, with a 99% efficiency and a 22-year
MTBF (mean time between failures). The 8,000hp (5,996kW),
4.16kV system is also WEG’s largest-ever MV inverter.
The 12-pulse inverter has been supplied to Weir Pumps,
which is using it to drive a 7,500hp (5,593kW) WEG motor
used to test mud drilling pumps at its laboratory in Dallas,
Texas. These tests, which ensure that the pumps will support
real loads during operation, have not been performed before,
because of their complexity, risk and high costs.
“In a single stroke, we have doubled the output of our MV
inverter range to 8,000hp,” says Marek Lukaszczyk, WEG’s
European marketing manager. “The 99% efficiency is an
average 1% more efficient than that delivered by any other MV
inverter on the market – and this can mean an economy of up
to $50,000 per year for this user.”
The MVW voltage-source inverter drive has two layers of
control, rather than the usual three or five layers. It is driving a
four-pole 46Hz motor, rotating at 1,371 rpm.
www.weg.net
8 November/December 2010 www.drives.co.uk

Wow, why is this so easy?
Because engineering has been redefined.
Efficient, intuitive, proven: engineering success has never been so easy. Siemens, the world’s leader in automation
products, has developed a new generation of engineering software for industrial automation that redefines the entire
engineering process. The key to success will be announced worldwide in November 2010. Then it’s your turn to benefit
from outstanding efficiency and usability for unrivalled profitability and sustainability.
www.siemens.com/engineering-redefined
Answers for industry.

Wow, why is this so easy?
Because engineering has been redefined.
Efficient, intuitive, proven: engineering success has never been so easy. Siemens, the world’s leader in automation
products, has developed a new generation of engineering software for industrial automation that redefines the entire
engineering process. The key to success will be announced worldwide in November 2010. Then it’s your turn to benefit
from outstanding efficiency and usability for unrivalled profitability and sustainability.
www.siemens.com/engineering-redefined
Answers for industry.

COMMON SENSE
ON RARE EARTHS
COMMENT
Totally
transforming...
The current rare-earth crisis has been looming for several years.
Observers have long warned of the danger of China becoming the
dominant supplier of these materials, which we rely on for products
ranging from televisions and headphones, to batteries and glass –
and, of course, for the high-power magnets used in many motors.
Despite their name, rare earths are not uncommon. An estimated
64% of the world’s reserves lie outside China, but the Chinese have
cornered the market by undercutting other producers, and by
showing little apparent concern for the environmental impacts of the
dirty business of extracting and producing the materials. Until
recently, that is.
China is now cutting back on rare-earth production and exports, as
well as hiking their prices, citing a new-found concern for the
environment as one of its reasons. It is also diverting more of what it
does produce to its own manufacturers, thus adding value to the
minerals, while restricting supplies to foreign competitors.
Another possible motivation for China’s restrictions is that at, at the
previous rate of production, China’s rare-earth resources could start
to run out within 15 years.
Not surprisingly, China is now trying to buy into rare-earth production
facilities in other parts of the world. For example, it has attempted to
acquire controlling stakes in at least two Australian rare-earth
producers. One of these bids was blocked by the Australian
government on grounds of national security.
Although Japanese manufacturers have been hit hardest by China’s
rare-earth restrictions, the effects are being felt around the world. In
Europe, for example, the trade body that represents around 3,000
suppliers to the automotive sector, has called on the European
Commission to ensure secure supplies of rare earths and to look at
possible production within Europe. For its part, the EC says it is
“monitoring the situation closely”.
If rare earths become unavailable or too expensive, there could be
far-reaching repercussions. For example, unless alternative motor
technologies can be commercialised rapidly, we will need to turn to
bigger, heavier motors which could affect the efficiencies and
economics of road vehicles – especially electric and hybrid vehicles.
The current rare-earth problems could last until around 2015 when
new sources of supply are due to come on stream in several
countries around the world. But some of the materials – such as
neodymium, which is used widely in high-power magnets – could
remain in short supply.
The rare-earth crisis emphasises how dependent we are on key raw
materials and how vital it is to have alternative sources of supply. We
need to act globally to ensure that no single country or company can
dominate the supply of such crucial materials in future.
...your old drives and motors to new
The ABB swappage scheme replaces
your old worn out drives and motors
from any manufacturer for new,
highly efficient and compact
equivalents from ABB. Not only will you get at least 17.5 % off the list
price but with the help of the ABB Drives Alliance, and for a small
additional charge, your new drives and motors can be installed,
started-up and the old equipment removed for recycling.
To discover how easy it is to swap your old for new
visit www.drives.co.uk and click on the “swappage
scheme” banner. Or simply call us on 07000 DRIVES
(that’s 07000 374837)
Tony Sacks, Editor
Sponsored by
Power and productivity
for a better world TM

TECHNOLOGY
Motion system can cut moulding
energy costs by 30%
MOOG HAS unveiled a variable-speed
hydraulic pump system for injection and
blow moulding machines which, it claims,
can cut energy consumption by 30% or
more.
The speed-controlled pump system is
based on three technologies: fixeddisplacement
radial piston pumps;
brushless servomotors; and modular, multiaxis
servodrives. The drive controls the
pump motor’s torque and speed,
depending on pressure and flow demand. It
also stores the pump and servomotor
characteristics, creating an “intelligent”
system that can communicate with external
systems via a fieldbus.
Moulding machines experience different
loads at different parts of their operating
cycles. When a machine is in the pressureholding
phase of the injection-moulding
process, it needs low flow rates but high
pressures, and the new system can cut
energy consumption by 90% during this
phase. Under full load, its performance is
similar to that of a
traditional system.
“Our calculations
and tests show that the
total cost of ownership
will be lower than
traditional hydraulic
technologies and the
payback period for the
initial investment is also
shorter for operators due to
the impressive energy savings,” says
Sheriff El Henaoui, Moog’s marketing
manager for Europe.
As well as saving energy, the compact
system allows the footprint of the machine
to be reduced. It is also said to be quieter,
with sound levels up to 9 dB(A) lower in
partial-load conditions.
The speed-controlled pump system not
only has advantages over the traditional
hydraulic systems, but is also said to cost
less to install and maintain than all-electric
systems. These systems usually need to be
« Cost-cutter: Moog’s
moulding control
system
built into the
framework of the
moulding machine
and require complete disassembly
and re-assembly for routine maintenance.
The modular hydraulic system is said to be
much easier and cheaper to maintain.
If required, the motor and pump can be
submerged inside a hydraulic tank, thus
saving space and taking advantage of the
heat-dissipating fluid in tank.
www.moog.com
High-res integrated stepper
motor is ‘world’s shortest’
THE DANISH integrated motor specialist JVL
has launched an integrated
stepper motor which, it claims,
is the world’s shortest motor
with a built-in controller. A 3Nm
version of motor is just 95mm
long, yet incorporates all of the
stepper control electronics,
including IP67-protected RS-485
and CANopen interfaces and a
programmable motion controller.
The motors offer a resolution of 819,200
steps per revolution, for smooth, quiet
operation. They contain everything needed
for stand-alone operation, or control from a
PLC or PC. There are eight I/O points that
can be configured individually as digital
inputs or outputs, or analogue inputs. As
well as the 95mm-long version, there is a
126mm version that delivers 6.1Nm, and a
156mm version that delivers 9Nm.
The motors are said to offer a velocity
precision of 0.01 rpm and an acceleration
precision of 1 rpm/s. They operate from 12–
80V DC supplies and can deliver high torque
levels at high speeds.
An ActiveX/OCX driver is available to
simplify interfacing with LabView, Excel, VB
or other Windows-based programs. Use of
Shortest: JVL’s
integrated stepper motor
JVL’s MAC protocol allows MAC and
QuickStep motors and SMC85 controllers to
be connected on the same RS-485 bus,
supporting point-to-point or multi-axis
operation of up to 254 axes.
Options include: RS-422 and RS-485
interfaces for encoder I/O and connection to
external HMIs or PLCs; planetary gears; a
pulse/direction mode for electronic gearing;
and double-shaft and single- or multi-turn
encoders. The motor can be supplied with
wireless Bluetooth, ZigBee or WLAN
functions, and is ready for future options
such as Profibus, industrial Ethernet, and
absolute multi-turn encoders without
external batteries.
www.jvl.dk
This image of a toggle clamp was
produced using a digital technique
that creates photorealistic images of
products in software, without
needing a camera or photographer.
The technology is the result of a
collaboration between the German
company Cadenas, which produces
electronic product catalogues, and
a Spanish company called Next Limit
Technologies, which specialises in
simulation technologies. A newly
developed interface links Cadenas’
eCatalogSolutions system to Next
Limit’s Maxwell Render 3D rendering
technology, which is based on the
physical equations that govern the
behaviour of light and is said to
allow users to create convincing
real-world images without resorting
to the “tricks and approximations”
used by other renderers.
12 November/December www.drives.co.uk

0.75...250kW
available
from stock!
New PowerFlex 753 AC Drive
PowerFlex 753 is the latest product from the family of Allen-Bradley
PowerFlex 750-Series AC drives. This new drive provides a broad set of
features and application specific functions that make it ideal for both
standard and high performance applications.
The PowerFlex 753 AC drive features simple network integration and with
a comprehensive analogue and digital I/O built-in, it is a cost effective
solution that helps reduce installation time.
Embedded in the drive is DeviceLogix, a powerful control technology using
function block programming that enables PLC style routines to be
developed for local stand alone control of applications.
Safety functionality is also available with Safe Torque-Off (CAT 3) and this
can be extended by using the Safe Speed Monitor (CAT 4) to include
advanced features such as Safe Limited Speed and Safe Maximum
Acceleration.
Features
• Power range available from 0.75 to 250 kW at 400/480 V AC
• Flexible slot architecture for options such as communications, safety,
feedback, and additional I/O
• DeviceLogix control with 225 function block capacity
• Predictive diagnostics
• Safe Torque-Off and Safe Speed Monitor options
• Flux Vector Control with FORCE technology
For more information or to order for
immediate delivery, contact us on:
Telephone 0370 607 1000
Fax 0370 607 1001
E-mail sales@routeco.co.uk
Web www.routeco.com
Routeco Limited, Davy Avenue, Knowlhill, Milton Keynes MK5 8HJ
Routeco/PF753/2010/10

TECHNOLOGY
Motor-mounting
drives ‘offer widest
power range’
THE FINNISH drives manufacturer Vacon
has announced a family of motor-mounting
AC drives with ratings from 1.1kW to
30kW – which, it claims, offer the widest
power range in their class. The drives have
been designed for use in harsh
environments, and to cut space and costs
by avoiding the need for extra enclosures.
“The Vacon 100 Motor Mountable AC
drives are our most robust AC drives,
featuring a die-cast frame, and large and
open cooling ribs,” says Vacon’s executive
Decentralised
debut:
Vacon’s motormounting
drive
vice-president, Heikki Hiltunen. “The
enclosure is rated up to IP66 and designed
to withstand severe vibrations, so it's really
made for a rough ride. These drives are not
bound to a specific mounting location, so
they open completely new ways of using
AC drives.
“Unlike most of the competition, these
AC drives are intelligent and flexible,” he
adds. “They have built-in PLC programming
capability and the powers go up to 30kW,
which is highest in this class. All these
features give an edge, for instance, for
machine-builders who want to offer their
customers a complete, optimised solution
with a minimised installation cost.”
The new drives also mark Vacon’s entry
into the decentralised drives market. They
are designed to be located close to the
motor, either mounting on the motor itself
or on the machine it is driving. They allow
engineers and machine-builders make the
most of the space available in and around a
machine, avoiding the need for separate
electrical rooms, long shielded motor
cables, and drive cabinets.
The RoHS-compliant drives incorporate
harmonic-filtering chokes and can be
connected to electrical networks without
extra precautions. The drives’
components do not contain
environmentally harmful substances.
www.vacon.com
Decentralised
drives support
PM motors
DANFOSS HAS launched a range of
decentralised drives that can be
mounted on or near motors for
applications such as conveyors. The VLT
Decentral Drive FCD 302, available in
ratings from 0.37–3kW, offers similar
functions to Danfoss’ AutomationDrive
family, and can be used with highefficiency
permanent-magnet motors
as well as standard induction motors
(with or without encoder feedback).
The decentralised drives avoid the
need for space-consuming control
cabinets and for long runs of screened
motor cables. They are also said to cut
installation costs as well as reducing
the risk of failures.
The range includes versions certified
by EHEDG (the European Hygienic
Engineering & Design Group) for use in
plants where hygiene is critical.
The drives incorporate Safe Torque-
Off capabilities and ten LEDs to indicate
their status when an optional graphic
display is not being used. Many options
are built in, reducing the number of
boxes that need to be mounted,
connected and terminated.
www.danfoss.com/drives

Power selector switch makes
drive systems more versatile
CONTROL TECHNIQUES has developed a
device for multi-way switching of drive
control cables via contactors which, it says,
could cut capital costs, make operations
more flexible, add redundancy at a low
cost, and improve efficiency.
The SPM power selector module is
designed to be used with CT’s modular
Unidrive SPM AC drives and allows
automatic re-routing of connections
between the control and power stages in
parallel drive systems. It also provides
automatic control of contactors.
The switch was developed originally for
the crane industry, with the aim of
eliminating the need for separate hoist
drives. CT says it can also make process
equipment and test rigs more versatile,
allowing operation over a wide power range,
and providing continuous operation in
the event of a fault, thus giving system
redundancy for critical operations.
For example, a gantry crane with dual
long-travel motors and a main hoist can
use just two drives instead of three – by
switching the drives between travel and
hoist duty – thus delivering significant
savings. Similarly, the power range can
be expanded by using up to 10
modules, again eliminating the need for
a separate hoist drive.
For test rigs operating over wide torque
and power ranges, the SPM power modules
can be switched out of circuit as the output
power demand is reduced and, conversely,
re-connected as power demand rises.
Matching the drives to the motors makes the
test rig more versatile, improves feedback
Flexible: Control
Techniques’ power
selector module
accuracy, and cuts losses, according to CT.
One master can work with a string of
modules which are switched in and out as
required. This also offers the option of
increasing the power at a later date by
adding more modules.
www.controltechniques.com
TECHNOLOGY
Actuator combines driving and guidance functions
Two-in-one: Haydon
Kerk’s motorised
SplineRail
THE US linear motion specialist Haydon
Kerk has developed a linear actuator that
combines the traditionally separate
functions of driving and guidance in a
single, coaxial component. The SplineRail
actuator uses a precision-rolled leadscrew,
supported by bearings and contained in a
concentric aluminium spline, to drive a
composite polymer nut/bushing.
When mounted vertically, the SplineRail
can be used to lift and rotate
simultaneously. With one motor driving
the screw and a second rotating the rail, a
compact, self-supporting pick-and-place
mechanism can be created.
Typical applications are expected to
include robotic assemblies, packaging and
assembly systems. The extruded aluminium
spline is said to offer good torsional
stability. Long, maintenance-free operating
lives are promised.
Screw leads will be available from 0.05–
1.2 inches (1.27–30.5mm) per revolution,
providing a wide range of performance
profiles, including self-locking threads that
can support a load without external power
or breaks. The SplineRail is powered by
single- or double-stack stepper motors.
www.haydonkerk.com

TECHNOLOGY
IN BRIEF
The OPC Foundation and the
MTConnect Institute are cooperating
to develop a set of
standards – called MTConnectOpcUa –
that will ensure interoperability and
consistency between MTConnect
specifications and OPC specifications,
as well as manufacturing equipment,
software and other products that
implement these standards. OPC
Foundation president Tom Burke says
the collaboration will provide the
infrastructure to revolutionise
interoperability for all manufacturing
technologies.
TT Electronics has won a contract to
develop micro-inverter and power
electronics modules for use in inwheel
motors being developed for
hybrid and electric vehicles by UKbased
Protean Electric. The rugged
modules, to be built by TT in Austria,
are designed to withstand water, dirt,
shocks and vibration.
FDT Technology – which allows any
fieldbus, device or sub-system
software tool to be integrated in
lifecycle management tools – looks
likely to be adopted in standards being
issued by the ISA (the International
Society of Instrumentation) and ANSI
(the American National Standards
Institute). Last year, it was approved as
an international standard (IEC 62453).
US–based membrane switch specialist
Pannam Imaging has developed a
patented circular switch technology
that mimics the light actuation
behaviour of capacitive switches, but
can be operated using gloves. The
SimScroll switches are said to be
cheaper than capacitive switches.
The Austrian semiconductor specialist
SensorDynamics has developed a
failsafe inertial measurement system
that detects angular rates and
acceleration in three axes and
transmits the data wirelessly to a
receiver up to 150m away. The system
can be used to detect motion
wirelessly or to avoid connectors and
cabling.
ON Semiconductor has announced a
combined stepper motor driver and
CAN transceiver device which can
control multiple similar motors on one
bus. The space-saving 1Mb/s ANIS-
30523 device offers seven step modes
from full-step to 32 micro-steps and
can provide programmable peak
currents up to 1.6A.
Performance Motion Devices has
produced a motion control chip which
can capture real-time variables such as
encoder position, motor commands
and position errors and store them in
on-board buffers for later retrieval and
analysis. The 58000 series Magellan
Motion chip can monitor up to 64
variables and send the data via RS-
232/485, CANbus or parallel ports.
‘Virtual engineer’
warns when machines
need maintenance
RESEARCHERS AT THE University of
Portsmouth have created a “virtual engineer”
which uses artificial intelligence to predict
when machines need maintenance. The
technology learns how a machine works and
uses this to make accurate predictions about
when it needs maintenance, thus avoiding the
need for regular maintenance shutdowns or
waiting for a machine to fail before calling an
engineer.
Sensors are placed on vulnerable parts of
the machine, such as the bearings. Predictive
software monitors and analyses the signals,
alerting technicians when it detects that a part
is not working properly or needs replacing.
“The machines in many processing plants
and factories are running day and night and
an unscheduled stoppage can cause havoc
and can result in huge costs,” explains Dr
David Brown, head of the University's Institute
of Industrial Research (IIR). “This new
diagnostic system prevents potential
mechanical failure by identifying the faulty or
worn-out part before it causes a problem.
“It's the first time this kind of technology
has been used on this scale in the processing
industry,” he adds. “The traditional approach
to machine maintenance is being blown out
of the water by real-time diagnostics.”
According to Brown, the clever part is that
the system is adaptive. “During the process of
monitoring the machine, the software learns
more about how it works, which parts are
becoming worn, and anything else that could
potentially cause mechanical failure,” he
explains.
This is particularly important for custombuilt
machines. The IIR diagnostic system can
learn the particular behaviour of each
machine.
The diagnostic software can direct an
engineer to a specific fault which might
otherwise take days to identify. “Human
beings are highly intelligent and a good
engineer might sometimes spot if something
is about to break, but this system will help
speed up the time it takes to fix,” says Brown.
He predicts significant costs savings to
industry, because keeping a specialist engineer
on call around-the-clock is expensive. “The
entire process becomes very much easier if the
company knows when to schedule machine
repairs and maintenance in advance,” he
points out.
IIR has been working with Stork Food &
Dairy Systems (SFDS) to test the new system at
some of its plants. SFDS develops and supplies
processing equipment for the dairy, juice, food
Brown: blowing
traditional
maintenance
out of the
water
and pharmaceutical industries. Its customers,
which include milk suppliers, run their
machines around the clock and need their
machines to be mechanically reliable.
“An unplanned stoppage on a production
line can be a total disaster,” explains SFDS’
general manager, Luke Axel-Berg. “It can spell
chaos for a processing plant, especially a dairy
plant where milk is arriving every single day.
The cows don’t stop producing milk because a
machine has broken. Instead the milk must be
sent to an alternative location, putting
unexpected pressure on another plant.
“In the event of a major breakdown lasting
several days, we could even risk losing a
customer,” he adds “How do you put a price
on that?”
Planned downtime, on the other hand, is
less disruptive because users can build supply
and delivery around it and arrange in advance
for other plants to take over production. “It's
an entirely new way of looking at downtime,”
says Axel-Berg.
“Our customers are already calling for a
zero fault levels on their machines,” he
continues. “Until now, it's been impossible to
guarantee that level of customer service, but
this new diagnostic system looks set to
change all that by taking away the risk. It will
benefit any business which relies on machines
to keep its operation turning over – especially
if they want to minimise costs and guarantee
customer satisfaction.”
The IIR is collaborating with Stork as part of
a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), a
government scheme which helps businesses
to improve their competitiveness and
productivity by partnering with academic
institutions.
www.port.ac.uk/research/iir
16 November/December 2010 www.drives.co.uk

Confocal measurement system
Laser profile sensors
- Measuring ranges from 0.12 to 24mm
- Nanometre resolution
- Tiny, constant measuring spot 7µm
- Measure any target diffuse, specular
and liquid
Typical applications:
Measuring of glass and mirrored surfaces
Measurements inside bores and holes
One-sided thickness measurement of
transparent materials (e.g. glass)
NEW
optoNCDT 2402
The world’s first miniature sensor with
just a 4mm outside diameter
- Measuring ranges from 25 to 245mm
- Lightweight and compact sensors
- Very high measuring rate of 256kHz
- 3D view of the target
- Micrometre resolution
Typical applications:
Position and contour measurement, edge
detection, web width, groove width / depth,
welding seam inspection, welding robot control
NEW
scanCONTROL 2700
Most compact design with integral controller
Laser triangulation sensors
Compact infrared temperature sensors
- Measuring ranges from 2 to 1000mm
- Models with integrated controller
- From low-cost entry level models up to
highest precision in class
- Analogue and digital interface
- In built synchronisation for thickness
measurement
Typical applications:
High precision measurements in automation,
positioningand in-process quality control
NEW
optoNCDT 1302 / 1402
Very compact sensors with integrated controller
- Temperature range: -50 to 3300°C
- Spot sizes as low as 0.45mm
- CTlaser with built in laser alignment
- CThot withstands ambient temperatures of
250°C without cooling
- Exposure time from 1ms
- Analogue and digital outputs incl. Profibus DP
- Specific models for glass, metals, ceramics
NEW
thermoIMAGER TIM
Thermal imager for inline applications
Temperature ranges: -20°C to 900°C
optoNCDT 2220
Extremely fast measurement with 20kHz measuring rate
optoNCDT 2200LL
Small laser line for metallic, shiny surfaces
Eddy-current displacement sensors
More Precision: www.micro-epsilon.co.uk
- Measuring ranges from 0.4 to 80mm
- More than 300 sensor models
- Nanometer resolution
- Intelligent controller
- Robust sensor - IP67
- Pressure-resistant sensors
up to 2000 bar
- Ideal for Machine builders & OEMs
World leading sensors and systems.
displacement · distance · length · position · profile · thickness · temperature
Typical applications:
Harsh industrial environments (resistant to oil,
dirt, dust, moisture, interference fields, etc.)
eddyNCDT 3300
Nano-precision for industrial applications
Call the experts now!+44 (0) 151 355 6070

Simple servodrive can
be tailored to demand
Simple servo:
Rockwell’s Kinetix 3
Rockwell Automation has announced a
component servodrive that, it claims, avoids
the complexity of traditional servos. The
Allen-Bradley Kinetix 3, available in ratings
from 50W–1.5kW and capable of delivering
up to 12.55Nm of instantaneous torque,
allows axes to be tailored to a machine’s
actual power requirements, thus minimising
system size and costs.
“Manufacturers are challenged by
tougher economic conditions. There is less
capital available for new equipment
purchases and users expect solutions that
A pioneering technique for detecting
fingerprints on bullet casings has been
adapted to measure corrosion on
machine parts by the scientist who
developed the technique, Dr John Bond
of Leicester University.
Dr Bond’s technique for identifying
fingerprints on brass bullet-casings, even
after they have been wiped clean, is
based on the minuscule amounts of
corrosion which can be caused by sweat.
Now, working with scientists in the
University’s Department of Chemistry, Dr
Bond has used the same technique to
produce a simple, handheld device which
can measure corrosion on machine parts.
“This is a new, quick, cheap and easy
way of measuring the extent of corrosion
on copper and copper-based alloys, such
as brass,” explains Dr Bond, who is an
honorary research fellow in the
University’s Forensic Research Centre.
“It works by exploiting the discovery
we made during the fingerprint research
– that the corrosion on brass forms
are easier to use and also yield greater
uptime and return on investment,” says
Rockwell product manager, Oliver Haya.
“When combining the new Kinetix 3 servo
drive with Allen-Bradley MicroLogix
controllers, machine-builders can deliver a
cost-effective motion control solution for
low-axis count applications, that is simple to
use and maintain.”
The drive is configured using the free
Allen-Bradley UltraWare software.
Configuration can be simplified further
using the automatic motor recognition
facilities in some Allen-Bradley rotary and
linear servomotors. Additional features
include online vibration suppression,
advanced auto-tuning, and rapid settling
times. The drive can index up to 64 points
via Modbus or through its digital inputs.
Rockwell’s Connected Component
Building Blocks technology can be used to
provide CAD drawings, electrical layouts,
bills of materials, sample code and operator
interface screens for the drive. Indexing
operations for three axes can be performed
over the Modbus network using Rockwell’s
MicroLogix 1400 controller, PanelView
component operator interfaces, and TL-
Series motors.
www.rockwellautomation.co.uk
Fingerprinting breakthrough
spawns corrosion detector
something called a Schottky barrier. We
use this to see how much the metal has
corroded. Such measurements can be
made already, but this is quick, cheap and
easy, and can be performed in the field as
it works off a 9V battery.
“Measuring the corrosion of metals
such as brass is important to ensure that
machinery does not operate outside its
safe limits,” Bond points out. “This could
be anything from checking that a water
pipe will not burst open, to ensuring that
the metal on an airplane is not corroded.
“Also, rather than simply saying that
the brass is corroding (as a technique
such as weighing the brass would), this
technique enables the type of corrosion
to be determined – for example, copper
oxide or zinc oxide corrosion.” This gives
clues about how severe the corrosion is.
The system works by touching the
metal with a probe. “It's as easy as taking
your temperature with a thermometer,”
says Bond, who is now looking for a
company to market the device.
A new name in
inverters
Hyundai
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Softstart UK
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Tel: 01493 660510
Email: sales@softstartuk.com
Web: www.softstartuk.com

SECURITY
Are you safe from
cyber-attack?
The recent widespread publicity given to the Stuxnet virus, has brought home the real threats to industrial control
systems posed by viruses and hackers. Dr Richard Piggin* examines the risks – and how to minimise them.
In his first-ever public speech, GCHQ director
Ian Lobban recently highlighted the “real
and credible” threat facing the UK’s critical
infrastructure from terrorists, organised
criminals and hostile foreign governments. He
demanded a swift response to match the
speed with which “cyber events” can occur,
and warned that the country's future
economic prosperity rested on ensuring a
defence against such assaults.
So, which systems are under threat? The
critical national infrastructure comprises
facilities, sites and networks that deliver the
essential services on which daily life depends.
This spans nine sectors: communications;
emergency services; energy; finance; food;
government; health; transport; and water. The
UK’s Centre for the Protection of National
Infrastructure (CPNI) works with the providers
of these services and government departments
to identify the critical elements and to help
protect them against national security threats.
Cyber-threats to control systems extend far
beyond energy and telecommunications
facilities. For example, activities such as food
distribution and logistics could be hit, resulting
in a loss of consumer confidence, and
potential health risks.
All are potentially
The UK’s Centre for the Protection of National
Infrastructure recommends adopting the protection
principle known as defence in depth to avoid single
points of weakness
vulnerable to targeted or accidental cyberevents
and to the actions of disgruntled
former employees.
One often-cited example is the “drive-by”
wireless hacking by an ex-employee of an
Australian sewage treatment plant. He used
his knowledge of the plant’s control system to
hack into it 46 times and to release millions of
litres of waste into public waterways. Cyberthreats
to industrial control systems are
growing, as attackers seek new targets and
sources of revenue.
> Extortion demands
The US Central Intelligence Agency has
confirmed that a cyber-attack caused power
outages in several cities in 2008, including
New Orleans. The agency has also revealed
that there have been intrusions into utilities
that have been followed by extortion
demands.
The US government has been taking the
potential reconnaissance of its power
infrastructure by Russia and
China seriously, as well as
responding to the potential for
terrorist attacks. This year, it
formed the United States
Cyber Command – a unit of
the armed forces responsible
for directing operations,
defending Department of Defense networks,
and conducting military cyberspace operations.
According to the US National Institute of
Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Guide to
Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Security,
potential incidents may include:
• blocking or delaying the flow of information
through ICS networks, thus disrupting their
operation;
• making unauthorised changes to
instructions, commands, or alarm thresholds,
which could damage, disable, or shut down
equipment, have environmental impacts,
and/or endanger human life;
• sending inaccurate information to system
operators, either to disguise unauthorised
changes, or to cause operators to initiate
inappropriate actions, which could have
various negative effects;
• modifying ICS software or configuration
settings, or infecting ICS software with
malware, which could have various negative
effects; and
• interfering with the operation of safety
systems, which could endanger human life.
NIST’s recommendations include:
• restricting physical access to ICS networks
and devices;
• protecting individual ICS components from
exploitation, using measures such as:
deploying security patches as soon as possible
after testing; disabling unused ports and
services; restricting ICS user privileges to those
that are essential; tracking and monitoring
audit trails; and using security controls such as
anti-virus software and file integrity-checking
software to prevent, deter, detect, and
mitigate malware;
• maintaining functionality during adverse
conditions – this involves designing the ICS so
that each critical component has a redundant
counterpart and, ensuring that if a
component fails, it does so in a manner that
does not generate unnecessary traffic on the
ICS or other networks or cause other
problems (such as cascading events)

elsewhere; and
• restoring systems after an incident –
such incidents are inevitable and response
plans are essential.
There has been a mistaken belief in
“security through obscurity” – the use of
specialised systems, protocols and
proprietary interfaces. However,
information on protocols is now widely
available and some systems have already
been specifically targeted. Examples
include the Modbus protocol and, most
recently, Siemens’ WinCC Scada and Step
7 PLCs which have been targeted by the
Stuxnet trojan/virus (see box, right).
Industrial control systems have long
operating lives – 10–20 year lifecycles are
not uncommon. Older systems were
designed with little or no regard for
cyber-security, and are interconnected
and used in ways that was never
envisaged originally. Add to this
increasing system complexity, the
proliferation of access points, and the
growing use of wireless technologies and
the Internet. It is understandable why
governments are promoting cybersecurity
and producing general and
sector-specific guidance.
> Securing industrial controls
In the UK, the CPNI is offering Scadaspecific
advice in a series of process
control and Scada security good practice
guidelines. These are founded on three
guiding principles:
• Protect, detect and respond It is
important to be able to detect possible
attacks and respond in an appropriate
manner to minimise the impacts.
More information
A still from a YouTube video showing a
simulated attack on a generator Scada
system, staged by the Idaho National
Laboratory in the US
• Defence in depth No single
security measure is foolproof
because vulnerabilities and
weaknesses can be identified at
any time. To reduce these risks,
implementing multiple
protection measures in series
avoids single points of failure.
• Technical, procedural and
managerial protection measures
Technology is insufficient on its own to
provide robust protection.
The CPNI also refers to further forms of
guidance – many of them resulting from
work sponsored by the US Department of
Homeland Security. These include road
maps to secure the water, electricity and
chemical sectors. These follow a similar
ten-year programme to assess risks, and
to develop and implement measures to
mitigate these risks. There is an emphasis
on cost-effective security for legacy
systems and on new architecture designs
and secure communications.
Cyber-security standards are
blossoming, including work being done
by the US-based International Society of
Automation (ISA), which has published
ISA99 Parts 1 and 2 which deal with the
security of industrial automation and
control systems. Part 1 is the foundation
for all subsequent standards in the ISA99
series. At the same time, the IEC is also
working on ICS standards and is
considering the work done in ISA.
The challenge is to develop a sustainable
approach and to continue a process of
assessment, adjustment and review in the
light of emerging vulnerabilities, threats,
consequences, while implementing
appropriate measures.
D&C
* Dr Piggin is a network and security consultant with
an engineering doctorate in industrial control systems
networking. He is a UK expert to IEC Network &
System Security and Cyber Security Working Groups
involved in producing IEC 62443 Security for Process
Measurement and Control – Network and System
Security.
UK Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure: www.cpni.gov.uk
Practical Scada Security blog (Byres Security): http://goo.gl/GH0e
NIST Guide to Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Security: http://goo.gl/T50V
Siemens information page on Stuxnet virus: http://goo.gl/vwvY
ISA99, Industrial Automation and Control System Security: http://goo.gl/Qi2l4
YouTube video of simulated attack on generator Scada system: http://goo.gl/UkGP
Stuxnet – the first
worm known to target
industrial controls
The threat posed by Stuxnet has been portrayed as a
once-in-a-decade event which goes beyond anything
seen before. The worm is designed to sabotage plants
by reprogramming PLCs, and to hide the changes from
programmers or users.
Research released by Symantec in mid-September showed
that almost 60% of the approximately 100,000 hosts
infected by Stuxnet have been in Iran, with high infection
rates also seen in India and Indonesia. This has led to
speculation that Stuxnet’s goal was to disrupt Iran's nuclear
activities.
Symantec says that Stuxnet is one of the most complex
threats it has ever analysed. Its elements include:
• four “zero-day” exploits (which were previously
unknown, undisclosed to the software vendor, or for
which no security fix is available – a rarity for any virus
which would be considered wasteful by most hackers);
• a Windows rootkit – software that allows privileged
access to a computer, while hiding its presence;
• the first-ever “PLC rootkit” for infecting PLC programs
and remaining undetectable;
• anti-virus evasion measures;
• two stolen digital signatures;
• complex process injection and hooking code (to
prevent programmers from seeing the infected code);
• network infection routines;
• privilege escalation measures;
• peer-to-peer updates; and
• remote command and control.
Because PCs used to program control systems are not
normally connected to the Internet, Stuxnet replicates
via removable USB memory drives, exploiting a
vulnerability that allows auto-execution. It then spreads
across a LAN via vulnerabilities in a Windows print
spooler and Windows Server remote procedure calls. It
copies and executes itself on remote computers via
network sharing and Siemens WinCC database servers.
Stuxnet also copies itself into Siemens Step 7 PLC program
projects and executes when a project is loaded. It updates
versions via peer-to-peer communications across a LAN. It
communicates with two command and control servers,
originally located in Denmark and Malaysia, to enable code
to be downloaded and executed, including updating
versions, and can change command and control servers –
although this has not been observed yet.
Stuxnet fingerprints specific PLC configurations that use
Profibus for distributed I/O. These configurations were
gleaned using earlier versions of Stuxnet. If the
fingerprint does not match the target configuration,
Stuxnet remains benign. If the fingerprint matches, the
code on the Siemens PLCs is modified with the infected
Step 7 programming software, and the changes are
hidden. The modified code prevents the original code
from running as intended and causes the plant
equipment to operate incorrectly, potentially sabotaging
the system under control. This is achieved by
interrupting the processing of code blocks, injecting
network traffic onto the Profibus network, and modifying
output bits of PLC I/O. How this affects each plant will
depend on how the control system is connected to the
PLC and the distributed network I/O via Profibus.
Stuxnet creates is a blueprint for future attacks on realworld
infrastructure, providing generic methods to reprogram
industrial control systems. However, Stuxnet’s
sophistication and complexity make it unlikely that similar
threats will develop overnight.
SAFETY
SECURITY
www.drives.co.uk November/December 2010 21

MOTION
technology
a unique resource for specialist
motion components, assemblies and systems.
COME AND
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FACTORY
Call us today and arrange a visit to meet
the Team and experience the technologies.
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Fax: +44 (0)1256 365645
info@lg-motion.co.uk
www.lg-motion.co.uk
Engineering excellence - by design

LINEAR MOTION
Museum’s 4D ride
has added muscle
Visitors to Manchester Museum of
Science and Industry can now
experience a “four-dimensional”
immersive ride, during which their seats
are moved by a novel form of pneumatic
linear actuator. The 4D Theatre’s seats
subject their occupants to a variety of
movements, synchronised to the film
being shown, along with special effects
including water sprays and air blasts.
The ride has been developed by
Simworx, a specialist developer of 4D
effects theatres and simulation attractions,
based in Kingswinford, West Midlands.
The company is a world leader in
designing and manufacturing stationary
and mobile 4D effects theatres and
simulation attractions, with more than 600
installations worldwide at sites including
aeronautical and science museums in the
UK and US, and theme parks in Europe.
The seats for Simworx' latest
Dimensions theatres are based on a
modular design, with all of the motion
actuators incorporated in a shallow, floorstanding
plinth that supports four seats.
The most sophisticated models offer
forwards/backwards and left/right tilting
movements, as well as vertical drops. The
headrest of each seat can be fitted with
optional water sprays and air blasts, and
the pedestal can be fitted with a
pneumatically-powered leg tickler.
Over the years, Simworx has used
various actuators from different suppliers
to achieve its dynamic effects. Most have
been pneumatic, because this is a safe,
cost-effective technology which offers a
higher power density than electric
actuators, making it easier to integrate
into the body of the seat.
While developing its latest seats,
Simworx became aware of Festo's “fluidic
muscle” technology – a unique form of
tensile pneumatic actuator which mimics
biological muscles by contracting when
fed with compressed air. These actuators
are capable of fast, smooth operation, as
well as slow, jolt-free movements, and can
generate an initial force about ten times
higher than a conventional pneumatic
actuator of a similar diameter.
According to Simworx director, Andy
Roberts, when he first saw fluidic muscles
being demonstrated, “it was immediately
apparent that the muscles are considerably
better than conventional pneumatic
actuators for simulator-type applications
like ours. They provide excellent dynamic
performance, and have a much higher
power density.”
Simworx is using the most powerful,
40mm-diameter versions of Festo's latest
DMSP series fluidic muscles for its new
seats. The muscles use press-fit
connections to minimise size and weight.
Each four-seat plinth module contains four
fluidic muscles – one in each corner –
together with four manifold-mounted
Festo VPPM proportional pressure
regulators, and a controller. The cascaded
dual-stage regulators provide an easy,
precise means of varying flow rates to the
actuators. To minimise noise interference,
the compressed air supply is generated
outside the theatre and is distributed to
each seat module via a “pneumatic ring
main”. The exhausted air is released
locally, via silencers.
The controller in each seat module
communicates with a host control PC via a
fieldbus system. Special event triggers in
the film being shown instruct the central
controller to issue appropriate signals to all
of the seat modules in the theatre
simultaneously, resulting in the entire
audience experiencing exactly the same
effect – be it pitch, rock, vibrate or a
The theatre’s seats incorporate
powerful “fluidic muscles”
in a shallow floor-standing plinth
sudden drop – at the same time.
Following the Manchester museum
installation, Simworx is supplying a
Dimensions system for an indoor theme
park on Weston-super-Mare's newly
rebuilt Grand Pier. “I envisage we'll be
making increasing use of this technology
in the future,” says Roberts. D&C
www.drives.co.uk November/December 2010 23

LINEAR MOTION
Electric axes
show a
clean pair
of heels
LPW makes wide use of
electric actuators in its hightech
cleaning machines
A German machine-builder is using electric linear axes to transport and feed parts into
cleaning and drying chambers, ensuring high positional accuracy, reliability and speed
under often harsh operating conditions.
The German company LPW
Reinigungssysteme specialises in
designing and manufacturing
advanced aqueous cleaning systems. It
produces a variety of spray degreasing and
cleaning systems, using technologies such as
high-pressure and ultrasound cleaning,
coupled with advanced drying processes
using filtered air. These systems are used in
the automotive, mechanical engineering and
aerospace sectors.
An essential element of these systems is a
reliable, easy-to-use method for transporting,
transferring, separating and feeding the
products and components – which can range
from small parts to bulky objects such as
gearbox or engine assemblies, often
weighing as much as 400kg.
To integrate its cleaning systems with upand
down-stream production equipment
and to deliver optimum performance and
productivity, LPW has developed customised
transport mechanisms, typically based on
pneumatic and electromechanical
technologies, with advanced inductive
sensing and control systems.
For example, its modular PowerJet series
provides high-pressure flooding at up to
18bar and incorporates up to five cleaning
stages. Components to be cleaned are
transported in special cages that are moved
manually or automatically on heavy-duty
accumulating roller conveyors that
compensate for fluctuations in feed flow and
cycle rates. Pneumatic piston rod cylinders
mounted between the conveyor rollers
separate the cages and queue others until a
cleaning station is free. Once separated, each
cage is lifted from the main conveyor and
fed to the entrance of the cleaning chamber.
At this stage, LPW uses high-performance
electric linear drives with integrated heavyduty
guides and stroke lengths of 2m to
feed heavy or large components (such as
engine blocks and gearbox housings) safely,
gently and accurately into each cleaning
chamber. For this application, it has chosen
Parker Origa’s OSP-E BHD drives which can
withstand high loads and moments, even
when positioning products accurately and at
different speeds.
The linear drives also allow the rate and
speed of the feed process to be adjusted to
match the weight, size and cleaning
requirements of each batch of components.
In addition, the compact devices can be
driven indirectly, allowing their motors to be
isolated beneath the roller conveyor.
Once the cleaning and rinsing processes
are complete, the chamber door opens and
the linear drive moves back into the chamber
to raise the component cage before drawing
it out on smooth-running rollers. When the
component has been lowered back onto the
main roller conveyor, it continues on to
further cleaning chambers (if required),
before being moved to the drying chamber.
Similar linear drives are used at each stage.
The system allows cleaning and drying
stages to be carried out concurrently, to
maximise throughput in high-volume
applications.
®
Reliance
Precision Mechatronics LLP
A complete source for
precise motion control
• Linear Slides • Leadscrew Assemblies • Linear Actuators •
• Gearboxes • Motors • Leadscrews • Intelligent Motion •
• Couplings • Precision Gears • Fasteners •
Call our Sales Team on +44 (0) 1484 601002
Visit us at www.rpmechatronics.co.uk
Unique Solutions from Proven Concepts
24 November/December 2010 www.drives.co.uk

Application
Door closer mechanism
for underground train
Solution
Linear Ball Bearing KS
First in Line
The world's largest range of linear systems from a single source
INA linear bearings and guidance
systems from Schaeffler UK offer first
quality products to meet linear guidance
requirements across a comprehensive
range of applications.
From simple guidance mechanisms
for low to moderate accuracy to heavy
duty systems offering high rigidity and
load carrying capacity, the INA range is
first in line.
Taking the quality envelope that bit
further are X-life premium products
that feature enhanced characteristics
including increased load carrying
capacity, higher rigidity, lower operating
temperatures and reduced noise levels.
So, whether you are designing a new machine
tool, packaging machine, medical device,
door closing mechanism or anything else
that involves linear motion, the INA linear
product range can provide the perfect solution.
Schaeffler (UK) Ltd
Tel: 0121 351 3833 Fax: 0121 351 7686
E-mail: info.uk@schaeffler.com
Web: www.schaeffler.co.uk
World Leaders in Rolling Bearings, Plain Bearings, Linear Systems and Engine Components

Motion Controllers
Machine
Controllers
Remote I/O
HMI
AC Drives
DC Drives
Servo Drives
Stepper Drives
Rotary Servo Motors
Servo Motor Kits,
Linear Servo Motors
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Together, we can turn your ideas
into motion.
With its unrivalled range of electromechanical and drives automation products for general and
precision motion control applications, Parker Hannifin brings together the technology and expertise
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in mind, Parker’s products work on multiple control and communication platforms and can easily
be customised to suit specific requirements. Partnering with Parker not only enables you to develop
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www.parker.com epic@parker.com 00800 27 27 5374

Cantilever axis assists
tobacco-cutting skates
WINCHESTER-BASED
Garbuio Dickinson makes
tobacco-cutting machines
with a near-vertical action that
minimises compression of the
tobacco.
The machines are fed by
vibrating tray feeds that
need to be removed for
cleaning. The 1,800kg
feeds are usually moved
manually on air skates.
“One customer however, wanted to take things a stage further
and asked if we could devise something which would actually pull
the feeder accurately into the machine,” says Garbuio Dickinson’s
senior design engineer, Peter Todd. With only a 5mm clearance
between the feed tray and the cutting machine sidewalls, he
needed to find a linear motion system that would avoid contact
between the two, and tolerate contamination by tobacco dust.
Garbuio Dickinson chose HepcoMotion’s DLS3C linear actuator,
which uses an aluminium beam to provide rigid support for
cantilevered loads with minimal inertia. The actuator’s drive is
mounted on the carriage and not connected to the end-plate, so
the motor, carriage and cables remain stationary while the beam
moves. For added safety, an overload clutch on the motorised
gearbox limits the push/pull forces.
The tray actuator that Todd designed consists of two linear
systems, linked by a common shaft to ensure it moves in and out in
parallel. The moving tray is supported by a pivoting mount that
allows the connecting end of the tray to rise and fall as the feeder
is lifted by its air skates.
“In the event, with the air skates activated, the system wasn’t that
dependant on being powered,” says Todd, “but the design of the guidance
system has proved a major factor in the success of our product.”
Screwjack goes with the flow
A screwjack system is helping
to control the flow of one of
Britain’s shortest rivers – the
River Morar which links Loch
Morar to the sea, a few
hundred metres away, on
Scotland’s west coast. The jack
raises or lowers a sluice gate
at a weir near a hydroelectric
dam and fish ladder at the
west end of the Loch.
The 100kN rotating screwjack
in a ram-style linear actuator
design, is used, with a motor
and reduction gearbox, to
raise or lower the gate to
control local water flows.
Garbuio Dickinson’s feed tray movement
system relies on a pair of linear actuators
(under the tray) linked by a shaft
A screwjack controls the level
of Scotland’s River Morar
The screwjack operates over a
stroke of 2,350mm, pivoting on its integral trunnions located midway
on the ram's outer tube. At the end of the ram, a clevis end with
spherical bearing connects the jack to the weir gate.
When the jack was first installed in 2001, it was driven by a 2.2kW
geared motor with position feedback coming from end-of-stroke
limit switches and an absolute encoder that links back to the control
system. Since then, it has been upgraded by replacing the motor
with an alternative with an integrated handwheel. The screwjack was
supplied by Power Jacks, the Scottish linear actuation specialist.
No more
corkscrews
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igus ® (UK) Limited 51A Caswell Road Brackmills Ind. Estate Northampton NN4 7PW
Phone 01604-677240 Fax 01604-677242 sales_uk@igus.co.uk
www.drives.co.uk November/December 2010 27

Koyo has been a world leader in bearing technology since 1921.
In this world of global competition it is comforting to know that UK
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In all types of environment Koyo has proven its expertise and ability to
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Bearing up to
electrical erosion
Variable speed drives can make life tough for motor bearings. SKF’s
communications manager Phil Burge explains that preventing the damage caused
by stray currents needs careful motor installation, bearing selection and diagnosis.
BEARINGS, BELTS & CHIAINS
Stray currents inside motors can
be caused by a variety of
sources, including rotor
eccentricities and asymmetries,
uneven air gaps, unbalanced
windings or even poor electrical
steel homogeneity. However, the
increasingly widespread use of
variable speed drives has introduced
an important new source of these
currents. Common-mode voltage –
resulting from the inability of PWM
(pulse width modulation)
techniques used by drives to
produce a perfectly smooth
sinusoidal output – creates a rapidly
changing potential difference
between the motor windings and
earth. In many motor installations,
the bearings provide the path of
least resistance for these currents,
but following that path can take a
severe toll on the bearings.
To high-frequency currents, the
lubricant film in a rolling element
bearing acts as a capacitor. A
voltage difference builds up
between the bearing casing and the
rolling elements until it becomes
large enough to overcome the
insulation provided by the lubricant.
At that point, a discharge occurs.
Heat generated by the discharge
can cause local melting of the
bearing’s metal surface. Craters are
formed and particles of molten
material are transferred and partly
break loose. The crater material rehardens,
becoming much more brittle
than the original material. Below the rehardened
layer there is a layer of
annealed material, which is softer than
the surrounding material.
While the substantial electrical
discharges typically seen in DC motor
installations can cause craters up to 1mm
in diameter and are clearly visible to the
A pattern of lines across bearing raceways can indicate that
current has passed through the bearing. This effect, known as
fluting, is secondary damage that becomes visible over time.
Electric discharges can cause the base oil in a bearing lubricant to
burn and harden, resulting in poor lubrication
AC currents passing through bearings can produce tiny surface
craters, a few microns in diameter, which give the rolling
elements a dull appearance (left).
naked eye, AC applications typically result
in the formation of “micro” craters just a
few μm in diameter. Over time, however,
mechanical vibrations caused by elements
rolling over these tiny craters will cause
secondary damage, manifesting itself as a
series of parallel grey segments along the
raceways, known as fluting. The
temperature peaks around the discharge
area can also cause the lubricant
inside the bearing to decompose
and degrade, and to become
blackened over time. Together,
these damage mechanisms lead to
premature bearing failure, and to
costly downtime.
>Difficult diagnosis
Bearing currents cause problems in
a small minority of VSD installations.
It is desirable, however, to find
methods of diagnosis that do not
rely on inspecting a failed bearing.
The complexity and unpredictability
of stray currents within motors can
make such diagnosis difficult, and
the occurrence of problems in an
installation can depend on the asmanufactured
characteristics of the
motor, the details of its installation,
and its mode of use.
Because electrical erosion typically
manifests itself within a few months
of a system being commissioned,
frequent basic condition monitoring
can be an effective way to identify
early bearing damage.
Detecting stray currents
traditionally requires considerable
skill and specialist equipment,
including high-speed oscilloscopes
and special sensors that can be
installed on rotating shafts. When
correctly set up, the oscilloscope will
show peaks on the screen
corresponding to each electrical
discharge in the bearing.
A useful recent innovation in the battle
against electrical erosion has been the
development of specialised electrical
discharge detection devices. These
handheld instruments are tuned to
monitor changes in the magnetic field
around a motor shaft at the specific
frequencies associated with electrical
erosion, allowing rapid, robust
www.drives.co.uk November/December 2010 29

BEARINGS, BELTS & CHIAINS
identification of potential
problems.
> Remedial action
The most effective
preventative or remedial
action in the event of
electrical erosion in bearings
will depend on the
characteristics of the
equipment and on the
interventions available to the
engineer. In new installations,
risks can be minimised by
using symmetrical multi-core
motor cables in which the
earth conductor is either
arranged as a concentric
shield around the phase leads
or as three separate leads
positioned between them.
Shielded motor cables can
also provide a short, lowimpedance
path for commonmode
current to return to the
inverter. Likewise, a
grounding brush on the
motor shaft can offer an
easier path to earth than that
provided by the motor
bearings. Effective grounding
between other motor
components can also be
important.
The high-frequency
switching that can be a major
cause of electrical erosion can
sometimes be minimised by
changing the characteristics
of the drive control program,
or by installing dedicated
filters in the drive circuit.
The use of bearings with
insulating housings can
eliminate the electrical
pathway through the motor
bearings, thus preventing
erosion. Insulated bearings are
readily available, but different
coatings and bearing designs
have different characteristics
when exposed to highfrequency
AC currents.
Bearing manufacturers have
tested their proprietary
designs under a wide range of
operating conditions and can
offer advice on the most
suitable bearings for particular
applications. In some cases,
bearings with ceramic rolling
elements can be particularly
useful, providing perfect
electrical insulation between a
motor’s stator and rotor. D&C
Solar plant uses plain
bearings to track the sun
More than 1,000 precision plain bearing
rod ends are playing a key role in the
world’s largest parabolic trough solar
power station – the 50MW Andasol 1 plant in
southern Spain
The €300m plant, which went on line in mid-
2009, is expected to generate about 180GWh a
year – supporting the power needs of more than
200,000 people, and saving around 150,000
tonnes of carbon dioxide. It is the first of three
similar plants being built at the site in Andalusia.
The plant consists of three main parts, the
largest being an array of solar troughs with a
collector area of more than 510,000m 2 –
equivalent to around 70 soccer pitches. There is
also a power plant area and a heat accumulator,
which allows the station to continue generating
electricity even in cloudy weather or after sunset.
The solar field consists of parallel rows of
parabolic collectors arranged on a north-south
axis to follow the path of the sun from east to
west. To track the sun, each collector is fitted
with a hydraulic drive.
The trough-shaped parabolic mirrors focus
the solar radiation onto an absorber pipe,
positioned along the collector’s focal line. A
closed-circuit pipe system uses synthetic oil to
transfer heat at up to 400°C. The heated oil is
pumped to a power block where it flows
through a heat exchanger. The next stage is
similar to the steam cycle in a conventional
power plant – the steam generated in the heat
exchanger drives a turbine connected to a
generator. The steam then condenses back into
water, which is recirculated.
A total of 1,248 Elges hydraulic rod end
bearings supplied by Schaeffler support the
solar troughs, positioning them with millimetre
precision to follow the sun.
“High-precision bearings are required so that
the power plant can operate at maximum
efficiency,” explains Dr Arndt Schweigert, head
of Schaeffler’s power generation sector.
“Moreover, the bearings also have to withstand
loads that should not be underestimated.”
The plain bearings have been optimised for
the slow, precise swivel motion. It is critical that
these movements are smooth, without any
stick-slip effects or jolting on start-up.
At the same time, the hydraulic rod ends
need to support high forces and to handle
alternating loads. This allows the 150m-long
chains of collectors to be adjusted to within a
tenth of a millimetre.
The rod ends are fitted with manganese
phosphate-coated radial spherical plain bearings
with steel-to-steel sliding contact surfaces. The
Parabolic reflectors focus the
sun’s energy on a pipe carrying oil
which is heated to 400°C
surface treatment improves the running-in
characteristics and reduces friction. The inner
ring of the spherical plain bearing is 70mm wide
and has a 110mm cylindrical bore diameter, as
well as a spherical outer slideway. The 160mmdiameter
outer ring has a cylindrical outer
surface and a concave inner slideway with a
diameter of 140mm.
Schaeffler has also provided 7,488 lead-free
plain bearing strips for the Andasol plant. These
are mounted in the supports between the
individual segments of the 150m-long collector
chains, ensuring smooth slewing movements
while tracking the sun.
30 November/December 2010 www.drives.co.uk

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NSK UK Ltd · Northern Road, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 2JF · Telephone +44 (0) 1636 605123 · info-uk@nsk.com

2
BEARINGS, BELTS & CHIAINS
Tests helped to make World Cup stadia vuvuzela-resistant
Long before the first kick-off at the recent football World
Cup in South Africa, engineers working for Wacker
Ingenieure Wind Engineering in Germany had tested
scale models of the stadia to determine how they would
handle storms, vibrations and other disturbances.
Using the three wind tunnels at their facility in
Birkenfeld, the engineers were able to test how the
stadia would withstand wind loads – and whether they
would start to vibrate when 80,000 fans celebrated
by making a deafening noise with their vuvuzelas.
The wind tunnels can generate wind speeds
of more than 100km/h to simulate the
conditions encountered during a hurricane.
The equipment uses scale models to
analyse structures such as skyscrapers,
airports or bridges, years before the
foundation stone is laid. The engineers
evaluate the test data using software
developed in-house. There is only one other
company in the world that offers similar "wind
engineering" services.
To obtain exact measurements, absolute precision is
required in the wind tunnels. For example, a rotary table
at the end of one of the tunnels carries scale models of
the building being tested, which can be turned through
360 degrees in 4,000 precise steps.
This table is rotated using a 3.2m-long, 30mm-wide belt
with protuberances known as nubs. The belt is attached
to a free-running steel rim, with the nubs facing
outwards and connecting with a drive wheel containing
matching indentations.
Bernd Reinhard of Wacker Aerodynamics (right) with René Pressler
from Hilger and Kern Antriebstechnik at the rotating table mounted
in front of the wind tunnel (background). The inset (left) shows a
close-up of the nubbed belt drive system. Photos: Wacker Ingenieure
“When combined with the nubbed wheel, the belt allows us to test aerodynamics in
precisely defined steps to obtain exact measurements,” explains Wacker’s
aerodynamics specialist, Bernd Reinhard. “The nubs on the nubbed wheel roll on a
precise circle. The constant belt tension and high performance are guaranteed by
wear-resistant, durable polyurethane with steel cord reinforcements.”
Wacker’s engineers developed the drive system in co-operation with Mulco partner
Hilger and Kern Antriebstechnik. The Synchrodrive N10 nubbed belt was supplied by
ContiTech’s Power Transmission Group.
The Wacker engineers are now using their wind tunnel equipment to test the stadia for
the 2012 European Cup in Poland.
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For more information on how Renold can enhance your
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Six superior solutions from Renold
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32 November/December 2010 www.drives.co.uk
www.renold.com

Your life in
our hands.
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TRANSMISSION
BELTS
Through an incision thinner
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But you don’t need to be a heart surgeon to put
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BEARINGS, BELTS & CHIAINS
Converting to
synchronous
belts cuts
HVAC costs
by $34,000
US-BASED Reichhold Corporation is a
global supplier to the composites and
coatings industries, with 18 manufacturing
facilities in 11 countries. During the hot
summer months, the energy to run beltdriven
HVAC systems at its site in Durham,
North Carolina, was costing it about
$80,000 a month.
The site’s maintenance technician called
in a representative from the belt-maker
Gates to survey the plant for potential
energy savings on its V-belt driven systems,
which included 21 HVAC systems powered
by 30hp (22.4kW) motors, 44 fume hood
exhaust fans powered by 5–10hp (3.7–
7.4kW) motors, and four cooling tower
fans powered by 50hp (37kW) motors.
The HVAC drives were being driven by
four-strand V-belts which needed frequent
retensioning, and had to be changed every
three months. Gates replaced them with
Before and after: a cooling tower fan with a five-strand V-belt drive (left)
and the same fan with a synchronous belt drive (right)
14mm Poly Chain GT Carbon synchronous
belt drives, and monitored them.
The current being drawn per belt fell
from 12.5A to 10.4A, and the annual KWh
usage dropped to 10,103–10,557kWh,
representing annual energy savings of
$505–527. Converting all 21 belts
represents an energy cost saving of at least
$10,608. In addition, the synchronous belt
drives should run for years without needing
to be retensioned or replaced, avoiding
extra downtime and maintenance costs.
The Reichhold facility also includes two
1,200-tonne chillers and cooling towers.
Each cooling tower had two fan drives
fitted with V-belts. When one drive was
converted to a 14mm synchronous belt
drive, the savings were substantial. The
estimated annual saving of converting all
four fans is $12,595, including reduced
downtime and maintenance costs.
Although the 44 fume hood exhaust fans
on the roof of the Reichhold facility are
covered, they are subject to extreme
variations in temperature. Previously they
were driven by two-strand V-belts which
had to be replaced every three months and
were each costing $250 a year to maintain.
By changing to 8mm synchronous belt
drives, energy consumption fell by 12.9%.
Converting all 44 drives is cutting
maintenance costs by $11,000/year, in
addition to the energy cost savings.
In total, the maintenance and energy
cost savings achieved by converting the
various V-belt drives at Reichhold site to
synchronous belt drives is amounting to
more than $34,000 a year.
34 November/December 2010 www.drives.co.uk

Falcon HTC
Falcon HTC
For more information about Falcon HTC, please contact Veyance Technologies Europe, Unit 2, Zone 4, Burntwood Business Park,
Burntwood, Staffordshire WS7 3XD, phone: +44 1543 672511, email: uksales@veyance.com
The GOODYEAR (and Winged Foot Design) trademark is used by Veyance Technologies, Inc. under license from The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Goodyear Engineered Products
are manufactured and sourced exclusively by Veyance Technologies, Inc. or its affiliates. ©2008 Veyance Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

POLY CHAIN ® GT CARBON BELT
TECHNOLOGY DRIVES
PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS
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Nothing tougher
If you thought that the limit in power ratings was
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carbon tensile cord design. The most powerful
synchronous belt in the market offering an
excellent alternative to roller chain drives and gear.
For more info go to www.gates.com/europe/PTI
or mail to inforequest@gates.com

Extend your chain
lives at no extra cost
Simply by looking for signs of early wear and eliminating the cause,
engineers can prolong the lives of conveyor and transmission chain without
incurring any extra costs, says Renold Chain’s marketing communications
manager, David Turner, in the first article in a series.
BEARINGS, BELTS & CHIAINS
Standard roller chain is
designed to last at least
15,000 hours. Certain
unavoidable factors may shorten a
chain’s life, but if chain is routinely
needing to be replaced before this,
then it is worth checking to see if
anything can be done to extend its
working life. Often it can.
If it were possible to get just
10% more life out of every strand
of chain on every production line
and machine in a factory, the
savings would be enormous when
extrapolated over a year – not just
in terms of reduced chain
replacement costs, but also
through reduced downtime.
Every year, our engineers come
across dozens of cases where chain
has worn prematurely due to
relatively minor problems that could
have been put right quite easily.
When you consider that some
production lines are running
hundreds – possibly thousands –
of metres of chain, it’s not difficult
to work out that if each strand
could be made to last longer, then
real savings could be made across
the whole factory. Even small
operations can benefit from
extended chain lives, especially
when all that may be needed is a
little time to investigate operating
conditions and to consider
maintenance routines.
To find out where the tweaks
and adjustments might be needed,
first undertake a thorough visual
inspection of the chain while it is
not running. Just as a forensic
pathologist can look at a dead
body and determine the cause of
death, if a chain is suffering from
premature wear, there will be visual
signs that can be spotted easily.
Although failure to lubricate chain
correctly might seem an obvious cause of
early wear, it is still the most common
Fig. 1: Fretting corrosion can result from poor lubrication
Fig. 2: Misalignments can result in side-plate wear
reason for premature failure. Checking your
lubrication regime should be a top priority.
Check that each chain is being lubricated
regularly with the correct lubricant,
referring to the manufacturer’s
lubrication guides.
Fig. 1 shows an example of
conveyor chain where scoring and
heavy red deposits are a clear sign
of fretting corrosion. This is
caused by marginal lubrication
where there is not enough
lubricant present to prevent the
asperities on the chain’s
components rubbing together. In
such a case, lubricate the chain
thoroughly to wash out some of
the oxide, and monitor it
regularly. The chain should then
be lubricated regularly and
correctly to prevent the problem
from recurring.
The transmission chain in Fig. 2
is showing signs of wear on the
face and the end of the sideplates.
The reason for this type of
wear is misalignment, which
causes abrasion with a fixed point
on the circuit. From the wear
pattern, it looks as if the chain
may have worn its guides too, so it
should be easy to spot the point of
contact. The remedy is to realign
the chain before the damage
becomes any more serious and the
chain needs to be replaced.
Renold has produced a free
troubleshooter guide, available as
a downloadable PDF from its Web
site (www.renold.com). The guide
documents dozens of examples of
the sort of conditions that will
cause premature failures, and
provides fix-it advice on rectifying
the problems. Doing this can
increase the chain’s working life
significantly, postpone
replacement costs and cut
downtime.
D&C
When chain does eventually need replacing
there are more opportunities for improving
performance. This will be examined in the
next article in this series.
www.drives.co.uk November/December 2010 37

Time to
put HMIs
in control?
PLCs AND HMIs
The boundary between HMIs and Scada systems is breaking down,
with modern CE-based HMIs offering many of the functions previously
restricted to PC-based systems. Graham Isherwood (left), sales manager
for ABB Open Control Systems, examines this trend and
considers what it means for the automation market.
The distinction between HMI and
Scada is becoming increasingly
blurred. Traditionally, an HMI was a
simple interface to a PLC and was in the
domain of the machine-builder. Scada, by
contrast, was the “line controller” which
ran on a PC and had better functions for
visualisation, trending and alarm reporting
– but was usually not cost-effective at the
machine level.
Both technologies have evolved. Scada
vendors now offer Windows CE-based
products that run on HMI hardware, while
HMI vendors are adding features to boost
functionality.
Does this mean that there is now a
simple choice between “large” and
“small” Scada, or is there an application
niche for high-performance HMI panels,
that are both feature-rich and costeffective?
The automation industry has no
accurate definitions for HMI or Scada. The
two terms are often freely
interchangeable – or are simply seen as
being different names for the same thing.
You therefore need to set up a framework
to allow comparisons to be made.
In general, there are two generic
approaches to providing an operator
display – those based on Microsoft’s
Windows CE, and those based on fullscale
PCs. Windows CE displays are
probably less obvious to users because
vendors implement their own flash
screens on boot-up.
Microsoft’s CE developments (driven
largely by the requirements of the mobile
phone market and by CPU developments)
have resulted in CE becoming a powerful
platform for HMI applications.
On the PC-based side, you find Scada
and DCS. Scada vendors often add (and
sometimes remove) functions to provide a
CE-based offer, usually offering the same
development tools as for their PC-based
systems. DCS vendors tend to use CEbased
panels for peripheral operator
stations rather than for those found in
control rooms. The boundaries in the
operator display market are therefore
blurred, but this perhaps ignores other
important attributes in the hardware.
What’s missing?
CE devices tend to be more robust than
PCs, and thus more reliable in the field,
needing no mains power supply (they
operate from 24V DC supplies), no hard
drive (they use flash memory) and no fans.
These factors make CE-based HMIs
functionally attractive – even more so
when relative prices are considered, along
with easier installation and swap-out.
Another attraction is that the
combination of a CE panel and its
associated software is cheaper than the
PC-based Scada alternative. This has a
direct bearing when a system needs
multiple operator stations, and the budget
is a maximum of £1,000 per station.
But you might wonder what is
“missing” in a CE-based HMI that you
might regret later on. If the price per
station is lower, then what are you doing
without?
In the past, CE-based systems posed
some development problems, with an
over-dependence on processor types and
other limitations. In addition, the software
was clumsy and required a knowledge of
electronics as well as of automation.
Thankfully this is over. There are now
two sub-divisions within the CE operator
station market – those from vendors that
supply both hardware and software, and
those that supply these elements
separately.
Both approaches have attractions in
terms of squeezing more out of the CE
format. Holistic hardware with software
combinations offer ease-of-use and
extended, dedicated functions.
If a CE-based panel is going to be costeffective,
it has to offer more for your
money than an equivalent PC-based
system (bearing in mind the software
licencing cost). The front has to look good
(offering a choice of a touchscreen or
function keys), but the detail is at the rear.
Turning an HMI panel around shows its
connections and how thoughtfully and
practically it has been designed. For
example, can you see an RJ-45 Ethernet
connector, a USB socket, a memory card
slot, an old-style D-Sub serial port, a
printer port, a 24V DC terminal, and so
on? You should also check the mounting
www.drives.co.uk November/December 2010 39

PLCs AND HMIs
method and the sealing arrangements
for dust and fluids.
From this you can gauge the likely
functionality. A quick check of the
headline software features does the rest.
For example, does it offer scalable
graphics (you don’t want to have to
develop separately for each size of
panel)? Also, how does the alarm
handling interface with external systems,
and can the panel generate SMS alerts
directly without needing another
program (as would be the case for a PCbased
alternative)? Is the HMI program
backed-up to non-volatile memory and
can the memory be expanded via
memory card slots? The ability to use
one HMI panel to display another’s
content can also be an advantage. The
list goes on, but attractive and functional
features are exposed in this way.
The remaining item on the checklist is
connectivity to controllers. Extensive
connections are needed for a standard
hardware and software HMI system that
can be deployed across a whole site and
for machine-builders who may have
different controllers on different
machines, but want to benefit from a
standard operator display.
Compact Flash-slot
Can – or should – you abandon PCbased
Scada and move to CE-based
HMI? Well, you would save a lot of
money but, as ever, you need to take a
balanced view. Modern CE-based HMIs
do not have the same compromises and
difficulties that you might remember
from earlier generations. Combined
hardware and software systems will
probably offer useful extra functions
(such as SMS alerting) compared to
RS422/485 Expansion port Internal Compact Flash-slot
USB Host
Ethernet
A peek around the back of an HMI panel reveals its connections and other design features
RS232
piecemeal supplies.
The control room and the line
controller are the domains of Scada and
DCS solutions. But “out there” and
“down there” you need the functions,
robustness and attractive pricing of an
all-in-one CE-based HMI panel. This
could be the right time for you to reevaluate
your view of CE-based HMIs –
there is much to be gained, and nothing
D&C
to be lost.
Dual PLCs ensure a smooth lift for aircraft passengers
An Italian company called Oxley specialises in manufacturing aerial
platform systems, including vehicles used to transfer people with
restricted mobility to and from passenger aircraft.
Traditionally these vehicles have been based on diesel-engined trucks
which have been costly to buy and maintain. Since 2005, Oxley has
been working on an alternative electrically-powered design which is
smaller and cheaper to operate and has been designed to comply with
new European airport and environmental regulations.
A key requirement was the ability to operate the lifting system both
from the ground and from the platform in the raised position, and to
provide the operator with full information on this process.
Initially, Oxley produced a platform using relay-based electronics but
the authorities rejected this approach, saying that it did not comply
with stringent airport standards. Oxley therefore decided to fit the
mechanical components, fully tested, to the vehicle and to adopt
programmable industrial controls.
The latest vehicle – known as the NewOx906Air – is controlled by two
Rockwell Automation Micrologix 1100 PLCs. One PLC is installed on the
platform which carries the passenger and operator. The second is
located within the electric motor bay in the lower section of the
vehicle. The PLCs communicate with each other using the DH485
protocol, allowing communication via three coiled cables which avoid
problems of cable movement and wear.
The use of two PLCs guarantees redundancy of the control systems
responsible for maintaining the platform in the correct horizontal
attitude, and prevents any unexpected movement and the risk of
collision or crushing when docking with the aircraft. Operators can
check the operating parameters via a Rockwell PanelView C300 control
panel which also provides first-level diagnostics for detecting faults.
Maintenance personnel can monitor the control system remotely via
Uplifting: Oxley’s air passenger transport vehicle uses a pair of PLCs to
provide redundant control and to allow operation from two locations
Ethernet, thus reducing maintenance times and costs in the event of
any problems.
The electrically-propelled platform is said to be quick and simple to
operate. It is fitted with all of the safety systems needed to embark and
disembark passengers without risk to their safety or damage to the
aircraft.
40 November/December 2010 www.drives.co.uk

HEIDENHAIN
Advanced Universal AC Drive
V/F, Vector, & Permanent Magnet Motor Control
Open or Closed Loop
Light or Heavy Duty
Application Specific Algorithms Included As Standard
Built in PLC, Integral PID, Multipump, Mechanical Brake Control, Elevator Control, Traverse & Spinning Frame
LCD Plain English Keypad
c/w Programming Knob
Supplied As Standard
Meiden Europe Ltd
Also Available From:
ACCURACY
IN MOTION
Solutions for demanding
positioning tasks
Easy to integrate
Cost-effective
Integral EMC Filter
(200V Drives up to 5.5kw)
(400V Drives up to 15kw)
Supplied As Standard
Integral Braking Chopper
(up to 22kw)
Supplied As Standard
Supplied As Standard
Programmable I/O
7 Sink/Source Digital Inputs
3 Analogue Inputs*
2 Relay Outputs
3 Transistor Outputs
2 Analogue Outputs*
(*Selectable 0-10V / 4-20mA)
Sizes Available:
200-230V 3Phase 50/60Hz 0.7 to 90kw
380-480V 3Phase 50/60Hz 0.7 to 475kw
Inverter Drives,
Designed & Manufactured by Meiden (Meidensha)
have been in use in Britain for over 25 Years.
Sold under our distributors brands such as NEI & Contraves,
Many of these drives are
Still There, & Still working,
hidden away in the bottom of a control panel,
long forgotten because they have given no trouble.
Pumping, Blowing, Printing, Winding,
Grinding, Turning, Carrying & Lifting.
Day after Day, Year After Year, without missing a beat.
The Thyfrec Family
VT83, VT86, VT87, VT110, VT200, VT210, VT230
And Now:
VT240S
Agut Control Gear Ltd
MLH Services
Supplied As Standard
Offering a world class range of
precision encoders, HEIDENHAIN
products are used in a wide range
of automation solutions for linear,
rotary and angular measurement.
Be precise - call HEIDENHAIN today!
HEIDENHAIN (GB) Limited
200 London Road
Burgess Hill
West Sussex
RH15 9RD
Tel: 01444 247711
Fax: 01444 870024
Email: sales@heidenhain.co.uk
www.heidenhain.co.uk

Experience is our Strength
)))!&'$"
Gearless Motors for Lifts
For nearly half a century Lafert have engineered and
manufactured customised electric motors for numerous
industrial applications and have become a market leader
with global exports.
We have also developed specific abilities in permanent
magnet gearless synchronous motors. After combining
this experience with our competitive manufacturing
know-how we now enter the lift market with a highly
efficient, low noise and compact motor design.
• Payload from 240kg to 1275kg
• Torque to 660Nm
• Reliability: Compliance with Lift Directive 95/16/EC
and EN 81-1 specifications
.. ..
• Verified by TUV SUD
Contact us now
for a catalogue
Lafert Electric Motors Ltd
Electra House, Electra Way, Crewe. CW1 6GL
T: 01270 270022 E: lafertuk@lafert.com

Superior Systems’
test rig puts car
hinges through
their paces
Tests hinge on
precision control
Miniature Drive Specialists
COVENTRY-BASED industrial controls
expert Superior Systems has developed
a rig for testing a new generation of
car door hinges for a leading
automotive components supplier. The
rig had to be reliable, easy to operate
and able to transfer the test results to
a mainframe computer.
Essentially, the rig consists of an arm
that is attached to the hinge being
tested, which engages with a platen
that runs around a 1m-radius curved
track. Weights can be added to the
arm to simulate the loads that a car
door would impose on the hinge.
This arrangement allows the arm to
be moved through any angle (up to a
maximum dictated by the design) and
for the speed of the movement to be
controlled accurately between 1m/min
and 1m/s. A second, similarlyequipped
platen boosts the rig’s
versatility.
To control the servomotors used on
the platens, Superior chose Mitsubishi
MR-J3 servo drives, while overall
control of the rig is provided by a
Mitsubishi Qn PLC. A Mitsubishi E1070
colour HMI, with a built-in keypad, is
used to set up and operate the
machine.
A typical test sequence begins by
pre-exercising the hinge for several
cycles at a relatively high speed. It is
then operated through one cycle at a
lower speed while detailed
measurements are made of its
performance.
Using the HMI terminal, all that the
machine operators need to do to set
up a test is to enter the speed and
angle of travel for the exercise cycles
and the number of cycles required,
together with the speed and angle of
travel for the measurement cycle. The
test is then initiated at the touch of a
button, with the results collected
automatically by the PLC and
transferred to a mainframe system via
Mitsubishi’s MX Sheet software.
The HMI keypad is also used to
access ancillary functions, such as
facilities for manual jogging as an aid
to mechanical set-up. While the tests
are in progress, the HMI screen
displays a graphical representation of
the results in real time.
According to Superior’s proprietor,
John Ferris, two of the main attractions
of the Mitsubishi PLC for this
application were its support for
Ethernet and its ability to run the MX
Sheet software. This Excel
communications support tool, he
explains, “made it easy for us to collect
the data produced by the test rig and
to format it for use by the end-user’s
mainframe systems, while the Ethernet
connectivity provided us with the
means to transfer the data to those
systems. Its data formatting and
transfer were very straightforward to
set up – no complicated programming
was needed.”
PRECISE STEPS FOR
SAFE OPERATION
PRECISION MINIATURE
STEPPER MOTORS
satisfy the most demanding medical applications.
Faulhaber Precistep stepper motors are 2-phase
multi-polar motors with
rare earth permanent
magnets providing
exceptionally high power
to
volume
ratio.
The
large
magnet
volume
delivers high torque
density and the rare earth
characteristics allow
for consistent stable
performance across a
very wide temperature
range. Compatible with Faulhaber
encoders and
gearheads these stepper motors start at just 6mm
diameter and are also available with integrated
lead screws.
EMS
www.ems-limited.co.uk
0118 9817391
DC Micromotors
Brushless DC motors
Gearmotors
Low Profile Motors
Stepper Motors
Drive Electronics
Linear Actuators
Custom Solutions

PLCs AND HMIs
What can HMIs learn
from the iPhone?
What are latest trends in HMIs and what should you look
for when choosing one? Dirk Hartmann, marketing
manager for Beijer Electronics, outlines some key trends.
HMIs are in a state of flux. Industrial
user interfaces are taking inspiration
from consumer products such as
mobile phones and MP3 players, with
advanced 3D-style graphics and icon-based
navigation and controls, resulting in friendly
and intuitive user interfaces. Leading-edge
HMIs support this with embedded graphics
and functions, providing intuitive user
interfaces based on modern software
technologies and open architectures.
Trend 1: Enhancing the user experience
The significance of user interfaces has
become increasingly clear in recent years.
For example, Apple’s iPod and iPhone are
iconic examples of how appealing and
intuitive user interfaces have changed the
perception of some types of product. The
success of these products and other
consumer-oriented merchandise shows that
a common look-and-feel among the
products, graphics and environments
contributes to brand distinction and to
consistent customer experiences.
Many industrial corporations have
reached the same conclusion and are
focussing increasingly on their products’
user interfaces. In many ways, the HMI is
the front of a machine or process. The
higher the level of functionality and
interaction embedded in an HMI, the more
the user interface reflects the essential
experience of a machine or process.
Tomorrow’s HMIs will elevate the HMI from
being a functional add-on, to becoming an
integral part of a user experience.
Design features will include the use of
WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation)
objects, scalable to any size without losing
picture quality, and the use of Microsoft
.Net objects found or bought on the
Internet. The use of templates and object
styles will facilitate efficient ways to ensure
consistent, re-usable designs. Embedding
functional objects, including Windows
media objects, in the screen design will
further enhance the user experience.
In addition to the competitive advantages
for machine-builders, there are solid
arguments for end-users to justify investing
in well-designed, intuitive user interfaces.
The added value of tomorrow’s HMIs will
be reflected in ease of use, higher efficiency
and productivity, reduced time to complete
tasks, improved user satisfaction, trust in
the systems, and fewer user errors.
Trend 2: Innovation based on modern
software technologies
The evolution of HMIs is being driven by
continuous software development, backed
by robust, high-performance hardware.
Today, the panel is considered as a vehicle
for the HMI software platform, allowing
OEM design engineers to add value to their
products with various functions and design
options. The software platform is therefore
a crucial element.
HMI software development is costly and
complex. Innovative HMI manufacturers
need to base their software platforms on
widely-used modern technologies to access
a broad variety of tools and functions.
For example, the resources behind the
.Net technology are enormous, and this will
be reflected in the continuous development
of new HMI functions. Dependence on
proprietary technologies or technologies
from smaller vendors is a risky strategy.
HMIs based on .Net or similar
technologies are likely to deliver innovative,
future-proof tools with continuous updates
and service support, appreciated by OEMs
with long-term strategies for their own
products and external suppliers.
Trend 3: Open platform architectures
Essentially, HMIs integrate the operation of
a machine or a process with feedback to or
from the operator. A key aspect is the
openness of the HMI system. How easy is it
to exchange essential information with
different systems or controllers? Is the
application code locked for customisation
of functions or objects? Will runtime
software be able to operate on different
hardware platforms? Increasingly, HMI
vendors are discussing these issues with
their customers.
The open platform architecture of
tomorrow’s HMIs will offer opportunities
for OEMs to enhance the look, functions
and connectivity of applications to produce
unique products. HMIs, from compact
operator panels to industrial PCs, will
become less proprietary and will offer
increased freedom of choice.
It will be possible to create a scalable
master project, which can be applied to
different controller brands and panel
resolutions, thus needing to maintain only
one project. Engineers will demand
opportunities to use scripting tools, such as
C++ script, to customise the look or
functions of objects. Design tools will offer
the possibility of importing third-party
objects and .Net controls.
Freedom in terms of connections and
communications is the hallmark of truly
open HMIs and covers options from simple
real-time exchange of data between
controllers, up to SQL and OPC
communications with other equipment and
IT systems.
User interfaces do not need advanced
graphics. Simplicity and consistency often
beat complexity and overly artistic systems.
However, the design process often benefits
from co-operation between graphic
designers and application engineers.
D&C
44 November/December 2010 www.drives.co.uk

Package deal links
new HMIs to old PLCs
CANNOCK-BASED Nicholl Food Packaging
is one of the UK’s largest food packaging
companies, and specialises in
manufacturing aluminium foil containers
and catering disposables for the food
industry. Its 10-acre site houses one of
Europe’s most advanced production
facilities and includes many electronically
controlled presses.
Some of the site’s HMIs had been
installed several years ago and were
becoming unreliable. “We were
experiencing ongoing problems with failure
of our existing HMIs, some apparently
caused by machine vibration,” explains
engineering manager, Joe Taylor. “We
spent a long time trying to rectify the
problem, but were eventually left with no
alternative but to look for replacements.
A key consideration in this search was to
ensure open connectivity so that the
replacements would be compatible with
the plant’s existing PLCs. Nicholl chose
HMIs from Schneider Electric’s Magelis
range. One attraction was the HMIs’
flexible programming which provided a
seamless transition between the old
interfaces and the new ones.
“Our previous HMIs had physical
function buttons, whereas the Schneider
Electric products have touchscreens,” Taylor
explains. “However, we were able to
configure the screen to match exactly the
layout that our operatives were familiar
with, which meant that we did not have
the time or inconvenience of re-training to
the new models. That made it a very
smooth transition for us.”
Production at the Nicholl site is organised
into three shifts with operations running
continuously from 10pm on Sundays to
10pm on Fridays. Using the new HMIs’
Web-gate feature, Taylor can log onto the
production system remotely from anywhere
with an Internet connection, to monitor
operations and to check for faults.
The compact, robust HMIs have cut
downtime significantly. To date, some 18
Magelis XBT GT4330 HMIs have been
installed, including one that has been built
into a machine made at Cannock for the
company’s site in France. Taylor is planning
« The new HMIs at Nicholl’s Cannock plant have
been linked to the site’s existing PLCs
to expand the replacement programme to
cover all 46 of the pressing lines in
Cannock.
He says that the HMIs “have the scope
to do a lot more with them. When we have
completed the replacement programme,
we will have more opportunities to add
new functions to our systems.”
Control all your sites...
from any site!
PLCs AND HMIs
MONITOR, MODIFY, MAINTAIN...JMOBILE
For more information see www.scatts.co.uk
or to arrange a demonstration, please contact: exor@scatts.co.uk | Tel: 0113 243 0203

GAMBICA VIEWPOINT
Taking the open road
In the third of Gambica’s exclusive columns for
Drives & Controls, the organisation looks at how open
communications are giving manufacturers the flexibility to
deal with today’s challenges.
Businesses across a broad spectrum of industries are looking to
deploy integrated, cost-effective automation solutions that link the
plant floor to the rest of the enterprise. As well as providing control,
this trend is being driven by the need to access plant floor process
and equipment remotely for process status and diagnosis reports,
asset management, and quality control – and to improve overall
operational efficiency.
Added to this is the need to provide clear migration paths from
installed legacy systems, while at the same time ensuring futureproof
architectures that support the broadest range of best-in-class
products with easy interoperability to solve demanding control
applications and, most importantly, are not restricted to proprietary
or vendor-specific solutions.
As we approach the end of the first decade of the new
millennium, the explosion of the Internet and the development of
Internet Protocol (IP) based services in our daily lives, as well as the
arrival of a new generation of decision-makers familiar with these
high-tech solutions, has resulted in a growing acceptance and
expectation that these new technologies will be applied to enhance
and improve industrial and process applications.
As a result, the combination of open Ethernet technology and
Web services, along with other open industry standards for software
and device integration – such as FDT/DTM technology – is changing
the face of industrial and process control.
FDT (Field Device Tool) technology standardises the
communication and configuration interface between field devices
and host systems. It provides a common environment for accessing
a device’s features, so they can be configured, operated, and
maintained via a standardised user interface, regardless of the
device type or supplier, or the communication protocol.
FDT closes the fieldbus gap by providing a standard way for
device vendors to create user interfaces for advanced device
management. It allows device manufacturers to install a single DTM
(Device Type Manager) driver to use a device with multiple
Windows-based software products, such as asset management, PLC
programming, and device configuration and parameterisation
programs. FDT provides a workspace environment for the DTMs to
be configured, and a method for communicating between PCs and
field devices.
In the not-too-distant past – and, in many cases, still today – the
way to integrate control equipment with enterprise systems would
involve a combination of multiple proprietary technologies. Control,
I/O and device networks would exist separately and use different
network and fieldbus technologies, while sensor and actuator
connections still relied heavily on hard wiring, with its cabling and
installation costs. To read data from low-level devices required the
data to be “transformed” at each layer – from bits to bytes, bytes to
data, and then data to information. This traditional approach puts a
heavy burden on the automation controller and on Scada
applications.
Simple, open technology standards are the best way to foster the
emergence of new, more effective applications. Collaboration with
international standards organisations, such as the IEC and ISO, plus
groups such as the Zigbee Alliance, FDT Group, OPC Foundation
and ODVA, are essential for this to happen.
The great advantage of using open standards – and, in particular,
Ethernet-based networks using the Internet Protocol (IP) suite – is
that they are essentially neutral to higher-level protocols. This means
that they can be a part of a platform to connect diverse systems via
modern methods such as service-oriented architectures (SOAs).
Simple, open technology
standards are the best way
to foster the emergence of new,
more effective applications.
Although normally associated with the business processing
environment, SOAs are fundamental to Microsoft’s .Net framework
and provide a unified programming model for rapidly building
service-oriented applications that communicate across the Web and
the enterprise. Other major software developers, such as IBM, BEA,
Sun, HP, Oracle and SAP, are moving in a similar direction.
The challenges faced by today’s manufacturing and process
industries have been compounded by the volatile state of the
global economy. In this environment, the demands on the control
system go beyond functional and regulatory performance. It
becomes a tool to not only to manage the plant, but also to reduce
energy consumption, to cut costs and emissions, and to provide
quick and precise information from the field to the enterprise,
supporting both production and business decisions.
Today’s challenges require control systems that are not only easy
to engineer and maintain, but that also deliver a clear picture about
what is happening in the process, regardless of the application.
Control systems must be flexible enough to be tailored to meet the
needs of all types of process including discrete, batch, continuous
and safety (or any combination of these) and be capable of
integrating easily with energy management and third-party devices.

& Drives&Controls Energy Award
Bank’s investment
pays off with
70% saving
The energy consumed by
HVAC fans at the London
offices of the European Bank
for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD) has
been slashed by around 70%
by retrofitting variable
speed drives to the fan
motors.
The project to reduce the energy
consumed by HVAC fans at the
London headquarters of the EBRD
involved upgrading 23 VAV
(variable air volume) fans ranging in
size from 30–60kW, as well as four
30kW cooling tower fans. The
variable-pitch axial fans had not
been performing to their original
specifications, due to factors such
as age and a higher requirement for
process cooling. The fan-maker
Fläkt Woods identified a way of
improving the fans’ efficiency by
fixing the pitch of their blades, and
controlling their speed using
frequency inverters.
As an initial trial, the fan blade
pitch of one of the 30kW axial fans
was fixed and its speed varied.
Monitoring of this arrangement
showed that the annual savings in
terms of electricity costs would be
£4,266, and that annual CO 2
emissions would be reduced by 30
tonnes.
The remaining fans were
upgraded over weekends over the
course of about four months,
without disrupting normal office
operations. The work included
dynamic balancing, where
required.
Part of the project was to
integrate the new ABB drives with
the existing Trend building
management system. Fläkt Woods
worked with Trend engineers to
ensure that the change from
variable pitch to 0–10V control via
the BMS was seamless.
Before the work started, Fläkt
Woods commissioned an energy
audit using an energy profiler
located in an LV panel remote from
the fan, to gather energy
consumption data with minimal
disruption. This data – including
values such as kW consumed,
phase voltages and current, power
factor and kVAr – was captured
around the clock for seven weeks.
After the upgrade, a similar
exercise was conducted. The 30kW
fan which had previously been
averaging a consumption of around
22kW, was now averaging a
consumption of 7kW – a 68%
decrease, or the equivalent of
56.37MWh a year, based on 252
working days. For the project as a
whole, the annual savings are
estimated to be 1.3GWh or 690
tonnes of carbon.
000
0
00
00
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$"$ *" & ), &', ! ') $$
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('*"+"'& #
,*+'% %'+')
www.andantex.co.uk
e: sales@andantex.co.uk t: 024 7630 7722

Sponsored column
No. 3 November/December 2010
DESIGN DATA
Dave’s DIARY
DRIVES
In this regular feature, Dave Baston, UK General Manager
for Control Techniques, looks at how modern drive and
motor technologies can improve your business. In this issue,
Dave insists that a proposed rating system for variable speed
drives (VSDs) must take a system-level view
For as long as I can remember, I’ve advocated the use of variable
speed drives (VSDs) to raise motor efficiency. They cost more upfront,
but ongoing energy savings will dwarf the initial investment.
Their benefits in pump and fan drives are already well known, and
the EC Energy Using Products (or Ecodesign) Directive has identified
VSDs as a desirable technology. The biggest potential for energy
being applications that move air or fluids at an adjustable rate, i.e.
fans and pumps.
An obvious next step is to introduce an efficiency grading scheme
for VSDs, as is already done for electric motors. The EC has issued a
mandate to CENELEC to develop a suitable technical standard.
Developing it will be a technical challenge, because it’s difficult to get
an accurate measure of VSD efficiency: mostly because it’s already so
high (97-98%), measuring the ratio between input and output power
stretches current instrumentation to the limit. And that’s before we’ve
addressed more general questions: which operating conditions should
be covered? And how should results be weighted?
The key problem is that the quality of the drives output waveform
significantly impacts on the losses within the motor. The loss in a
VSD is 2-3% of rated throughput. The loss in the motor is 5-20%,
depending on the rating. A simple drive only efficiency rating would
be meaningless because it would ignore these system-level effects.
Any new standard for VSD efficiency must address this dilemma –
perhaps by defining an efficiency test between power source and
shaft, using a hypothetical ‘standard motor’. I can already hear the
arguments, but they’re worth overcoming if we’re to avoid a
simplistic standard for VSDs that ignores their effect on the motor.
Jargon Buster - The Ecodesign Directive
The Ecodesign Directive (http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/
sustainable-business/documents/eco-design/framework-directive/
index_en.htm) provides consistent EU-wide rules for improving the
environmental performance of energy related products (ERPs) through
ecodesign - a way of thinking about design which takes into account the
environmental impact of a product or packaging across its entire
existence, including Raw Materials, Manufacture, Retail, Use & End of
Life. This approach is known as life cycle thinking and can be used to
reduce environmental impacts as well as costs for businesses.
Do you agree? Tell us what you think:
Visit www.controltechniques.com/viewpoint
Rockwell Automation has published a White Paper
explaining how intelligent motor control centres
(MCCs) – which integrate communications,
hardware and software – can help to minimise
downtime. The eight-page publication outlines the
evolution of MCCs, configuration methods,
networking advantages, and real-world
application examples. It describes the underlying technologies,
including advanced monitoring and sensing devices, and network
connections. Intelligent MCCs can cost less to install than
traditional MCCs and offer protective, monitoring and
troubleshooting advantages. They also allow manufacturers to
capture and use equipment and process data to improve
productivity.
http://goo.gl/prgn
US-based Abhisam Software has announced the publication of a
downloadable eBook called The Quick Guide to AC Variable
Frequency Drives, which explains how drives work, and how to
select, use and install them in common applications. The
“vendor-neutral” guide contains six chapters covering all aspects
of VSDs from basic concepts related to AC induction motors and
their control, to an explanation of functions such as vector
control, torque control, anti-windmill control, and dynamic
braking. The eBook is available at an introductory price of $27,
and a free trial can be downloaded from Abhisam’s Web site.
www.abhisam.com
PI (Physik Instrumente) has published a 400-page
catalogue covering its piezomechanical
components and motion systems, from simple,
direct actuators, to long-travel ceramic linear
motors and complex multi-axis flexure guided
nanopositioning stages. A separate section lists
control electronics. The catalogue includes a
tutorial on piezo design for positioning applications. It can be
downloaded as a PDF.
www.piezo.ws/pdf/Piezo_Mechanism_Cat10.pdf
Thomson has produced a guide to using electric
linear actuators to replace hydraulic and
pneumatic cylinders in off-road machinery and
vehicles. Potential applications include controlling
engine speed, operating safety locks remotely,
lifting access panels, and controlling spool valves.
The publication compares electric actuators with
fluid power drives and outlines their advantages
including low development costs, easy installation, user-friendly
control functions, low energy costs, high adjustment accuracy,
low maintenance, and environmental acceptability. The brochure
is available as a downloadable PDF.
http://goo.gl/JJquQ
Leuze electronic has issued a 12-page brochure
describing its machine safety inspection service,
as well as its machine safety devices and support
services. It explains the company’s UK-based
technical support service, its 24-hour telephone
helpline, its parts return process, its machine
stop-time measurement service, and its machine
safety training. The publication also covers the free-to-download
ePlan macros for Leuze’s machine safety components
01480 408 500 mail@leuze.co.uk
http://bit.ly/LeuzeMachineSafetyInspections
48 November/December 2010 www.drives.co.uk

M
SOFTWARE
AutoCAD
returns to
the Mac
after 16 years
Autodesk has
announced that it is producing a version of its AutoCAD
design software for Apple Mac computers for the first time
since it stopped supporting the Mac in 1994. The software
has an intuitive interface that will be familiar to Mac users and
takes advantage of the latest Mac OS X operating system,
including its graphical browsing of design files and its use of
multi-touch gestures for panning and zooming on Mac
notebooks, mice and trackpads. More than 5,000 customers
helped to develop the Mac version in a beta programme.
Autodesk has also announced a free app called AutoCAD
WS mobile which extends AutoCAD to Apple’s iOS operating
system for portable devices, allowing users to edit and share
AutoCAD files on iPads, iPhones and iPod touch devices. The
app supports real-time collaboration, even while users are on
the move.
The Mac software allows native creation and editing of files
in AutoCAD’s DWG file format and supports collaboration
with suppliers, customers and partners, regardless of the
platform being used. It integrates with AutoCAD WS,
allowing users to upload and manage designs in online
workspaces, and to edit and share those designs via a Web
browser or Apple iOS devices. AutoCAD for Mac is available
as a free 30-day trial download. In addition, free educational
licenses are available for personal use by students and
educators, subject to certain conditions.
Autodesk 01252 456600
www.autodesk.com/autocadformac
Module produces 3D panel
mounting layouts
Eplan is offering a
software module that can
be used to produce
mounting and production
drawings, and associated
model views, quickly and
easily. The Pro Panel
module can be used to
populate panels or to
define fluid power
devices and valve blocks,
based on Eplan’s Electric P8 or Fluid software.
The module offers 3D functions to define electrical and
fluid engineering mounting layouts, based on Eplan’s new 3D
technology and facilitates design across various disciplines by
using a common database. It also shows correct views of
hidden edges. Users can plan a mounting panel first, and
design the schematic later. The module can be used to check
the position of devices, wire ducts and mounting rails. When
placing elements, it verifies whether they are on the correct
mounting panel. Online access is provided to all of the devices
in the design, and to Eplan’s parts management and data
portal.
Eplan Competence Centre 01709-704 100
www.eplan.co.ukww.elutions.com
moti on and
mechatronics
brushless DC motors
brushed DC motors
ac & dc servo motors
synchronous motors
stepper motors
spur gearboxes
planetary gearboxes
rotary encoders
linear encoders
stepper and servo
drives
motion controls
custom engineered
motion and
mechatronic systems
www.mclennan.co.uk
Tel:+44 (0) 8707 700700
Email:sales@mclennan.co.uk
Mclennan Servo Supplies Ltd
Unit 1, The Royston Centre, Lynchford
Lane Ash Vale, Surrey, GU12 5PQ

MULTIMEDIA
Blogging site aims
to connect
Molex has launched an interactive blog
site to provide connector industry news,
trends and opinions. Called The
Connector.com, the blog will also carry comments from
Molex experts on issues and challenges relevant to design
engineers. There will also be links to social media sites,
newsfeeds and videos illustrating interconnect products and
technologies. Initial articles cover general connector topics as
well as high-power delivery and sustainable systems.
www.connector.com
Site spotlights laser
measurement systems
Polytec, which specialises in noncontact,
laser-based vibration and
velocity measurement systems, has
unveiled a new Web site which
includes product news, technology videos, application
examples and information on the company’s educational
services. Products covered include vibration sensors,
microsystems, MEMS analysers, speed and length sensors,
and dynamic stress and strain measurement systems.
www.polytec-ltd.co.uk
Controls comparisons
are simplified
Following a major review of its UK Web
site, Schneider Electric has made a
“significant” investment in new
features, including an intelligent reference database that
makes it easier to compare products from its wide portfolio.
Visitors can compare the features of part numbers within a
range and understand differences such as colour, voltage
ratings, dimensions and settings, making it easier to pinpoint
products that meet their needs. The database is supported by
datasheets which can be downloaded for use in project plans
and quotes. The first products covered by the enhanced service
are in the automation and control section. Others will be
added progressively.
www.schneider-electric.co.uk
Twitter stream gives
links to weekly videos
The plastic bearings and energy chains
specialist igus is producing weekly videos
highlighting aspects of its products and
their applications. Recent videos have
covered: a bespoke guide trough
designed to meet the needs of a large
rotating energy chain system; a self-guiding
energy chain system which avoids the need for troughs; and
the speedigus service for rapid production of customdesigned
parts. Links to the videos are given in igus’s
Twitter stream.
http://twitter.com/igusUK
50 November/December 2010 www.drives.co.uk

TEST AND MEASUREMENT
Clampmeters’ jaws reach more places
Clip-on monitor shows
when hearing
protection is needed
3M has introduced a compact clip-on
device that offers a quick and easy guide to
potential noise hazard levels, helping to
identify areas where hearing protection
may need to be worn. The 3M Noise
Indicator NI-100EU incorporates a LED
which flashes green when exposed to
ambient noise levels below 85db(A) and
red for levels above 85dB(A) – the point
above which hearing protective equipment
must legally be worn.
The noise indicator is designed to be
clipped onto a shirt or jacket. Its
rechargeable battery operates for up to 200
hours between charges and the device
incorporates an automatic turn-off system.
3M 0870 80 800 60 www.3M.co.uk/ohes
Fluke has introduced
a family of
clampmeters with
thinner, smaller jaws
(for easy use in
crowded cabinets),
large backlit
displays, true-rms
readings, increased
resistance ranges,
and overmoulded
cases for easier
handling and improved survival if dropped. Most of the new models are
compatible with a new range of flexible current probes that expand their
measurement range to 2.5kA AC.
The basic Fluke 373 true-rms AC clampmeter is aimed at users needing only
AC current and voltage measurements up to 600A AC and 600V AC or DC. The
374 and 375 models add min/max, average and inrush recording, with the 375
incorporating a low-pass noise filter and the ability to measure frequencies to
500Hz, as well as mV DC. The 376 model can measure currents up to 2.5kA AC
and 1kA DC and can troubleshoot noisy motors and drives. It includes the new
iFlex high-current current probe which has a big coil suitable for large or
awkward conductors, and a 7.5mm-deep profile for reaching between tightlypacked
cables. The Fluke 381 clampmeter has a detachable wireless display,
allowing one technician to do jobs that previously needed two. The clamp section
can be shut in a cabinet and the measurements read across a room while the
controls are being operated.
Fluke (UK) 0207 942 0700 www.fluke.co.uk
Modular power monitor can be expanded
Products 4 Automation has launched a
low-cost, modular power monitoring
system that can be programmed to collect
data from external devices and to provide
centralised monitoring of energy use. The
system is based on P4A’s Monitouch
programmable HMIs and can depict all
aspects of power usage.
It can monitor data from up to 31
distributed nodes measuring variables such
as power, voltage, current, and power
factor. These values can be logged at userdefined
intervals and saved in the CSV
format and, if required, exported to an
Excel spreadsheet. The simplest form of
monitoring shows graphs of expected
demand based on current values, and
displays accumulated power values. A
second level depicts measured values from
multiple power monitors at a glance. A
third level displays accumulated monthly
power data as bargraphs. Installations can
start with just a few nodes and be
expanded as needed.
Products4Automation 0845 077 3858
www.products4automation.com
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www.drives.co.uk November/December 2010 51

SENSORS
Cable extension
sensors have
selectable outputs
Variohm is offering a rugged cable
extension sensor with a plastichybrid
potentiometer and winding
drum that can be configured for 4–
20mA or 0–10V DC outputs by
connecting the appropriate signal
wires during installation. The
Celesco SP3 String Pot sensor
provides absolute linear position
measurements in four ranges from
120–1,270mm, with an accuracy of
0.25–1% of full-scale, depending
on the stroke length.
The sensor needs no critical cable
alignment, making it suitable for
awkward applications where there is
insufficient space for traditional
measurement devices, or where the
moving components may be
submerged or obscured by other
equipment. The 120mm-travel
version has a rated life of more than
2.5 million cycles, and repeatability is
said to be better than 0.05% FS. The
supply voltage is 8–40V DC for the
current output version, and 12–32V
DC for the voltage version.
Variohm EuroSensor
01327 351004
www.variohm.com
Scanning array detects web positions
Sick has announced a scanning optoelectronic sensor for web-positioning and edgedetection
applications. The Ax20 array sensor offers repeatable automated object
detection with a resolution down to 50 microns, allowing precise control of web
positions, even at high speeds.
The device operates from one side of the web and has a measuring range of up to
30mm. A visible light spot makes accurate alignment easy, without needing a teach-in
procedure. The sensor is said to be more versatile and reliable than fork sensors, and
easier to set up. It needs no reflector, making it simple to mount. It is unaffected by
ambient light and reflective or transparent materials. Applications include measuring the
thickness of, and detecting the edges of, sheet-fed materials such as paper, even in
stacks. It can also count small parts, determine widths, and track glue beads.
Sick (UK) 01727 831121 www.sick.co.uk
High-power LEDs boost sensor performance
Pepperl+Fuchs has released a range of
miniature photoelectric sensors for
applications requiring long ranges and
high reliability. The ML100 sensors use
powerful lenses and PowerBeam LEDs,
said to guarantee good visibility of the
red light spot and easy alignment.
The high power density and quality of
the light spot improve the sensors’
reliability and service lives. The IP67-
protected sensors have low power
consumption, are insensitive to ambient
lighting, and are protected against
ifm has introduced inductive ring and
tube sensors for detecting the passage of
small metal items such as screws, rivets
and springs. The high-resolution sensors
have a 0.2ms response time. They can
detect 0.6mm-diameter steel balls
moving at up to 35m/s.
For the ring sensors, the tube is guided
through the ring. Because the sensing
crosstalk. Indicator LEDs show the
operating and switching status.
There are two versions that optimise
the light spot for different applications.
The ML 100-8-H diffuse-mode sensors
with background suppression are suitable
for short ranges, providing a bright, sharp
spot for simple setup and reliable
detection of dark objects. The ML100-55
sensors provide a larger spot for easy
alignment and longer detection ranges.
Pepperl+Fuchs GB
0161 6336431 www.pepperl-fuchs.com
Inductive rings and tubes detect small parts
field lies inside the ring, external
disturbances are minimised. The tube
versions can be installed quickly and one
type of sensor can be used with different
diameter tubes. Pulse stretching and
sensitivity are adjustable, and users can
select normally open or closed operation.
ifm electronic
020 8213 0000 www.ifm.com/uk

Safety you know & trust
Leuze electronic’s people are proud of their safety products
and some say they have ‘a safe head’ on their shoulders.
By providing the best machine safety products and services
they help make the workplace safer.
Welcome to the specialists for industrial safety systems –
welcome to the sensor people
Safety light guards, safety laser scanners,
safety relays and gate interlocks, you can
rely on.
Leuze electronic’s expertise and quality is
recognised and relied upon in many
industries and applications around the UK.
For more information call 01480 408 500 or go to www.Leuze.co.uk
20 th Anniversary competition
Win 1 of 3 iPods
for Christmas
Check www.leuze.co.uk to enter
Solutions for high precision positioning and machine control from Aerotech
Increase Throughput with Advanced Controls
Command Shaping Harmonic Cancellation Interative Learning Control
Decrease Settle Time
Increase In-Position Stability
Increase Rate Stability
Reject System and
Environmental Disturbances
Trigger laser more accurately
Automation Control Solutions
provides comprehensive information on
Aerotech’s advanced controls, drives,
GUI, Motors I/O and software.
Call for your copy today or downlaod
from www.aerotech.co.uk
Position Synchronized
Output (PSO)
Enhanced Throughput
Module (ETM)
Friction Compensation
Dedicated to the
Science of Motion
Direction Gain Scheduling
Aerotech Ltd, Jupiter House, Calleva Park, Aldermaston, Berkshire RG7 8NN - UK
Tel: +44 (0)118 940 9400 - Email: sales@aerotech.co.uk
www.aerotech.com
A e r o t e c h W o r l d w i d e
United States • Germany • United Kingdom • Japan • China
AH1010LTD_-AdvancedControls

CONTROL
CNC offers a choice of drives
Mitsubishi has
announced a CNC
range based on RISC
CPUs and high-speed
graphics chips. The
M70V CNCs provide
multi-channel support
and high-speed, high-accuracy functions, resulting in faster
processing times and higher precision of machined parts,
with cutting speeds of up to 1m/min.
There is a choice of two drive systems: high-speed MDS-
D/DH servo/spindle drives; and the lower-priced MDS-
SVJ3/SPJ3 series. Interpolation gives 1nm resolution. A new
interface provides user-friendly operation, programming
and configuration. Machine setups are performed using a
PC-based servo-tuning tool which links to the M70V via
Ethernet. This tool can automatically optimise parameters
such as speed and position loop gains, and time constants.
Mitsubishi Electric
01707 276100 www.mitsubishielectric.co.uk
Controller closes loops in 62µs
Galil has introduced a motion controller that accepts encoder
inputs up to 15MHz and can close loops in 62µs. The DMC-
41x3 controller is faster than its predecessor (the DMC-21x3)
and incorporates Ethernet 100Base-T and USB 2.0 ports, as
well as analogue inputs and optically isolated I/O. It also offers
twice as much memory for user programs and arrays.
The controller is available for up to eight axes and each
axis can be configured for stepper or servo motor
operation. It can be connected to external drives of any
power range or to Galil’s multi-axis (500W per axis) servo
drives or 60V, 3A microstepping drives. It can operate by
itself or with a PC. Standard I/O includes 16 optically
isolated I/Os for 1–4 axis models, and 32 I/O for 5–8 axis
models. Eight analogue inputs are provided. Motion modes
include point-to-point positioning, jogging, linear and
circular interpolation, contouring, and electronic gearing
and camming. Galil’s UK distributor is MotionLink.
Galil Motion Control 01488 638488
www.galilmc.com www.motionlink.co.uk
PCs use multi-core processors
Beckhoff has announced a new generation of industrial PCs
based on 3½-inch motherboards that support multi-core
processors which can distribute PLC, NC, robotic,
measurement or HMI functions to dedicated cores
The PCs can be equipped with various processors, such as
the Intel’s Core Duo or Core2 Quad, as well as low-cost
dual-core Celeron processors. On-board interfaces include
SATA, COM and USB ports. A mini-PCI card slot can be
used to integrate fieldbus interfaces, while a DVI interface
allows two separate displays to be connected for enhanced
visualisation. The motherboard has a PCI-Express extension,
which can be used for further interfaces inside and outside
the PC. An integrated UPS and an on-board RAID controller
are said to improve availability.
Beckhoff Automation 01491 410539 www.beckhoff.co.uk
DRIVES AND MOTORS
Servodrive operates from
high-voltage supplies
Inmoco has announced a digital servodrive that can operate
from a 400V or 750V DC power sources without a
transformer. The Elmo ExtrIQ Panther drive can be mounted
onto a motor or PCB and deliver up to 7kW of continuous
power for single- or multi-axis applications.
The MIL-standard drive can operate at extremes of
temperature (–40°C to +70°C), humidity and altitude, and
endure high levels of vibration (more than 15g) and
mechanical shock. It can be used with sinusoidal, trapezoidal
and DC motors, and is available in 80–400V or 200–750V
DC bus versions with built-in “smart” supplies for controlling
the back-up capabilities. It can also operate with a 24V DC
auxiliary power supply. The drives, which support CANopen
communications, measure 110 x 75 x 30mm.
Inmoco 01327 307600 www.inmoco.co.uk
Stepper drives detect
mechanical blocking
Micromech is offering a range of
stepper motor drives for bipolar
two-phase stepper motors,
which can operate with motor
coil currents from 0.7–7A RMS
(9.8A peak) and at voltages from 15–75V. The Trinamic
TMCM-078 drives incorporate a patented sensorless load
measurement technology to detect mechanical blocking.
To prevent the motor from heating up unnecessarily, and
to save energy, the motor current is reduced automatically
to an adjustable level during standstills. All settings are
made using DIP switches, avoiding the need for a PC.
Accuracies of up to 256 microsteps are possible. The drives
allow two-phase stepper motors to be used in high-torque
and high-velocity drives without needing separate cooling.
The inputs for step, direction and enable signals are
optically isolated. The compact modules in aluminium
housings measure 145 x 96 x 33mm.
Micromech 01376 333333 www.micromech.co.uk
Miniature brushless DC motors
produce little noise
Rotalink has announced a range of miniature brushless motors
with nominal output torques that extend above 250mNm at
maximum efficiency, and with maximum power ratings of
270W. The BL brushless motors are available in 12V and 24V
DC versions with three-phase Hall effect commutation for
smooth, precise speed and/or position control.
The efficient brushless design produces little electrical
noise and, unlike brushed DC motors, is not prone to
commutation sparking, making the motors suitable for use
in EMC-sensitive environments. The range includes five
frame sizes with nominal diameters from 29–65mm. The
brushless motors can be used with the brushless version of
Rotalink's recent drag-and-drop/flowchart programmed Red
Drive motor driver and controller. Matching gearboxes,
motor feedback devices and motion controls are available.
01460 72000 www.rotalink.com
54 November/December 2010 www.drives.co.uk

ELECTRICAL
Multi-pump soft-starter
handles pumps from 1–15kW
Ralspeed has announced a
multi-pump soft-starter for
controlling and protecting
pumps from 1–15kW, thus
avoiding the need to use
different soft-starters for each
size of pump. The system is
based on an overload protection
relay that can be set to match the pump in use via a rotary
switch calibrated in kW – no other settings are needed.
A digital display shows the kW rating selected, the
instantaneous running current and the status of the softstarter.
It can also show data from the last eight trips,
enabling problems to be diagnosed rapidly. The soft-starters
are equipped with a load-break isolator, a hand/auto
selector switch, a door-mounted e-stop pushbutton, and an
analogue output proportional to the motor current. The
overload relay provides earth leakage protection and can be
used with thermistors to monitor motor temperatures.
Ralspeed 01254 582345 www.ralspeed.com
Light curtains have 14ms response
Panasonic has introduced a slim safety light curtain which it
describes as one of the smallest on the market. The IP67-
protected SUNX SF4B Type 4 light curtain offers 10, 20 or
40mm beam pitches and comes in three versions – for
finger, hand and arm, or foot protection. All types can be
wired to provide NPN or PNP transistor outputs.
The curtains offer a 14ms response time, regardless of the
number of channels, the beam axis pitch, or the number of
curtains connected in series. The rapid response time,
coupled with the small beam pitch of the finger protection
version, allows the light curtain to be installed closer to
danger points than conventional models. The body and the
cylindrical inner casing that protect the electronics ensure
that the curtains conform to IP65 and IP67. An easy-to-read
digital error indicator makes troubleshooting easy.
Panasonic Electric Works UK
01908 231555 www.panasonic-electric-works.co.uk
Solid-state relays are ‘smallest’
Carlo Gavazzi claims to be offering the first UL-certified
solid-state relay and contactor combinations in a 17.5mmwide
format. The RG series SSRs include panel-mounting
versions rated up to 600V AC and 90A AC, and versions
with integrated heatsinks that can handle 20A AC in
17.5mm widths and 30A AC in 22.5mm widths.
With a 100kA short-circuit capability, the relays are
suitable for silent switching of motors and will resist up to
5g of vibration. DC versions can be controlled by 4–32V
DC, while AC versions can be controlled by 20–275V AC or
24–190V DC. There is a choice of zero-crossing or instanton
(random) mains voltage switching. Over-voltage
protection is provided across the output. A removable IP20
cover allows power terminals to accept ferrule, ring and
fork type terminations. Control status is indicated by LEDs.
Carlo Gavazzi UK 01252 339600 www.carlogavazzi.co.uk
FLUID POWER
Stainless-steel cylinders
resist washdowns
SMC has developed and
improved several
stainless-steel pneumatic
products for wet and
washdown applications.
For example, its
portfolio now includes
the CJ5-S and CG5-S airoperated
cylinders for
food-processing
machinery where
corrosion and heat
resistance are often essential. The cylinders, in bore sizes
from 10–100mm, have an all-stainless steel external
construction and are fitted with a scraper to prevent water
from entering the cylinder.
There are also two improved stainless-steel fittings ranges –
KQG2 and KFG2. The KQG2 one-touch fittings, based on the
earlier KQG series, are about 30% smaller and more than
60% lighter than conventional models and come in 17
versions designed to operate with fluids from -5ºC to 150ºC.
The insert fitting type series KFG2, which operates with fluid
temperature from -65ºC to 260ºC, is more than 40% smaller
and nearly 40% lighter than conventional models.
SMC is also offering a stainless-steel speed controller
(series ASG) with one-touch fittings for ambient operating
fluids from -5ºC to 60ºC, and operating pressures from 0.1–
1MPa.
SMC Pneumatics (UK)
01908 555017 www.smcpneumatics.co.uk
Linear drives combine power,
accuracy and flexibility
Parker Hannifin’s Parker-
Origa division has
launched a range of
magnetically-coupled
pneumatic rodless
cylinders with a single
rod and rotating carriage,
or with integrated anti-rotating guides. The P1Z linear drives,
which consist of a stainless-steel pneumatic cylinder body fixed
between two end-plates, can be used at low speeds from
0.05m/s and can deliver thrust forces up to 942N.
A hard anodised aluminium carriage is fitted to the
outside of the cylinder body, with the carriage and the
cylinder piston coupled magnetically using annular
magnets. In the unguided version, the carriage can rotate
through 360 degrees around the cylinder, with adjustable
pneumatic end-of-stroke cushioning and air ports at both
stroke ends. The guided version uses two rigid chromeplated
steel guide rails, with optional magnetic sensors for
precise positioning. They can be fitted with elastomeric
bumpers for light loads or hydraulic shock absorbers for
heavier loads. Both versions can be mounted horizontally or
vertically and are available in bore sizes from 16–40mm and
in stroke lengths up to 2m.
Parker Hannifin 00800 27 27 5374
56 November/December 2010 www.drives.co.uk

DRIVES AND CONTROLS
EXHIBITION 2010
8-10 June 2010
NEC, Birmingham
www.drives-expo.com
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For further information and exhibiting contact
Doug Devlin on T: 01922 644766 M: 07803 624471
E: doug@drives.co.uk
M ULTIFUNCTIONAL GATE BOX
All possible functions in one housing. Due to
transponder technology this system meets the
highest safety levels. The set is suitable for hinged
and sliding doors.
Three semiconductor outputs provide the status:
door closed (1), bolt detected (2), safely locked (3).
In addition two safe pulsed semiconductor outputs
are activated after a safe condition is achieved.
Curious?
Check the videos on the news page on the website
Versatile
door switch
w w w . e u c h n e r . c o . u k
E U C H N E R ( U K ) L t d . - U n i t 2 , Pe t r e D r i v e - S h e f f i e l d , S 4 7 P Z - P h o n e 0 1 1 4 2 5 6 0 1 2 3 - Fa x 0 1 1 4 2 4 2 5 3 3 3 - s a l e s @ e u c h n e r. c o . u k

MECHANICAL AND LINEAR
Magnetic clutches boost slip
torque to 12Nm
Mayr has expanded its Robacontitorque
range of permanent
magnet hysteresis clutch/brakes
with a size 5 version that
increases the slip torque range
to 0.1–12Nm. The devices offer
reliable, wear-free torque
limitation in continuous slip applications. Unlike frictionbased
devices, torque is transmitted without contact via
magnetic forces, extending service lives and ensuring
accurate, repeatable slip torque values.
The compact, maintenance-free clutch/brakes can be
used for load-holding, tensioning or torque-limiting
applications. Their low weight and mass moment of inertia
allow easy integration into a variety of applications.
Optional sealed and corrosion-protected versions are
available for use in almost any environment.
Mayr Transmissions 01535 663900 www.mayr.co.uk
Spur gears target everyday uses
Ondrives has introduced a series of
“competitively priced” spur gears for
everyday uses. The gears are available
with or without a boss, with various
numbers of teeth and bore sizes,
keyways, and tapped and pin holes.
Sizes range from 0.5–6 Mod as
standard with others available on
request. Standard materials are steel
and white Delrin. Most parts are
available off-the-shelf with short turnaround times for parts
not in stock. Modifications to standard parts and specials to
customer drawings are available with short lead times.
Ondrives 01246 455500 www.ondrives.com
Large-bore SRBs
last twice as long
NSK has expanded its HPS range
of spherical roller bearings up to
260mm bore. The bearings,
known as the CAM series, are
said to offer twice the lifespan
and a 20% higher limiting speed
than conventional spherical roller bearings (SRBs), resulting
in cost and energy savings, and reduced maintenance.
The improved wear resistance of the larger bearings
under high speeds and mechanical loads enables them to
cope with demanding applications. The bearings differ in
design from the existing HPS-EA SRBs (up to 130mm bore)
and have a guide ring for precise roller guiding, and
optimised solid brass retainers which carry higher loads and
offer high wear resistance. As well as increasing the lifespan
and the wear resistance of the bearings, the design changes
also increase their dynamic load rating by up to 25%. This
can allow downsizing in high-loaded drive assemblies,
cutting space and costs.
NSK UK 0500 2327464 www.nskeurope.com
COMMUNICATIONS
Converters connect serial
devices to Ethernet
Brainboxes has introduced a range of Ethernet-to-serial
converters that provide fast, reliable connections between
Ethernet ports on a network and asynchronous serial
interfaces. The one- or two-port RS-232 and RS-422/485
device servers support data transfer rates up to 230.4 kbd.
The autonomous converters allow devices at the edge of
a network to be managed from any connected location
with the same control as if working locally. They come with
drivers for Windows 7 and XP 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
Brainboxes is packaging them with its Boost.net driver,
keeping existing software applications on the network and
allowing high reliability connections over long distances.
The converters, which consume less than 1W, are housed in
rugged metal enclosures.
Brainboxes 0151 2202500 www.brainboxes.com
IP67 box provides
serial-EtherCat links
Beckhoff has announced an IP67-
protected module that can connect
devices with serial interfaces, such as
barcode or RFID readers, to EtherCat
networks without needing a control
cabinet. Using selectable RS-232 or
RS-422/485 interfaces, the compact,
two-channel EP6002 module
integrates the serial devices into
EtherCat networks.
The module transmits the data in a
transparent way to higher-level
EtherCat controllers. The serial
communication channels operate in full-duplex mode at up
to 115.2 kbd. Serial devices are connected via rugged M12
connectors. When used with suitable software, the module
can also be used without a controller as a COM interface in
Windows-based systems. It measures 126 x 30 x 26.5mm.
Beckhoff Automation 01491 410539 www.beckhoff.co.uk
Gateway delivers wireless
ZigBee-serial connections
IDC has launched a gateway that acts as a ZigBee-to-serial
interface connection, and can convert RS-232/422/485
serial devices, such as intelligent sensors and barcode
readers, into wireless devices. The ZB103 gateway is
designed for applications such as remote control and
monitoring of machinery where cables are difficult to install,
or for transferring data to and from mobile plant.
The device can operate as a gateway for a network of
ZigBee devices in factory automation, warehouse
management and production monitoring systems, linking to
a PLC via a serial port using Modbus or other protocols. The
gateway complies with IEEE 802.15.4, providing two-way
communications on the licence-free 2.4GHz band. It can
connect hundreds of devices in a mesh network using
gateways, routers and end devices (usually batterypowered).
It is housed in a robust IP45 enclosure.
IDC 01332 604030 www.zig-bee.co.uk
58 November/December 2010 www.drives.co.uk

1
HPMG Hangzhou Permanent Magnet Group Co. Ltd
Hangzhou Permanent Magnet Group
Co. Ltd. is one of the leading
manufacturers of permanent magnets
in China, enjoying an enviable
reputation in the field of Automotive,
Communications, Health Care,
Aerospace, Industrial etc.
Established in 1980, with a staff of
1000 and a turnover of $US80 Million,
HPMG consists of 6 subsidiary divisions
and a number of departments assuring
our sales and supply activities.
To keep fully abreast of the constant
evolution in our fields of activities
we have a R & D Department, our
Laboratory and a system which
allows us to apply the latest
“state-of–the-art” technology to our
production.
As an ISO9001, ISO/TS 16949 and ISO
14000 certified manufacturer HPMG
offers a complete range of permanent
magnets and magnetic assemblies and
solutions including the following:
• Cast and Sintered Alnico, 1800
Tonnes annually, accounting for
around 35% of the world’s
Alnico production
• Sintered & Bonded NdFeB,
2000 tonnes annually
• SmCo 5
/ Sm 2
Co 17
Sintered &
Bonded, 200 tonnes annually
• Die Cast magnetic assemblies,
25 million sets annually
• Magnetic assemblies & Motors,
7 million annually
• A variety of magnetic devices such
as Magnetic Chucks, Magnetic
Separators and Magnetic handling
devices also Reducers, Shafts and
Gears
We are able to discuss with you
and find the magnetic solution
best adapted to your own specific
needs using our in-house experience
on Die Casting, Plastic Injection/
compression moulding and design.
FACT FILE
Main Areas
of Activity:
Automotive, Communications,
Health Care, Aerospace,
Industrial etc.
Size of operation:
160,000m 2 , 60,000m 2 working
area, 1000 employees,
$US80 million Turnover.
Contact details:
HPMG
The South Beach of 2nd
Qianjiang Bridge,
311231 Xiaoshan,
Hangzhou,
China 311231
T: +86 571 82696116
F: +86 571 82696043
E: hpmg@xs.hz.zj.cn
UK Sales T: +44 (0) 1332 515565
www.chinahpmg.com
Rare Earth Magnets: HPMG are
very aware of the growing
importance of Rare Earth magnets
both NdFeB and SmCo 5 /Sm 2 Co 17 .
Our range has been developed
with the assistance of the
National Institute of Materials
(NIM) in China since our
production first began in 1994.
Alnico Magnets: The name
HPMG has been synomomous
with Alnico for many years. We
have been making Alnico since
1980 and currently supply
around 35% of the world’s
total production.
Magnetic Systems: We offer
you a complete range of
precision magnetic assemblies
using all the magnetic
materials in our range
including rotor & stator
assemblies, sensor devices
etc etc.
A1000 Inverter:
One class better… The A1000 AC high performance
inverter from YASKAWA.
Available from stock.
Power Ratings from 0.4 – 630 kW
allowing one drive to cover all your needs
Voltage options 3 phase 400 V and 200 V
Application specific parameter
presets such as Crane, Conveyor, Pump &
Fan, Compressor, Hoist for quick drive setup
Inbuilt Safety (STO) to meet the latest
standards
Connectivity to all major bus networks
including DeviceNet, Profibus-DP, CANopen,
CC-Link, MECHATROLINK, MEMOBUS
Designed for 10 years maintenance free
operation
A1000
More information at
www.yaskawa.eu.com
CONTACT
Inverter Drives
Linear-Technology
Servo Drives
Industrial Robots
Machine Controller
YASKAWA UK
01908 565874

PRODUCTS & SERVICES DIRECTORY
AUTOMATION
BEARINGS
BELTS & POWER TRANSMISSION
The Total Power Transmission....
Solution for
To advertise contact Simon Langston
t/f: 01353 863383 e: simon@dfamedia.co.uk
CIRCUIT PROTECTION
TA35
Circuit Breaker
for safe and
easy operation
- thermal circuit breaker 1-, 2- or 3-pole
- current ratings up to 20A, 3-pole up to 12A
- safe and easy operation with gloves
- conforms to IEC, UL and CSA standards
BEACONS & SOUNDERS
D
BEARINGS & FASTENERS
www.pixeuro.com
PIX Europe Limited
Unit
24 Farthing Road Industrial Estate,
Sproughton,
Ipswich,
Suffolk,
IP1 5AP
Tel:
01473 7446124
| Fax:
01473 744613
email: info@pixeuro.com
CAD SOFTWARE
www.schurter.com/cbe_news
COOLERS
Stainless Steel
Bearings and
Fasteners
Wide Range Includes
Captive, Ventilation and
Wire Locking Screws
High Precision
Small Orders Available
BEARINGS
Japan’s Leading
Bearing Manufacturer
Tel: 01908 289300
Email: info@koyo.co.uk
Web: www.koyo.co.uk
Reliance ®
Precision Mechatronics LLP
Tel: +44 (0) 1484 601060
www.rpmechatronics.co.uk
BELTS
MEGADYNE
Manufacturers of RUBBER
power transmission belts
WORLD’S LARGEST
manufacturers of POLYURETHANE
power transmission belts
CHAINS
PROCESS
CHILLERS
1-350kW
Market leading
Build Quality
24 Hour parts
& Service
Global Service
in 80 countries
Tel: 01709 704000
email
information@rittal.co.uk
R
Keeping
UK Industry
on the Move
Gildersome Spur, Gildersome,
Leeds LS27 7JS
Tel: 0113 2382910 Fax: 0113 2383870
Email: sales@megadyne.co.uk
www.megadyne.co.uk
www.drives.co.uk

To advertise contact Simon Langston
t/f: 01353 863383 e: simon@dfamedia.co.uk
DC/AC DRIVES CONTROLS
AND AUTOMATION
DC MOTORS & GENERATORS
PRODUCTS & SERVICES DIRECTORY
DRIVES SERVICES
WARNING! WARNING!
Drive breakdown!
ENCODERS
The leading UK
manufacturer of
DC Motors & Generators
DC Motors 0.5––150kW
DC generators and dynamometers
DC Traction Motors
ATEX certified EEXd motors
services 24/7 if required.
T: +44 (0) 1384 567755
F: +44 (0) 1384 567710
E: ken.evans@sts-international.co.uk
www.sts-motors.com
DRIVES
Save the day by
hiring a drive from
Quantum Controls
Hire a drive from the largest
drive hire fleet in Europe.
All ratings available along with
installation and commissioning
Expect more.
Explore more...
LINEAR Encoders
ROTARY Encoders
DIGITAL Readouts
Tel | 0116 2796891
Fax| 0116 2796702
www.electronicaems.co.uk
info@electronicaems.co.uk
Independent Control Systems Ltd
The Driving Force in fully
Integrated Electrical
Control Systems
Capabilities:
Turnkey Systems
Hardware / Software Design
System Build & Test
Installation & Commissioning
Site Service & Training
24 Hour Support
Product Expertise:
AC, DC & Servo Drive Systems
PLC, HMI & SCADA Industrial IT
PLC SYSTEMS & DRIVES
PLC PROGRAM TRANSLATION
BACKUP & DOCUMENTATION
SPARES & REPAIRS TO ALL
TYPES OF INDUSTRIAL
ELECTRONIC CONTROLS
THERMAL IMAGING SURVEYS
FRIENDLY ATTENTATIVE SERVICE
To order your FREE
key ring with 24/7
contact numbers call:
01661 835566
www.quantum-controls.co.uk
Email : info@iconsys.co.uk
Website : www.iconsys.co.uk
Approved solution partners:
ISO 9001:2008 registered
FM23783
BTJ DRIVES & CONTROLS LTD
STOKE on TRENT ST10 4PG
t: 01889505315 f: 01889505604
www.btjdrives.co.uk
DRIVES SERVICES
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
T. 01490 413550
F. 01490 413014
E. info.uk@globalencoder.com
W. www.globalencoder.com
ENCLOSURES
IMPORTANT NOTICE
For users and purchasers
oflow voltage switchgear
and controls
EDM Ltd specialises in electrical
engineering. We can supply
all types of bespoke electrical
panels to your requirements
at competitive prices
For more
news stories,
the latest informaton
and more detailed
coverage, log onto:
www.drives.co.uk
Contact us for a quotation
Tel/Fax: 01279 433500
Mobile: 07855 753749
E: enquiries@edmlimited.co.uk

PRODUCTS & SERVICES DIRECTORY
ENCLOSURES
D
GEARS
MOTORS/GENERATORS
To advertise contact Simon Langston
t/f: 01353 863383 e: simon@dfamedia.co.uk
POWER QUALITY
New Extended
Gear Range
Available Ex-stock
Brass Gears
Fine Pitch Ground Gears
Bespoke Precision Gears
to Order
Reliance ®
Precision Mechatronics LLP
Tel: +44 (0) 1484 601060
www.rpmechatronics.co.uk
• Full range of EFF 1 energy efficient motors
• Asynchronous Motors 0.12kW to 2800kW,
2/12 poles LV
• Asynchronous Motors 110kW to 2000kW,
2/12 poles MV
• Hazardous Area Motors 0.12kW to 560kW,
2/12 poles LV
• Hazardous Area Motors 10kW to 500kW,
2/12 poles MV
• Single Phase Motors 0.18kW to 3kW, 2/4 poles
• Synchronous/Asynchronous Generators 10 to
5000kVA, 2/16 poles LV
• Synchronous/Asynchronous Generators 200 to
5000kVA, 4/16 poles MV
Marelli UK Ltd, Loughborough, Leics
T 01509 615518
E john.attenborough@marellimotoriuk.com
GEARBOXES
LINEAR ACUTATORS
PLC AND SCADA SYSTEMS
POWER TRANSMISSION
Olsen Engineering UK Ltd
Unit 17, Parc Haford, Tregynon, Newtown SY16 3EQ
t: 01686 651151
email: info@consultolsen.com
web: www.consultolsen.com
“When push comes to shove,
Olsen has the answer”
Independent Control Systems Ltd
Leading the way in
Industrial Automation
& Control Systems
Capabilities:
Turnkey Systems
Hardware / Software Design
System Build & Test
Installation & Commissioning
Site Service & Training
24 Hour Support
Product Expertise:
AC, DC & Servo Drive Systems
PLC, HMI & SCADA Industrial IT
Email : info@iconsys.co.uk
Website : www.iconsys.co.uk
Approved solution partners:
ISO 9001:2008 registered
POWER TRANSMISSION DIVISION
General Purchasing Office in the UK for
Industrial Power Transmission Equipment,
Electrical and Engineering Components
Sourcing service throughout the
UK, Europe, America and the Far East
Luso offers:
• Boston Gear/Warner Distributor
• Specialised service for American parts
• Ship to stock programme; kanban
• Fast response to all enquires
• Prompt despatch of stock orders
• Only original parts supplied
• ISO9001 (2000 revision) ISO1400/18001
• 24 hour service
The name LUSO is your guarantee
of quality and service.
Make LUSO your major supplier
E: yvonne.g@lusoelectronics.com
T: 0121 321 2144
F: 0121 355 5045
www.lusoelectronics.com
INDEXING TABLES
WEISS UK Ltd
• Up to 5M dial capacity
• No need for clutch unit
• Unbeatable reliability
• Short delivery times
• NC programmable variant
• Optional:
Control Cards
Precision m/c'ed Dials
Machine Bases
Tel: 01952 728112
Fax: 01952 728337
Email: info@weiss.uk.com
Internet: www.weiss.uk.com
MOTOR INVERTERS
Smartdrive
Motor inverter
Features:
Single and three phase versions
Vector control
Output speed range at constant
torque rpm : 36 ÷ 2450
Force ventilation options for
wider constant torque range
0.18 to 3kw
On-board control or remote control,
by keypad and potentiometer
Protection degree IP54, IP55, IP56,
IP65, IP66
Optional boards I/O, RS485, CANBus
www.motovario-group.com
POWER ELECTRONICS
H rep
Tel: 01249 767701
www.h-rep.net
sales@h-rep.net
REPAIRS
Specialists in AC/DC industrial
electronic repairs
Fast turnaround
No fixed repair costs, quote on
each repair
Site support
IXYS
Return to base 6 month warranty
WESTCODE
Service exchange
PCB board repairs down to
component level
Experts in Industrial
Electronics Repairs
ElectroAid Service Engineering Ltd
Unit 15 Horton Court,
Hortonwood 50, Telford, TF1 7GY
Tel: 01952 677555
Fax: 01952 676083
www.electroaid.co.uk

To advertise contact Simon Langston
t/f: 01353 863383 e: simon@dfamedia.co.uk
SENSORS
PRODUCTS & SERVICES DIRECTORY
SERVO MOTOR & DRIVE REPAIRS
VIBRATORY MOTORS
Industrial & Technical Services
SERVO MOTOR
REPAIR CENTRE
FANUC SIEMENS INDRAMAT ELAU
MITSUBISHI PANASONIC SEM BOSCH
& Many More
Unbalanced
Vibratory Motors
ROSTA Screen
Suspensions
SERVO MOTOR & DRIVE REPAIRS
For All Your Product
Repair Needs
Tel +44 (0) 1270 508822
Fax +44 (0) 1270 251240
emeasales@electrocraft.com
visit us at www.electrocraft.com
STEPPER MOTORS
HYBRID
STEPPER
MOTORS
UNRIVALLED
CHOICE
CALL:
0116 276 8686
Alpha Electrics Ltd
Unit 11, 158 Tithe Street,
Leicester. LE5 4BN England U.K.
info@alphaelectrics.com
www.alphaelectrics.com
n Widest range of NEMA frames
from 16 to 42
n Rare earth high torque models
n Single or double shafted
n Protection options up to IP68
n Customisation and full accessory range
n Large range available ex-stock
ASTROSYN INTERNATIONAL
TECHNOLOGY Ltd
Tel: 01634 815175
Fax: 01634 826552
email: astrosyn@btinternet.com
web: www.astrosyn.com
Two Great
Products
One Supplier
..
KOBO (UK) Ltd
Tel: 01625 529514
e-mail info@kobo.co.uk
www.kobo.co.uk
IF YOU’RE
READING THIS,
THEN SO ARE
60,000+
ENGINEERS
IMAGINE THE
IMPACT YOUR
ADVERTISEMENT
COULD HAVE
Contact us at
Drives & Controls
T: 01922 644766
e: doug@drives.co.uk
T: 01353 863383
e: simon@dfamedia.co.uk
www.drives.co.uk
MAKING MODERN LIVING POSSIBLE
Drives PartnerNET
Danfoss Drives Competence Centres
are fully equipped to satisfy the total
needs of our valued Drives customers;
providing assistance in sales, installation,
commissioning, technical support and
service 24/7/365.
For further information please
contact Danfoss Drives on
01895 617 100 or your
Regional Competence Centre
directly.
one place - one solution
Regional Competence Centres
Scotland Tel: 01324 633 203
WJ Electrical Supplies Limited
Ireland Tel: 02890 645 060
Greenville Industrial Drives & Controls
Northern England Tel: 01457 837 145
P-n-P Drives & Controls Ltd
Southern England Tel: 01923 333 375
K2 Drives and Controls Limited

APPOINTMENTS
Career opportunities
Routeco is the market leading industrial control,
automation and process products supplier
in the UK employing over 230 staff nationwide.
The company has continued to grow by
providing both technical and business solutions
through professional collaboration and service
excellence, becoming a partner of choice to our
customer and suppliers.
We have a number of exciting opportunities
based around the UK within both our Product
Sales Specialist and Business Development
teams which reflects the ongoing positive
growth in the business.
System Control Solutions was formed in
1984, as the senior staff move towards retirement,
we are seeking a Business Development
Partner, either an individual or a organisation
for purposes of working with or on behalf of the
company to secure and increase new business,
help bring onboard younger staff and develop
the company with the eventual objective of taking
over and running the business.
I believe the ideal candidate will be aged 35-45,
already have a strong presence in the drives &
controls industry and be in a position to navigate
new business almost immediately, either by
being part of an existing young organisation or
as successfull sales engineer.
If this opportunity is of interest and you
wish further discussion, please email some
basic details of yourself or organisation to
tim@scslow.co.uk and I will contact you in
due course.
www.scslow.co.uk
• Safety and Sensor Product
Sales Specialists
• Industrial Control Gear Product
Sales Specialists
• ATEX Product Sales Specialists
• Process Sales Specialists
• Business Development
Engineers
Looking for a new
career opportunity?
Visit www.drives.co.uk/jobs.asp
The simplest route to your next job
Routeco strives to be an employer of choice;
offering an infrastructure that enables you to
develop your career with us through continuous
development, professional challenges, an
environment that is open and flexible and
a culture that recognises and rewards success.
For further information about the above
positions and to apply online, please visit our
careers page at www.routeco.com/careers
Please be sure to provide a covering letter
outlining your interest in the role and stating
your current salary details and expectations.
www.routeco.com

To advertise contact Simon Langston
t/f: 01353 863383 e: simon@dfamedia.co.uk
APPOINTMENTS
MAKING MODERN LIVING POSSIBLE
New career opportunities with global market leader
Danfoss Drives is renowned worldwide as the foremost specialist in ac variable speed drives, as the global markets continue to
grow for us we see an excellent opportunity to build on our recent success and increase our market share by strengthening our
dedicated Strategic Business Area Teams. As part of our local commitment to the S.B.A’s we are looking to appoint new members
to the Sales Team.
Sales Manager for the Water & Waste Water Business in
Scotland & Ireland to provide front end consultancy on
sales of ac drives to the UK water authorities, OEMs,
consultant engineers, panel builders and the main
contractor who operate in this area throughout the UK.
The successful applicant will report to the UK
Country Manager.
Business Development Manager for the Food &
Beverage Industry across Northern Europe to target &
develop potential new key accounts by gaining
specification at End Users, OEM’s and system builders
throughout the Region.
The successful applicant will report to the Northern
European Director.
Candidates would ideally come from either a drives or the Strategic Business Area environment with an electrical engineering
background, preferably qualified to HNC standard or equivalent. In-depth drives or systems knowledge is a prerequisite and at
least two years sales experience in the appropriate sector is essential. Computer literacy, commercial awareness, good
communications skills with self motivation and the ability to form effective partnerships with clients are all essential to success.
The company offers a competitive salary commensurate with the importance of these critical appointments and a personal/team
performance related bonus. A pension scheme, private healthcare (BUPA) and company car policy are all part of the generous package.
Interested parties should forward their CV in the first instance to:-
John Martin, Sales Director, Danfoss Drives, Capswood, Oxford Road, Denham, Bucks, UB9 4LH
or by e-mail to john.martin@danfoss.com
INDEX OF ADVERTISERS
A&S Fersa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
ABB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Aerotech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
All Drives & Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
Andantex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
B&R Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Baldor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Balluff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
Beckhoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Bosch Rexroth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Control Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7,48
Danfoss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Front Cover Gatefold
Diamond Chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Dold Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Drives and Controls Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
EMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Euchner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
Gates Power Transmission Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
Goodyear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Heidenhain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
HPMG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
igus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Koyo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Lafert Electric Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Lenze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
Leuze electronic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
LG Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Linak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
maxon motor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Mclennan Servo Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Medway Power Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Meiden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Micro-Epsilon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
NSK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Ondrives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Parker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Red Lion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Reliance Precision Mechatronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Renold Chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Rittal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14-15
Routeco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Scattergood & Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Schaeffler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Schurter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51
Semikron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Siemens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9, OBC
Softstart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Yaskawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
www.drives.co.uk November/December 2010 65

SITOP compact power supply
Extremely efficient in saving space
and energy
Space
savings of
up to 33%
Energy
savings of
up to 35%
SITOP PSU100C
Due to the extremely space-saving slim design, the new power supply series for the lower performance range is especially
suited to distributed applications in control boxes or in small control cabinets. The power supplies are characterised by
their low power loss over the entire load range. Power loss is extremely low even during no-load operation, which is why
they are ideal, for example, for supplying machinery and equipment that are often in stand-by mode.
The SITOP PSU100C switched-mode power supplies have a wide-range input for AC and DC networks, with plug-in
terminals allowing a simple electrical connection.
Contact us: 08457 70 50 70 Email: marketing.ad.uk@siemens.com
Answers for industry.