Motors & Drives

WEG has now significantly expanded capacity at its WEG Centre of Excellence for Drive Development in Markt Piesting, Austria. Construction work for the new facilities on the grounds of WEG subsidiary Watt Drive Antriebstechnik GmbH is now complete, while modernisation of the machine pool will continue apace until 2023.

Engineering systems integrator, Allspeeds, is manufacturing a 50kW Kopp Variator for phosphate production in Jordan. The new machine replaces an existing variator that has been in service for over 20 years for conveyor control at the plant. Kopp Variators are mechanical variable speed drives used to control the speed of industrial machinery. Suitable for production machinery that relies on the ability to change speeds frequently, variators are constant power torque converters with extremely accurate speed holding and resetability, unlike invertor and gearbox controls.

maxon has collaborated with drone startup Flybotix to develop performance-optimised brushless DC motors for a new kind of inspection drone. With the know-how gained from this and other projects, maxon is making inroads into the new UAV market, where the reliability and quality of components are becoming more important.

The Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland is renowned for showcasing futuristic vehicle designs. At the 2019 show, Kia revealed its concept car, Imagine, which took innovative design to the next level. While these vehicles are often far from mass produced possibilities, some of the features are already integrated into high end luxury vehicles. Here, Stewart Goulding from EMS, explains more.

Motor nodes are one of the hardest e-bike parts to manufacture. When GSD Global turned to Sandvik’s experts in metal powder and additive manufacturing, to 3D print their motor nodes in titanium, they found they could achieve a lighter, more durable and much more energy efficient solution.

There was a time when we could only measure in centimetres and millimetres, now we can measure at sub-micron and nano level. Our yearning for ever smaller technology is driving big innovation in aerospace, medical and manufacturing technology. However, can space limitations prevent the small from delivering mighty power? Here, Dave Walsha, Commercial Development Officer at EMS, shares his insights in achieving high power motors in small packages.

WEG has been selected to deliver generators to several Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) ships in Brazil. The FPSOs will include eight gas turbine generators and a cohort over 60 medium voltage and low voltage motors manufactured and delivered by WEG.

If you’ve ever suffered from a toothache, you know that the pain it causes can be life-disrupting. Alarmingly, there are growing numbers of people across the UK waiting for dental treatment in pain. The increasing sophistication of micromotors is having a major impact on dentistry, leading to faster and improved treatment.

A team of Dutch engineers competing to develop the world’s most efficient hydrogen fuelled car has used a British torques sensor to determine that their next generation vehicle needs a custom designed and built hub motor. To measure the efficiency of the car's drivetrain, Green Team Twente has built a bespoke test rig based on the TorqSense torque sensor made by Sensor Technology Ltd of Banbury in the UK.

Kollmorgen has released a new servo drive, motor and cable motion package, designed to increase machine performance and reduce footprint. The new Kollmorgen 2G Motion System, distributed by INMOCO and aimed at OEMs and system integrators, features integrated safe motion and is easy to install for existing and new machine designs.