ADVERTORIAL TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION


Thomson launches tool for linear motion systems


T


homson Industries, Inc., a leading manufacturer of mechanical motion control solutions, has enhanced its popular Linear MOTIONEERING® product sizing and selection tool for linear motion systems, reducing the time for component selection from hours to less than 15 minutes. The upgraded resource also incorporates the RediMount™ motor mounting adapter kit, the new default standard for Thomson linear motion systems and precision linear actuators. The Linear MOTIONEERING tool retains the powerful


Thomson engineering calculations that have proven so effective for design engineers and has added new product families, interactive navigation, expanded global support and mobile access. “Linear motion system designers are under increasing


Traffic Sign Control by Energy Harvesting Switches


are primarily in the smart home, building and industrial automation industry. A ZF Friedrichshafen AG’s customer, Westcotec, has developed an application for traffic signs using the ZF Energy Harvesting Switch.


A Westcotec is producing a new traffic warning sign to


help horse riders to cross busy rural roads. The riders have Energy Harvesting handheld transmitters and can switch the traffic signs on when approaching the road to warn car drivers of horses crossing. These switches work completely batteryfree and wireless. Only the mechanical actuation of the switch generates enough


uerbach. When talking about Energy Harvesting Switches, the first applications that one thinks of


electrical energy to transmit an RF signal to the traffic sign and activate it. The lights then flash for 60 seconds and can be activated multiple times where groups of horses are crossing the road.


The same idea was implemented to herd animals


across a road. When moving the animals the twin amber flashing beacons are triggered by the farmer with a push button on a hand held unit containing the energy harvesting switch.


ZF Switches  01582 814006  www.switches-sensors.zf.com


pressure to get competitive products to market quickly,” said Alexander Schollin, Product Line Specialist EMEA & Asia at Thomson – Systems Group. “We are fully committed to helping them do so by making system sizing as fast and effortless as possible.


Thomson Industries  01271 334 500  www.thomsonlinear.com


The industrial-grade edge computer MICA is now also available with a secondary Ethernet interface. MICA now available with a secondary Ethernet interface T


he industrially-suited MICA Edge Computer is now available with a secondary Ethernet interface. It can


be used to easily exchange and process data between two Ethernet networks, including wired-to-wireless gateway applications. With many Industry 4.0 applications, it is necessary to


separate networks and send data back and forth between Ethernet protocols without permitting external applications direct access to a corporate network. As a result, HARTING has added a second interface for these applications to its MICA Edge Computing device. An additional USB interface can also be used for adding further capabilities or a USB storage device. This is


40 SEPTEMBER 2019 | DESIGN SOLUTIONS


because, unlike a router, MICA can also carry out complex data transformations and aggregations. The secondary Ethernet interface is provided via the functional circuit board and expands the modular system of the MICA platform. In particular, MICA Wireless with WLAN, BLE and LTE connectivity with an additional Ethernet interface is an easy to manage and compact solution for many projects in the areas of industry and transportation. For example, it can be used as a wired-to-wireless


gateway for collecting maintenance data from PLCs and to send relevant events to the machine manufacturer or maintenance services. In addition, MICA Wireless can


process nodes for RFID readers connected via WLAN. When used in this way, many RFID readers send data that evaluates the tags and feeds them in via Ethernet to the corporate network. Finally, it’s also possible to monitor remote systems via Ethernet and transmit the data as needed in a compressed format worldwide via LTE or via BLE to Ethernet gateways or railway embankment applications where Ethernet capable PLCs and RFID readers are also increasingly being used.


Harting  01604 827 500  www.harting.com/UK/en-gb


CONNECTINGINDUSTRY.COM/DESIGNSOLUTIONS


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