News Industry ITF feeling the love of automated tennis ball tester
THERE IS LITTLE doubt that it would have been dif- ficult for Andy Murray to have achieved his historic victory at the recent Wimbledon Championships without tennis balls of a similar high quality. Therefore, to ensure uniformity and consistency in performance during tennis tournaments, ball manufacturers are required to submit samples of their products to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for testing and approval. Mecmesin, a designer and supplier of force and torque measurement solutions, was tasked to design a cost effective automated tennis ball testing machine for the ITF and it turned to automation technology company Festo, which supplied Mecmesin with pneumatic components, comprising linear axes and pneumatic grippers, together with a PLC-based con-
trol system which Mecmesin programmed. The automated tennis ball tester contains a number of components from Festo including all operating cylinders, linear actuators, pneumatic grippers, PLC, valve terminals and a rotary table enabling it to reliably perform a wide range of tests. To view the full story visit:
www.connectingindustry.com/festotennis.
www.festo.co.uk
British apprentices show the world what they’re made of
THREE APPRENTICES FROM CMB Engineering have been awarded a medallion of excellence in the Manufacturing Team Challenge at the WorldSkills International tournament, held from the 2nd-7th of July 2013 in Leipzig, Germany.
Bringing together teams of talented young indi- viduals from more than 53 countries around the world, the tournament is considered the ultimate test of apprentices, with participants competing for medals in more than 40 different categories such as polymechanics and automation, mobile robotics and electrical installation.
CMB Engineering’s apprentices made it through to the international final and competed against teams from Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Finland, France, Japan, South Korea, Netherlands and Chinese Taipei to take the fourth spot. Andrew Maguire, George Moffat and Daniel Gebhard, represented CMB Engineering and the UK as part of the competition’s Manufacturing Team Challenge. The team showcased their excellence in engineering by designing and producing a solar powered can and bottle crushing disposal unit. Andrew Wilkinson, a mechanical engi- neer from CMB Engineering who represented the com- pany in the 2009 WorldSkills UK competition, supported the team as a mentor.
“At CMB Engineering, we’ve always seen our apprenticeship programme as a key driver of our tech- nology leadership, as our engineers exchange ideas and expertise with the new generation of apprentices,” said Andrew Truelove, newly appointed general man- ager at CarnaudMetalbox Engineering.
www.CMBEcanmaking.com
Control Techniques
scoop Euro award BASED ON ITS recent research on the electric drives market for manu- facturing automation, Frost & Sullivan has presented Control Techniques with the 2013 European Product Line Strategy Award. The company has exhibited an ability to meet and exceed cus- tomer needs in the global manu- facturing automation market. This has resulted in the market success of its latest Unidrive M series drives, designed specifically for the manufacturing sector. Frost & Sullivan research man-
ager, Sivakumar Narayanaswamy, said, “Our research shows that the European market for electric drives was valued at $3bn in 2012, and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.7% until 2017. Manufacturing automation holds a significant proportion of this market and Control Techniques’ Unidrive M range is one of the world’s most comprehen- sive classes of drives for manufac- turing automation applications.” For the full story visit
www.connectingindustry.com/ unidrivem.
www.controltechniques.com
Enclosures from the smallest to the largest.
ENCLOSURES POWER DISTRIBUTION CLIMATE CONTROL
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