B&R Product of the Month Compact X20 controllers with integrated I/O
Comment
I’d first like to take the opportunity to wish all our readers a very happy new year. I’m sure many people will be making new year’s resolutions and turning over new leaves for 2014 and here at Connecting Industry we’re no different. Over the next few issues we will be rolling out new
templates across the Connecting Industry portfolio. With a new modern look and feel for the magazines
B&R has expanded the X20 system to include a new series of compact controllers with integrated I/O. As with all X20 CPUs, additional I/O modules can be con- nected either locally or remotely using cables. These new compact controllers are being offered in a wide range of variants with different levels of performance and features. Each of these systems comes equipped with 32 built-in digital and analog I/O channels and an x86 processor as standard features. Integrated POWERLINK, standard Ethernet, CAN, RS232 and USB interfaces are also available. B&R Industrial Automation
www.br-automation.com T: 01733 371 320
we can’t wait to unveil the new design to our readers. In our first issue of the new year we will be featuring a full preview of the Southern Manufacturing & Electronics show taking place at FIVE, Farnborough, on 12th-13th February. We ran a taster as part of last month’s cover story, so in this issue we go into greater detail on who’s exhibiting what at the event (page 23 and 26). Continuing on the topic of exhibitions there’s also a review of the main themes of the Rockwell Automation Fair which I attended in Houston, Texas, last November. I caught up with Rockwell
chairman and CEO, Keith Nosbusch, at the event, and in this issue we get his outline of the main themes of the show and some of the key issues within industry. Also this month we cover machine safety, machine vision systems, manufacturing software, as well as an industry focus on the chemicals & pharmaceuticals sector. Joe Bush - Editor
Closing the skills gap - the time to act is now
MANUFACTURING COMPANIES URGENTLY need to work more closely with universities to address the shortfall in engineering skills. That’s the view of Carol Burke, who heads the Unipart Manufacturing Group, which com- prises several sites based in the Midlands. Burke was commenting on the Review of Engineering Skills carried out by professor John Perkins on behalf of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills. The report sets out the importance of engineering skills to the UK economy.
“This is a vitally important report,” said Burke. “It’s essential that UK manufacturers have access to highly trained, highly moti- vated people with engineering skills. This may be seen as a long term issue, but
it needs to be addressed now.”
Professor Perkins’ report provides 22 rec- ommendations, many of which involve col- laborative working between education and industry to inspire, attract and skill tomor- row’s engineers.
According to Burke, this is a fundamental aspect of Unipart Manufacturing’s ongoing strategy for growth in UK and international markets. In October Unipart and Coventry University announced plans to develop a new Engineering and Manufacturing Institute on Unipart’s manufacturing site in Coventry. The £32m project will see the creation of an international centre of engineering and manufacturing excellence, which will be the base for a sustained programme of innova-
tive teaching and learning, product develop- ment and research activity.
www.unipart.co.uk
ITC brings HSM to Fanuc with bolt-on spindle units
simultaneously providing an extremely high speed option for light cut- ting at high feed rates with the ATT spindle. Conducting customer demonstrations, the ATT spindle has reduced cycle times beyond 50% by introducing HSM (high speed machining) strategies to parts that are otherwise machined conventionally. Fanuc Robomachine’s sales manager, Nigel House, commented,
A NEW PARTNERSHIP between Industrial Tooling Corporation (ITC) and Fanuc Robotics saw the Coventry-based machine tool manufacturer recently retro-fit a high speed spindle from Air Turbine Technology (ATT) to a 3-axis Robodrill machining centre to increase spindle speeds from the standard 10,000rpm to 50,000rpm. Supplied by ITC, the ATT 625 high speed spindle is so easy to retro-fit to a machine tool, it was an apprentice at Fanuc that installed the spindle in a matter of hours. The machining centre that serves as a demo machine and test bed at the Fanuc facility has given end users the option of working with a powerful high torque spindle for large diameter cutting tools whilst
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“Combining the ATT spindle with the Fanuc Robodrill gives the end user a powerful high torque machine for optimal material removal rates whilst the high speed spindle provides a lower torque, high speed option for running small diameter tools at high rpm. So, for general machine shops that run the occasional HSM job, we have the perfect fit.” Capable of accommodating cutting tools with a maximum shank diameter of 6mm, the ATT unit is fully integrated into the Fanuc machine tool with the air supply line running through the spindle. Furthermore, with the utilisation of solenoids, a stop block and M- codes, the high speed unit runs in harmony with the machine tool and its CNC control unit.
Concluding upon the installation of the ATT spindle from ITC, House continued, “The ATT spindle enhances machine performance whilst the cost effective bolt-on unit runs at high speed. This bolt-on addition will prolong the life of the machine spindle.”
www.itc-ltd.co.uk |
www.fanucrobotics.co.uk
JANUARY 2014 Automation
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